Bearhear 2

                    The most important thing that anyone can draw from a novel is the message it is trying to send indirectly to the reader whether it be from symbolism or character diction.  Bearheart is no different and its message became clear throughout the novel as it was repeated over and over.  This message was the sin of “terminal creed”.  Terminal creed to me is anything that puts limitations on you or your surroundings.  Vizenor tries to make us realize how this has affected our perception of the outside world and what reality is.

                “”Terminal creeds” in Bearheart are beliefs that seek to impose static definitions upon the world” (249).  By even beginning to try and describe something and its existence you are already limiting that object in your mind.  You are putting it in a box to try and find a simple understanding of what it is about.  This is not all bad as we need these limitations to express ourselves to others and try and understand the world around us.  But in doing this we have ignorantly setting aside a lot of truths that are now blind to.

                From what we have been brought up to know whether it be from school, parents, and television Indians seemed to be communal and peace loving nomads who have a spiritual connection with nature.  This novel allows us to realize that this is not the case, that there other real qualities that fall on these previously portrayed people besides Indian.  What Vizenor is trying to say is that a word and its meaning cannot fully capture what an object is, what a person is, or even what life is.

Bearheart 1

“Bearheart” by Gerald Vizenor, was a hard book to understand in the beginning as you were introduced to the world from a different perspective.  That perspective happened to be that of Fourth Proude whose father and his father and before that his father has died from bizarrely brutal events.  The First Proude paved the way for the story as he was the one who made his circus a sovereign nation, protecting the rights of the trees and animals in that distinct line from the government.  After he was killed by a man with an axe the Second Proude seemed to be an outsider of the ways of the land as he drank a lot and eventually left the circus to be run by the woman to go fight in the white man’s war.  He was then shot by a policeman who went crazy not to long after.  But as the events unfold in this novel and the Fourth Proude finally becomes the leader you finally have grown the sense of the simplicity and spirit that is encompassed by the ghost border of trees in this nation. 

                This novel portrays the government as a controlling diabolical entity and the only peace was inside these borders where time seemed to stand still.  I did not understand the title of the book until all the representations that the Proude’s are spiritual linked to the bears, and talks to crows as well as the other animals in the circus.  The author kept on talking about incense and for a long time the people sought after refuge in this cedar nation because of the government’s tyranny, so I got an impression that this incense and spiritual ceremonies were chemically induced causing them to hallucinate.  In the mean time I do not think the author is trying to portray Proude as a drug user but more of a pure figure or visionary.  The crows are a major detail in this novel as they follow Proude and lead him to make interpretations about the future.  I believe it is real important to see what does the land represent?  Almost like the Garden of Eden or something of that significance to the Proude’s and of course the outside world is collapsing into complete chaos because of the gasoline and electricity crises.  This material sin can of man seems to be the major fixture in this book and using Fourth Proude as a measuring stick you can actually see how far these people have fallen from purity.

Solomon 2

               With Guitar’s now more sophisticated realism of whites and blacks he turns to an outdated method of dealing with the issue by taking an eye for eye.  They are sayings for a reason and this one proves no different because Guitar is killing innocent white people to enact revenge but all that does is spread the gap in-between whites and blacks having it become more violent.  Although Guitar is set in a suicidal mindset on this society his reasons for doing so are clear and exact.  So when Milkman argues on how terrible this is the narrator already has you questioning Milkman’s reasons behind his words, almost making you side with Guitar that it is perfectly fine to kill innocent people.  This is a great method of writing as the other pushes and pulls you stretching out your morals only to bring you right back. 

                As before the narrator starts to mask some aspects of the story and lighten others in order for you to start viewing people as more dynamic characters.  Respecting that each one has their flaws as well as characteristics that make you side with them.  For example, the narrative switches to a completely different perspective when telling about Pilate and Macon Dead Jr.’s dilemma.  From what we can only assume from the story is that Pilate stole the gold and the clothe off the man’s back.  This instantly makes you question Pilate’s morals and what drives her.

                The fact that at this point Guitar is not only considering but planning on bombing a church with four little white girls in it is a clear indication that this society has been taken too far and the morals it rests on are outdated and dangerous to society as a whole.  Milkman told Guitar of the gold in Pilate’s room and they together stole it only to get pulled over and discover there was no gold.  Instantly bouncing you back to why you ever questioned Pilate’s integrity and making you realize that the author has more control over you than you feel comfortable with. 

                These continuous symbols are prevalent throughout the novel as the white peacock appeared right before the robbery.  Also, as soon as you see that Milkman’s character is developing more sincerely and rationally his genetic defect seemed to have gone away making it a clear indication that a turning point in Milkman’s life is approaching if it has not already started changing.