Winter in the Blood Response Paper
Whitney Ellinger
Professor Bassett
L 364
22 July 2013
Response Paper #2 At birth, a child is given a name in hopes of making something of them later on in life. In Winter in the Blood, our narrator is presented as being nameless. Being nameless through the entire book shows how the narrator views himself and how he sees himself relating to those around him. Throughout the book, the narrator struggles with connecting to family members and identifying himself and his self worth, which ties into the major themes in the book such as alienation and identity. Remaining nameless throughout the book plays into the role of alienation for the narrator. The narrator struggles with connecting to not only other people in his reservation, but with his own family. The narrator has lost both his brother and his father, and it is not until the end of the book that we find out that they may be the only family members he loved. This may play into his struggle to connect with his mother and grandmother. The narrator may not know show a connection or show affection towards his mother and grandmother because he doesn’t know how or because it may be because he is afraid of what will happen when they pass away too. The narrator also feels alienated when various characters try to remember details to events that happened in the past. For example, the narrator is talking with Lame Bull about the flood that had occurred about a decade ago. The narrator and Lame Bull go back and forth about the age of the narrator; the narrator reassuring Lame Bull that he was in his twenties when the flood happened but failing to reassure him because he believes the narrator was a small child at the time. There is also another incident in the book where the narrator has the same problem with his mother in recollecting details of the past. The narrator asks his mother why his father was rarely home when he was younger and she simply tells him that he was home often and that the narrator must be
Professor Bassett
L 364
22 July 2013
Response Paper #2 At birth, a child is given a name in hopes of making something of them later on in life. In Winter in the Blood, our narrator is presented as being nameless. Being nameless through the entire book shows how the narrator views himself and how he sees himself relating to those around him. Throughout the book, the narrator struggles with connecting to family members and identifying himself and his self worth, which ties into the major themes in the book such as alienation and identity. Remaining nameless throughout the book plays into the role of alienation for the narrator. The narrator struggles with connecting to not only other people in his reservation, but with his own family. The narrator has lost both his brother and his father, and it is not until the end of the book that we find out that they may be the only family members he loved. This may play into his struggle to connect with his mother and grandmother. The narrator may not know show a connection or show affection towards his mother and grandmother because he doesn’t know how or because it may be because he is afraid of what will happen when they pass away too. The narrator also feels alienated when various characters try to remember details to events that happened in the past. For example, the narrator is talking with Lame Bull about the flood that had occurred about a decade ago. The narrator and Lame Bull go back and forth about the age of the narrator; the narrator reassuring Lame Bull that he was in his twenties when the flood happened but failing to reassure him because he believes the narrator was a small child at the time. There is also another incident in the book where the narrator has the same problem with his mother in recollecting details of the past. The narrator asks his mother why his father was rarely home when he was younger and she simply tells him that he was home often and that the narrator must be