Bald Mountain Influencing Thomas Black Bull, the Ute boy and the protagonist of When the Legends Die, in the early stages of his life and development, Tom learns the “old ways” of the Ute Indians in which they lived among the wilderness around them. Living with his mother, Bessie Black Bull, and father, George Black Bull, in a lodge at Bald Mountain, tragic events occur where his father would be killed in an avalanche while hunting for deer and his mother contracted an illness which ultimately killed her during the winter. Their deaths would force Tom to become more independent and establish a unique lifestyle. Utilizing the knowledge inherited from his parents, Tom manages to live in harmony with nature and its creatures for many months
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Tom then finds the cub and declares it and himself to be brothers.
Bald Mountain has helped Tom develop a calm, seclusive lifestyle and personality, choosing to live with his animal friends rather than other people. He found solitude and prosaic way of living at a young age, fulfilling his role as a man.
Reservation School
After being tricked and convinced to attend a reservation school in Ignacio, Tom is forced to be separated from his lodge at Bald Mountain and his brother bear. He initially thought that he was journeying to the school to teach Ute children the “old ways” in which their people lived generations before, but struggles to since the people at the school is constantly trying to teach the new ways of civilized life. During his stay at the reservation school, Tom is always being mocked and teased by the other children and is restricted from his instincts that developed when he was at Bald Mountain. The food he is given doesn’t taste like the food he would usually eat in the wild. This angered Tom and his personality of anger and hostility would soon show. Later Blue Elk would trick Tom telling him that he and his bear would return to the lodge, but is actually …show more content…
When Tom realizes this, he reacts violently but is constrained by Blue Elk. Threatened that the bear will be chained in the wild, Tom agrees to Blue Elk’s deal to return to the town and school for the safety of his brother bear. After returning to the school, Tom started to become more obedient, pleasing his overseers. Tom would be assigned to a cobbler shop where he would be participating in a basketry class, a class the other boys made fun of him for since it was a class for typically for girls. The conflict would result in Tom being physically punished. He then displays anger by destroying a basket he was working on and isolates himself from everybody. Eventually, Tom would escape through a window and advance to Bald Mountain where his lodge resided. Refamiliarizing himself with the wilderness around him, he would soon arrive at his lodge to only see a pile of ashes. The lodge was burned and destroyed. Filled with sorrow and shock, Tom spends the night in the wild without a home. The next day Tom encounters Benny and Fish, a tracker, and is returned to
Tom then finds the cub and declares it and himself to be brothers.
Bald Mountain has helped Tom develop a calm, seclusive lifestyle and personality, choosing to live with his animal friends rather than other people. He found solitude and prosaic way of living at a young age, fulfilling his role as a man.
Reservation School
After being tricked and convinced to attend a reservation school in Ignacio, Tom is forced to be separated from his lodge at Bald Mountain and his brother bear. He initially thought that he was journeying to the school to teach Ute children the “old ways” in which their people lived generations before, but struggles to since the people at the school is constantly trying to teach the new ways of civilized life. During his stay at the reservation school, Tom is always being mocked and teased by the other children and is restricted from his instincts that developed when he was at Bald Mountain. The food he is given doesn’t taste like the food he would usually eat in the wild. This angered Tom and his personality of anger and hostility would soon show. Later Blue Elk would trick Tom telling him that he and his bear would return to the lodge, but is actually …show more content…
When Tom realizes this, he reacts violently but is constrained by Blue Elk. Threatened that the bear will be chained in the wild, Tom agrees to Blue Elk’s deal to return to the town and school for the safety of his brother bear. After returning to the school, Tom started to become more obedient, pleasing his overseers. Tom would be assigned to a cobbler shop where he would be participating in a basketry class, a class the other boys made fun of him for since it was a class for typically for girls. The conflict would result in Tom being physically punished. He then displays anger by destroying a basket he was working on and isolates himself from everybody. Eventually, Tom would escape through a window and advance to Bald Mountain where his lodge resided. Refamiliarizing himself with the wilderness around him, he would soon arrive at his lodge to only see a pile of ashes. The lodge was burned and destroyed. Filled with sorrow and shock, Tom spends the night in the wild without a home. The next day Tom encounters Benny and Fish, a tracker, and is returned to