Gender and Mythological Criticism in Native American Literature

There are many ways to analyze Native American literature, such as by using cultural criticism, biographical criticism, or even sociological criticism. However, the two types of literary criticisms that may be more readily seen in comparing Native American culture to Euroamerican culture are gender criticism and mythological criticism. There are many different aspects of both these analytical tools that can be seen in both cultures.

Before one can analyze a piece of literature using the critical theory of gender criticism, one must first understand what exactly gender criticism is. There are two basic main points that gender criticism seeks to illuminate. First of all, gender criticism examines how a male in society would react to a certain piece of literature, or how a female would react to the same writing. This first point really emerged with the feminist movement. Those heavily involved in the feminist movement discovered that literature was filled with ideas that only men could have produced. So, they set out on a mission, using their newly discovered knowledge to fix this growing problem.

The second main point that gender criticism tends to analyze is how a piece of literature could affect people that have sexual preferences different from what might possibly be considered the "norm." These would include gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and even those in the transgender category (those who have had a sex change for one reason or another).

The idea that different sexualities and genders could possibly see Highway's The Rez Sisters differently can be seen quite well. Men, women, gays and lesbians are four groups that would have varying opinions about this particular novel.

The female society would undoubtedly be attracted to the fact that Highway created an all-female group. They would also note that these women are portrayed as being strong and independent. Society tends to picture Native American women as being obedient and quiet when around the male in a tribe. However, Highway has depicted these women as more the "rough and tough" type. Pelajia Patchnose, for example, contradicts this stereotype right in the beginning of the story. The reader first finds Pelajia "alone on the roof of her house, nailing shingles on" (Highway 1).

Tomson Highway has created all female characters in his novel The Rez Sisters, with the exception of Nanabush who is portrayed as a male, at least on stage. The male demographic might possibly find this a bit offensive. Male readers of The Rez Sisters might protest that it should be them, not Pelajia, who should be doing the hard work on the roof. For centuries, society, regardless of race, has been unconsciously divided as to whose job is whose. Highway tackles this interpretation and creates women who contradict this stereotype. Not one of them is about to put up with anything from the male society.

The lesbian community could identify with the character of Emily Dictionary. In The Rez Sisters, she had a lover Rose who ended up killing herself by driving her motorcycle "head-on into that truck
Lesbianism in Native American culture is common, and like in many cultures, there are factors that can have an influence on why a woman might become a lesbian, as in the case of Emily Dictionary.

First there are the cultural factors. In the Native American culture, there is a strong belief that everything is connected to everything else. With regards to sexuality, this has become known as being "two spirited." This term means "lesbians, gays, and bisexuals possess both the male and female spirit" (Bridges, Selvidge, and Matthews 121). The intensity of spiritual connection that Native Americans have for one another, and for others, could explain the emotional pain that Emily went through immediately after Rose died. Emily said, "I loved her, Marie-Adele. I loved her like no man has ever loved a woman" (Highway 97). Even though Emily is a purely fictional character, it is difficult not to feel her pain, regardless of one's sexual preference.

Another factor tends to be the "primary influences of family and community" (Bridges, Selvidge, and Matthews 115) that could explain why a Native American woman would become a lesbian. Perhaps Emily Dictionary's problems at home with Big Joey are what caused her to consider her sexuality. Big Joey was a concern for Emily, after all, considering that he did hit her, giving her a black eye that she told Veronique she "earned" (Highway 51). Emily said, "You should have seen me fight back like you've never seen a woman fight for her life before" (Highway 51).

Mythological criticism concerns itself with how different cultures use "symbols and situations--consciously or unconsciously--in ways that transcend its own historical milieu and resemble the mythology of other cultures" (Burdette "Critical Approaches To Literature").
Another very important idea on which mythological criticism focuses is the idea of an archetype, which is a "symbol, character, situation, or image that evokes a deep universal response" (Burdette "Critical Approaches To Literature"). An archetype will often be examined to see if it has any significant similarities to ancient Greek or Roman myths or Biblical figures. Seeing these similarities can also help readers better understand a culture by allowing them to see the other culture's version of an ancient Greek, Roman, or Biblical character.

The concept of an archetype readily exists in Native American literature. In the play by Canadian Native Tomson Highway called The Rez Sisters, there exists a character called "Nanabush." Nanabush represents one of the most common figures in Native American mythology: the "trickster." A trickster is known to be a liar and a lazy character, one who is magical (in the sense that it can change shape), rebellious, sometimes comical, but certainly sacred, as are many objects in Native American cultural. The trickster's main purpose is to "teach us about the nature and the meaning of existence on the planet earth; he straddles the consciousness of man and that of God, the Great Spirit" (Highway xxi). In The Rez Sisters, the particular forms that Nanabush takes are a seagull, a nighthawk, and finally a Bingo Master. In Tomson's play Nanabush is "present physically on stage, but he is only half-present to most of the characters, who either do not see him or see him as a bird, as the bingo master, as a shadow, or as an emotion" (Perkins 260). This is all interesting because it is perhaps how most individuals feel about the figure of Death, which is what Nanabush is supposed to represent by portraying the nighthawk and the Bingo Master. The figure is always around us, even if we do not realize it.

Another way that Nanabush as the Bingo Master represents Death is during the sudden transformation into the big bingo room in Toronto. Nanbush, as the Bingo Master, is "dressed to kill: tails, rhinestones, and all" (Highway 100). Highway portrays the ultimate figure of Death in this way because it subconsciously attracts readers, and perhaps most of the players in the bingo house, to Nanabush, even for a split second. But, a split second is all Nanabush needs to take someone into the Spirit World. He earns their trust by taking the form of something familiar. In the case of everyone except Marie-Adele, that form is the Bingo Master, someone they are somewhat accustomed to seeing. But, in the case of Marie-Adele, she sees not the Bingo Master but her former husband Eugene. This is seemingly what attracts her to the Bingo Master.

