I Heard the Owl Call My Name
Independent Reading A Guide to
I Heard the Owl Call My Name
Margaret Craven
“The myths are the village and the winds and the rain. . . . The village is the talking bird, the owl, who calls the name of the man who is going to die. . . .”
The Novel at a Glance
I Heard the Owl Call My Name is a novel about a clash of cultures. The plot focuses on a young Anglican vicar, unaware that he has only a few years to live, who is sent to work among the Tsawataineuk, an American Indian tribe of the Kwakiutl - – (kwä´ke·oo t´’l) people in British Columbia. Setting: Kingcome Village, British Columbia, during an eighteen-month period in the 1960s. Protagonist: Mark Brian, a newly ordained Anglican vicar in his twenties. Conflicts: The major conflict in the novel concerns Mark’s efforts to gain the trust of the villagers and later to recognize and accept the fact of his impending death. The Kwakiutl people face a conflict between life as they know it and modern ways. Jim, a “local boy,” and Gordon, a “city boy,” clash over Keetah, and Keetah struggles with her love for Gordon and her desire to stay in the village. Resolution: Mark is accepted by the villagers, who invite him to remain with them until he dies. Mark accepts the inevitability of his death (although he is killed in a landslide before illness overtakes him). The villagers to some degree accept the inevitability of change. Keetah marries Jim. Themes: Clashes of cultures might be unavoidable, but they are often accompanied by tragedy. In human life, as in nature, change is inevitable. Celebrating life prepares one for death. Title: According to tribal tradition, an owl calling the name of a person means that person will soon die. The title foreshadows the novel’s ending. popular novel, though it deals with serious problems faced by its characters, ends by celebrating life.
Background
Northwest Coast. One of six major cultural regions of native peoples of North America, the Northwest Coast extends from
I Heard the Owl Call My Name
Margaret Craven
“The myths are the village and the winds and the rain. . . . The village is the talking bird, the owl, who calls the name of the man who is going to die. . . .”
The Novel at a Glance
I Heard the Owl Call My Name is a novel about a clash of cultures. The plot focuses on a young Anglican vicar, unaware that he has only a few years to live, who is sent to work among the Tsawataineuk, an American Indian tribe of the Kwakiutl - – (kwä´ke·oo t´’l) people in British Columbia. Setting: Kingcome Village, British Columbia, during an eighteen-month period in the 1960s. Protagonist: Mark Brian, a newly ordained Anglican vicar in his twenties. Conflicts: The major conflict in the novel concerns Mark’s efforts to gain the trust of the villagers and later to recognize and accept the fact of his impending death. The Kwakiutl people face a conflict between life as they know it and modern ways. Jim, a “local boy,” and Gordon, a “city boy,” clash over Keetah, and Keetah struggles with her love for Gordon and her desire to stay in the village. Resolution: Mark is accepted by the villagers, who invite him to remain with them until he dies. Mark accepts the inevitability of his death (although he is killed in a landslide before illness overtakes him). The villagers to some degree accept the inevitability of change. Keetah marries Jim. Themes: Clashes of cultures might be unavoidable, but they are often accompanied by tragedy. In human life, as in nature, change is inevitable. Celebrating life prepares one for death. Title: According to tribal tradition, an owl calling the name of a person means that person will soon die. The title foreshadows the novel’s ending. popular novel, though it deals with serious problems faced by its characters, ends by celebrating life.
Background
Northwest Coast. One of six major cultural regions of native peoples of North America, the Northwest Coast extends from
References: Meet the Writer Margaret Craven (1901–1980) was born in Helena, Montana, grew up in Washington state, and spent her adult life in California