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Leslie Marmon Silko's Lullaby, Storyteller, and Yellow Woman

Decent Essays

Leslie Marmon Silko's Lullaby, Storyteller, and Yellow Woman

Leslie Marmon Silko?s work is set apart due to her Native American Heritage. She writes through ?Indian eyes? which makes her stories very different from others. Silko is a Pueblo Indian and was educated in one of the governments? BIA schools. She knows the culture of the white man, which is not uncommon for modern American Indians. Her work is powerful and educating at the same time.

In this paper, I will discuss three different works by Silko (Lullaby, Storyteller, and Yellow Woman). Each of the stories will be discussed according to plot, style, and social significance. After that, I will relate Silko?s work to other literary genies and analyze her work as a …show more content…

The Navajo do not use the names of the dead and speak carefully about as to not upset their soul. In addition, when they said not to send the body back home many people may see this is strange. They believe that after death the soul is released and thus the body is rendered useless. Silko does a wonderful job delineating Navajo culture. Ayah is tied to the earth and she twists it to protect her.

?Storyteller';

The main character in this story is s young Eskimo woman. Her parents are dead so she is cared for by her grandmother and grandmother?s boyfriend. While she is away at reform school her grandmother dies leaving her in the care of ?the man';. This man was whom her grandmother lived with who the girl was not blood related. The man abuses her sexually and has for a long time. In addition she is taken advantage of by other men in the town. She is constantly evaluating white culture that is always encroaching. She laughs when she thinks of the yellow stuffing that is supposed to keep them warm. The boarding schools take away the young people in the village and cause them to lose traditions and cultural traits. The young men who had been away at school forgot how to hunt the seals. Silko is saying that whites are destroying the Indian culture. Eskimo and Navajo are completely different cultures, which Silko describes and details beautifully.

?Yellow Woman';

This I would say is a modern rendition of an old Indian folk tale.

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