My favorite short story in anthropology by Dr. Lynn Fauth is Blue Winds Dancing.” The author, Tom Whitecloud, uses versatile formal-informal storytelling and descriptive language to immerse the reader in the moment and resolve self-identity conflicts. These elements exemplify Whitecloud’s mastery of fiction writing.
The role of informal storytelling, told from a first-person point of view, is effective in describing the disparity between the white man’s world and that of the narrator’s Native American world. Two examples stick with the reader to greatly emphasize this point. Whitecloud writes, “Being civilized means trying to do everything you don’t want to, never doing anything you want to.” Whitecloud arrives at the conclusion, “These civilized white men want us to be like them—always dissatisfied—getting a hill and wanting a mountain.”
The role of conflict serves as a two-fold literary device. Its first purpose is the standard motivating factor in the story. However, it is also used as a subtle reminder to the reader of how society molds us into different people. By conforming to white man society norms, it is to make us always dissatisfied—getting a hill and wanting a mountain.” This made me stop for a moment and have a moment of introspection. I think this is a great literary device to maintain the reader’s attention and raises the critical question: Is one’s society better than the other’s?
This question is answered by the author with effective comparison and contrast of the two societies. Still, I know my people have many things that society has taken from the whites. They know how to give; how to tear one’s piece of meat.” Whitecloud identifies with his Native American society over that of the white man because he identifies with their culture and ideals. This search for self-identification with a culture is a significant point to me because I can relate to it.
The plot: A Native American student runs away from school to return home by riding trains.
Setting: University. Freight train traveling to Woodruff, Wisconsin.
Character: The character is dynamic, starting as a student who is fed up with not fitting into the white man’s society at his university. Throughout the story, the character develops into a determined man who arrives home to be with the correct society.
