Analysis concepts and applications

Native Americans

In "Showdown at Sorrow Cave: Bat Medicine and the Spirit of Resistance in Mean Spirit," Andrea Musher analyzes a critical scene in Linda Hogan's novel Mean Spirit. The scene is momentous, even though Musher admits it is not the literary climax of the novel. Musher describes the showdown incident at Sorrow Cave, which provides the symbolic backbone of Hogan's novel.

Musher describes the cave in terms of its basic symbolism as a coffin-like environment in which death and rebirth can take place. Moreover, Musher makes sure to point out the symbolic meaning of the bats that live in the cave and which form a major part of Hogan's narrative. Bats are flying mammals: as such they represent the interface between two worlds. Musher explains that Hogan intended for the bats -- as well as the cave -- to symbolize the Native American experience.

"Showdown at Sorrow Cave" summarizes the incidents that immediately lead up to and follow from the showdown. Talbert is waging war on the Native Americans, who represent everything that the Christians cannot stand in America. The Native Americans are like bats: misunderstood and maligned. Bats walk the line between light and darkness, and as such seem evil to the Christian worldview. Musher describes why the showdown at Sorrow Cave took place in the first place while assuming that the audience has read Mean Spirit already.

Musher also offers background information about the main characters in the scene. As Musher points out, "The spiritual leaders who have gathered at the cave include Michael Horse, Joe Billy, Stace Redhawk, and Father Dunne." Musher offers a character sketch of each of these spiritual leaders. Each of the leaders hails from a different background and point-of-view, but they share one essential feature in common. They are all committed to the indigenous value system that is portrayed as being morally superior to the egotistical Christian worldview. Unlike the Christians, the Native Americans view human beings as being on par with nature as opposed to in control of it. Human beings do not have dominion over nature, as the Christian world view suggests. Rather, human beings must live in harmony with nature. Human beings must also live in harmony with each other, lest death and destruction result.

The name Sorrow Cave underscores the mood of the novel, and Musher reminds readers of this fact. Ultimately, Musher offers the same conclusion that Hogan reaches: sorrow is an integral part of life and it is only by willingly entering the Sorrow Cave that one becomes purified and redeemed. As Musher points out, Hogan's goal is the glorification of Native ideals in light of the trauma they have endured. Hogan includes a diverse cast of spiritual guides for the very fact that "Indianism" is more of a state of mind and consciousness than it is a genetic or racial identity. Musher spends a considerable amount of time dwelling on the character of Father Dunne because of what the priest represents. One of the few sympathetic white characters in Mean Spirit, Father Dunne exemplifies the redemption of the white spirit. Father Dunne has recognized the value of the Indian worldview. With his newfound respect for human life and the natural world. Father Dunne becomes one of the unlikely heroes of Hogan's novel. Hogan's novel is therefore a representative of cultural harmony. The novel offers a message of hope, which is why Musher spends time discussing the showdown as a pivotal moment in Hogan's work.

Response

Musher's explication of Hogan's Mean Spirit is thorough and thought-provoking. Oddly enough, Musher does not dwell on the Christian symbolism that ironically punctuates Linda Hogan's novel. Musher misses the opportunity to explore some of the Christ-like symbolism that Hogan purposely -- or inadvertently -- addresses in Mean Spirit. Regardless, Musher does offer a lucid, thorough, and interesting appraisal of Linda Hogan's novel.

The showdown at Sorrow Cave is a terrific incident to choose for analysis. As Musher points out, the showdown is not the novel's climax but it might as well be as it serves as a "prism through which various themes of the novel are gathered and laid out in clear bands of color." It is this prism that Musher attempts to elucidate and appreciate, and the author does achieve those goals.

The showdown incident in Mean Spirit represents a confluence of cultures, just as it reveals the "clear bands of color" in a prism. The diverse group of individuals that gather at the Sorrow Cave are prisms as well: windows into different worldviews. The core characters do come together in a spirit of mutual understanding and agreement about ethical righteousness. Each of these characters represents strength and courage in the face of formidable obstacles.

For Musher, Hogan's point-of-view makes perfect sense. Indeed, it would take a radically conservative Christian to disagree with Hogan's assessment of the colonial experience. Father Dunne, and Musher's analysis of his character, become more important in light of the lack of Christian perspective that Musher represents. Hogan seems to understand that the Indian experience was a fundamental clash of cultures. The indigenous worldview was one that denied materialism, while at the same time celebrating the pleasures of the body.

Musher does not spend enough time on gender, even though the author acknowledges Hogan's awareness of female Indian identity. Belle Graycloud is described as "an Osage matriarch, one of the important tribal elders in the novel, a woman who has thus far successfully negotiated the difficulties of living in both the Indian world and the white world." Belle is portrayed in Hogan's novel as being "batty," and Musher makes sure to point out the pun.

Yet gender issues do not weigh heavily in Musher's analysis. Likewise, Musher misses out on the eerie parallel between the Native American genocide and the Jewish genocide in the early 20th century in Europe. Musher mentions the moment during which the white residents wanted to "gas the cave" without pointing out the holocaust imagery. This parallel would have made sense in light of Musher's thesis.

In spite of these omissions, Musher's explication of Hogan's novel is enlightening. Belle is portrayed as the quintessentially misunderstood matriarch, whose determination and prowess are perceived as insanity due to outmoded gender norms and culture clashes. Belle deserves respect, and she is a social and cultural hub. Musher emphasizes the differences between the European and Native American worldview in terms of religion, nature, and ethics. In particular, Native Americans view nature as an extension of the self and therefore something to be respected. The Christian Europeans view nature as something to be dominated. Using the showdown as the symbolic moment, Musher invites controversial readings of the text. After all, bats are perceived as vampires and as evil creatures.