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.