LITR 5731: Seminar in American Minority Literature

Sample Student Final Exam Submission, fall 2004

Danny Corrigan

December 10, 2004

Essay One: Question Prompt 3 - Creation/Origin Stories 

“A Brief Analysis of African American, Native American and Mexican American Origin Stories”

              The theories postulated in Andrew Wiget’s description concerning Native American origin or creation stories can certainly be applied to African American, Native American and Mexican American origin stories on a macroscopic level, but for the purposes of this seminar, it may be more appropriate to examine these themes from a microscopic scale, particularly in how to relate to individuals in the texts we have read.

            This concept of the origin story from the “individual” perspective as opposed to the tribal perspective can best be seen in the Classic Slave Narratives. Interestingly enough, and perhaps as a result of his conversion to Christianity later in his life, Equiano begins his story by describing his childhood in very idyllic terms, literally describing the Eden of his youth in pre-lapsarian terms. When “the fall” does occur and he is sold into slavery, he details how all his sufferings shape his character, and help to transform him into the man he becomes when, by the grace of God, he finally gains his freedom. Thus, in true Christian fashion, Equiano falls and then is redeemed to be born anew; his personal origin story is one of being born from the darkness of slavery into the light of freedom, where he finally gains his own identity.

            Frederick Douglas, Macon Dead and Precious Jones also experience similar “origins”, but  their journeys of self-discovery, their births, if you will, are not based on faith but on knowledge. Instead of following a “fall” motif, their creations are more akin to the creation stories of Norse, Hebrew/Christian/Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and several Native American mythologies, where everything first exists in either a void or chaos, and then order is created from that chaos. Frederick Douglas, Macon Dead and Precious

Jones all embark on quests of kabbalistic proportions to gain their own identities. For Douglas and Precious, the keys to unlock the chains that bind them are to be found via literacy. By learning to read and right, they both are able to free themselves, not only physically, but also spiritually and emotionally, until they too are “born” from chaos into the light. Macon Dead’s journey from ignorance to knowledge is not based on literacy, but on family history and self-identity. Much like the Buddha, after Macon has  his epiphany and realizes his family’s legacy, he is transformed from a state of ignorance into a state of enlightenment. He too is born from darkness and chaos into the light.

            The Native American origin stories are obviously the closest in tone to Wiget’s theories, especially since of the 300 major variations and seven primary symbolic types of creation stories among North American Indians all of them describe tribal origins, not individual origins. Wiget also notes that no Native American myth identifies with the Christian belief in a fall from the grace of God. That is interesting because by syncretic methods or otherwise, some of those themes of “the fall” do seem to appear in Black Elk Speaks and Lone Ranger and Tonto. Black Elk, in particular, describes some very apocalyptic imagery in his visions, especially in his first one, with the repeated number twelve perhaps referring to the twelve apostles or the twelve tribes of Israel. He also describes Crazy Horse in messianic terms, resting the hope of the entire village on this one man to save them from the “white man.” Although this spotlight on the individual is a deviation of the importance of the tribe as a whole, it can also be seen in Lone Ranger and Tonto, indicating that this belief may not be a fluke, but something which has been absorbed by Native Americans into their culture. Several stories in the collection, particularly “The Only Signal On the Reservation Doesn’t Flash Red Anymore” touch on the theme of how basketball is a way for youths to escape the poverty of the reservation, and by being successful the athletes in a way help to redeem the reservation. Even when athletes with potential fail, they are still remembered. In fact, one of the characters comments that “In the outside world, a person can be a hero one second and a nobody the next...A reservation hero is a hero forever.” This attitude seems to tie in to Objective 3b, in which the Indian culture chooses to survive in the face of loss. Unlike the African American origin stories for this class, which can be interpreted as individual origins, the Native American stories seem tend to remain closer in spirit to Wiget’s theories and focus on the tribe as a whole.

            Of the three minority origin stories, the Mexican American story of “The Virgin of Guadalupe” is the most difficult to fit into the context of Wiget’s theories, mainly because it is so syncretic to begin with. Yes, the story of Juan Diego’s vision of the Virgin Mary does bridge the cultural gap between the Indians of Mexico and the Catholic Church, especially since the vision supposedly occurred at the ancient site of an Indian fertility goddess, but the parable definitely does have a Christian slant, with its emphasis on individual redemption and salvation.

