Tom Whitecloud Blue Winds Dancing Analysis

Character Analysis of Tom Whitecloud’s “Blue Winds Dancing”

In this story or fictionalized autobiographical fragment Whitecloud develops a character, a young Native American man, stuck within an internal conflict of discovering his individuality and his true identity. Throughout the story the narrator shows characteristics of rebellion. The struggle of deciding whether to conform or to rebel against the white modern American ways is what causes this internal conflict. The narrator’s rebellious character is brought out by his attempt to leave the Indian reserve and attend university to try to conform to white modern American ways, his decision to leave the University and go back to his “home” in Wisconsin, and his realization of the
man who he truly is. The beginning of the story takes place in southern California during the 1930’s where the character is attending university. During this time period it wasn’t an everyday occurrence that a Native American attended college. However, the narrator rebelled against Native American traditions and culture to attend University. From the story you can tell the narrator must have attended University for a long period of time, because of his ability to judge the everyday life of the white American culture. The narrator describes life in white modern America as “hysterically preparing for life until that life is half over”. (320, p.5) “Trying to do everything you don’t want to, never doing anything you want to. It means dancing to the strings of custom and tradition; it means living in houses and never caring who is next door”. (320, p.6) “A city with a million people who walk around without seeing one another; a city sucking the life from all the country around”. (322 p.24) Evidently the narrator has negative feelings towards this new culture that he left home for. With the narrators opposing views and his immaculate negatativity for the white modern America, he gets this overwhelming feeling of not being able to fit in anywhere; an outcast per se, or a rebel.
He describes the peace of his “home”, the Native American Indian reservation, back in Wisconsin. He describes the beauty, serenity, and the tranquility of the Native American culture and the reader can easily tell how much he misses it by the contrast between the feelings for life at the university and feelings for life back at home. However, the narrator is not quite sure if that’s where he belongs or if he would even be welcomed back. What would his people and family think of him if he went back… a white, an Indian, or a failure? With all of this confusion and crisis to discover his identity the narrator makes the rash decision to head back to his “home” in Wisconsin, to see whether or not it is indeed where he belongs. Rebelling against white modern American ways of life the narrator rides the coal tenders of a freight train back to Wisconsin. On his way he passes through many other Indian reservations containing different tribes. He points out the beauty of the nature around him. The reader can sense the excitement because the narrator very seldom refers to the severity of his situation and how dangerous it is. Instead, the narrator just focuses on the different landmarks of each tribe territory the freight passes
through. The narrator finally makes it back to Woodruff, Wisconsin. He’s anxious, nervous, and weary about what to expect when he actually makes it back to the reservation. As he walks along the tracks towards the reservation he begins to feel alone but not lonely, a calm type of alone full of peace and relaxation. “I am alone; alone but not nearly as lonely as I was back on campus at school.” (322, p.23) Back at school the narrator felt like he didn’t belong, leading to loneliness. He finds a comfort in what he is familiar with. The smell of wood burning, tracks in the snow, blue winds dancing, wildlife roaming free, and the quietness with a faint sound of drums welcomes the narrator back to his home. Without knowing whether or not the outcome is going to be positive or negative, the narrator already starts to rebel against the modern American ways of life. “A deer comes out of the woods ahead of me, and stands silhouetted on the rails. The North, I feel, has welcomed me home. I watch him and am glad that I do not wish for a gun.” (322, p.23) This is one of the many examples of his rebellion against white modern American ways of life. If he was a white man during this time period, the narrator may have shot a killed the deer for food or as a prize. Instead, the narrator just takes in the beauty and peacefulness of the event. When the narrator reaches the lodge of the reservation he stops to ponder if his people would remember him or accept him. “I hear the ice groan on the lake, and remember the story of the old woman under the ice, trying to get out, so she can punish some runaway lovers. I think to myself “If I am white I will not believe that story; if I am an Indian, I will know that there is an old woman under the ice.” I listen for a while and I know that there is a woman under the ice.” (323, p.30) At this point the true rebellion against white modern American ways of life takes place. After walking into the lodge the narrator feels the mood of happiness and acceptance among his people. No questions asked the narrator feels he is right where he belongs.
“I am happy. This is beautiful. I am home.” (324, p.33) is how the story ends. The narrator has completely rebelled against the white modern American ways of life and has officially returned to his home on the Indian reservation of Wisconsin. It took rebelling against both cultures and experiencing each to finally solve his internal conflict and discover his identity. The narrator was and will always be an Indian. (320, p.7)

Work Cited
Whitecloud, Tom. “Blue Winds Dancing.” Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 10th ed. New York:
Pearson Longman, 2012. 320-24 Print.