Another main symbol in The Rez Sisters is the theme of the BIGGEST BINGO IN THE WORLD. The main characters in the play are all trying to get to it and to win it, just to make something more of their less-than-wonderful lives on the reservation. As they begin playing it and especially when Nanbush comes and "escorts Marie-Adele into the Spirit world," (Highway 104) it is then evident that THE BIGGEST BINGO IN THE WORLD is in fact life, and like the game, eventually everyone's number is called.

In Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven, there are many different archetypes, but the two biggest ones are hurricanes and the concept of using humor to help soothe social wounds. The first symbol, hurricanes, is discussed in the opening pages of the novel.

The particular hurricane in the opening pages was so violent that it "knocked Victor from his bed and latest nightmare" (Alexie 1). But that was not the only hurricane that was in the Spokane Reservation that night. Just a few floorboards, nails, and air pockets below Victor, his uncles are in a hurricane between themselves. The hurricane in this story is one that represents how we are like hurricanes in that we can become torn between emotions, much like hurricanes can change in terms of which direction they move and in terms of how strong or weak they become, evidenced by constantly changing air pressure inside them. Also, people, like hurricanes, can become so blinded by their own internal forces that they destroy what they do not mean to destroy, like Victor's two uncles, although no one was really destroyed. The important fact is that they could have been.

Another representation of the hurricane is that the characters in Victor's house are not only being threatened by the hurricane outside, but they are also "caught in a cultural hurricane that includes increasing white settlement and cultural encroachments...and adverse United States government policy" (Slethaug 132). Native Americans, ever since the English moved onto their land, have been troubled by the white race, telling the Native Americans where to go and what to do, mainly discriminating against the Native Americans, whether they realized it or not. The troubles just keep spinning and spinning, coming back around to hit the Native Americans when they least expect it, just like a hurricane.

The second main archetype in Alexie's novel occurs in several different stories in the collection. This is the idea of humor and how Alexie uses it to do many things, one of which is to help readers understand the social problems that plague the Native American people.

In "The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor" Alexie demonstrates how humor can be used in both a good way and a bad way. Humor, if one thinks about it for a while, is one of the most useful tools in helping those who are terminally ill or simply not feeling well, to feel better. However, what one person may see as humorous, another person may not. Also, while humor is proclaimed by the ill to help ease the pain on the roller coaster ride that someone takes during a terminal illness, there are always going to be adverse feelings about the cancer, and the inescapable fear that it will catch up someday. Sherman Alexie recognizes these problems in his story of a man confronted with cancer.

Jimmy (the patient) is constantly making jokes about his cancer, mainly to keep his mind off it being a horrible turn of events. Rather than sit back and let the cancer eat the years of his life away, Jimmy chooses to prolong his life; to laugh as much as possible before he suddenly stops. In one part of the story, he makes reference to the game of baseball, saying that his friends should start to "call me Babe Ruth. Or Roger Maris...even Hank Aaron" (Alexie 157). He continues his sick humor with his intended trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame, where he plans to "make myself a new exhibit...Pin my X-rays to my chest to point out the tumors" (Alexie 157).

These statements, however unappreciated by Jimmy's wife and fellow Native American Simon are merely made to try and help his friends and loved ones see that death is not such a bad thing. They are also there to ease some of Jimmy's own pain that he is undoubtedly feeling.

What this also shows is that Jimmy is mentally tough and won't let a little cancer stop him from living out his life. He has been given the bad news, realizes that there is absolutely nothing he can do about it, and thus decides to go along for the ride, however long that may be.

Native American literature, like Euroamerican literature, is rich in many literary elements, such as plot, setting, or the thousands of themes or morals that emerge out of the writing. However, although Euroamerican literature possesses all these things, Native American literature presents them in a totally different, organized, and unbiased way. By reading Native American literature, readers are shown pieces of that culture through a new lens that they perhaps had never looked into. Two critical theories: gender criticism and mythological criticism, when used to analyze a piece of Native American literature, help non-Indian readers to better understand that culture by showing them that what they thought was true of Native American culture may not be true at all. Also, by studying Native American literature through these lenses and others, readers can hope to gain a better understanding of why Native Americans do the things they do, and perhaps some of the things that happened between the two cultures could be avoided in the future.

Works Cited

Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1994.

Bridges, Sara K., Mary M. D. Selvidge, Connie R. Matthews. "Lesbian Women of Color: Therapeutic Issues and Challenges." Journal of Multicultutural Counseling and Development 31 (2003): 115, 121.

Burdette, Patricia. Class Handout. "Critical Approaches To Literature." English 261. Ovalwood Hall, The Ohio State University Mansfield, OH. Autumn Quarter, 2004.

Coulombe, Joseph L. "Sherman Alexie's Comic Connections and Disconnections in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven. American Indian Quarterly 26 (2002): 94.

Highway, Tomson. The Rez Sisters: A Play In Two Acts. Calgary, AB, Canada: Fifth House Publishers, 1988.

Perkins, Lina. "Remembering The Trickster in Tomson Highway's The Rez Sisters." Modern Drama 45 (2002): 260.

Slethaug, Gordon E. "Hurricanes and Fires: Chaotics in Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight In Heaven." Literature Film Quarterly. 31 (2003): 132.