            This syncretic union of Christian and pagan beliefs can also bee seen in Bless Me, Ultima. In order to please his mother, Antonio desperately wants to initiate himself into the mysteries of the Catholic Church, but he is also greatly intrigued by Ultima’s curandera abilities, which, despite Anaya’s allusion’s to Ultima as a healing Virgin Mary type figure, are definitely more in line with pagan beliefs than Christian doctrine. It is not until Ultima is killed for being a brujura that Antonio comes to the conclusion that perhaps it is possible to navigate between both beliefs, much like the way the Virgin of Guadalupe bridged the gap between pagan and Christian beliefs.

            Finally, this syncreticism between Christianity and paganism can be seen several times in Woman Hollering Creek . One of the most notable examples is in “Bien Pretty” when Lupe goes into the “Mexican voodoo store” to buy votive candles and notes that everything is clearly divided into distinct pagan and Christian aisles, thus indicating that pagan remnants still exist within the Mexican American Christian community. An even more powerful example of this can be seen in “Little Miracles, Kept Promises” where the narrator clearly makes the connection between the two belief systems when she writes “...I finally understood who you are. No longer Mary the mild, but Tonantzin.” By petitioning the Virgin to be able to live life on her own terms, the narrator comes full circle to embrace the central theme of freedom and discovery of self-identity in the African American origin stories; she wants to write her own origin and recreate her life into the one she wants to live.

Essay Two: Reviewing Mexican American literature in relation to a course objective  “The Importance of Families in Mexican American Literature”

            Objective 6a. states that “Generally speaking, minority groups place more emphasis on ‘traditional’ or ‘community’ aspects of human society, such as extended families or alternative families, and they mistrust ‘institutions’. This objective is certainly true in Mexican American literature where there is a great deal of importance placed on the family.

            Perhaps one of the most amusing examples of this is depicted in “The Virgin of Guadalupe” story where Juan Diego is charged by the Virgin Mary herself, considered by Christians to be the mother of Jesus and therefore the mother of God, to tell the local bishop to build a church on a particular hilltop, and instead of obeying her wishes, he goes to find help for his dying uncle! It is not likely that many Christians would ignore directives coming from the “Mother of God,” but Juan Diego’s concern for his “earthly” family overriding his concerns for the “institution” of the Church is evidently a very strong belief in the Mexican American community.

            The importance of family is also illustrated in Bless Me, Ultima. Both of Antonio’s parents are obviously proud of their respective sides of the family and want to pass on their traditions to their children. It is indicated in the novel that before Antonio was born, his family was living with his mother’s family, I believe, as one large extended family. Antonio’s family continues this tradition by inviting Ultima to live at their house. Antonio’s father scorns the tradition of the church, attending more to appease his wife than anything else, he is very passionate when it comes to his family. When Antonio’s older brothers return home from the war, his father wants to keep the family together, even though the sons are adults and capable of living on their own. He wants them to go out west with him so they can all work together, and he is heartbroken when they refuse and decide to live their own lives without the rest of the family. This idea of a nuclear family as opposed to an extended family is obviously more of a dominant culture trait, and perhaps it disturbs Antonio’s father so much because it shows that his sons are assimilating into the dominate culture and are in danger of losing their own culture as a result.

            Finally, this theme of the extended family can be seen in several of the stories in Woman Hollering Creek. One of the most prominent examples is in “Eyes of Zapata” where the narrator, despite the fact that she knows Zapata is having affairs with other women, and has even fathered children with them, still tries to maintain the semblance of a family with him. She states “You always come back. In between and beyond the others...You come back to me,” implying that, despite the fact that they lack a traditional family, she is still willing to accept an “alternative” family. It is also indicated in the story that when she is pregnant with Zapata’s child, and he is away fighting, her father, despite his objections to her marriage, allows her to return home to rejoin his family, thereby continuing and maintaining the motif of the extended family in Mexican American literature.