Dances With Wolves by Michael Blake

 

Dances With Wolves

Micheal Blake

Published 1988

American Novel

⭐⭐⭐ 

Dances With Wolves could be considered an adult "coming-of-age" story. 

The main character, Lieutenant John Dunbar, had been transferred out West to the U.S. Army's most remote post, which had been deserted during the Civil War. He spent weeks in solitude, expecting the army to send more soldiers and supplies. While waiting, he began to see the world with different eyes. 

"Loo Ten Nant" John Dunbar on the prairie

For one, he fell in love with the prairie. 

Lieutenant Dunbar had fallen in love. He had fallen in love with this wild, beautiful country and everything it contained. It was the kind of love people dream of having with other people: selfless and free of doubt, reverent and everlasting. His spirit had received a promotion and his heart was jumping. 

His only kin were a trusted army horse, Cisco, and a curious, friendly wolf, which Dunbar named Two Socks; that is, until one day he was visited by a few of his nearest neighbors belonging to a Comanche tribe. Numerous failed attempts to steal Cisco prompted Dunbar to make an initial visit to their village, and in doing so, he met a white woman who lived with the Comanches. She eventually became the liaison between Dunbar and the tribal leaders.  

The story of Dunbar's transformation was told through his narrations and journal writings. Relationships developed between Dunbar and the Comanches, as well as with the white woman, Stands With a Fist. Over time, both parties learned the other's language and how to better communicate. Dunbar introduced his neighbors to American inventions and the tribe invited Dunbar on a buffalo hunt. They trusted him enough to build him his own dwelling within the village to accommodate him during his visits and also asked him to help defend the woman and children, which was a great honor, while the warriors were away on a war party with their enemies, the Pawnee. 

Wind in His Hair and Kicking Bird trying to communicate with Dunbar

The more time Dunbar spent with his neighbors, the more he resembled them, in dress, behavior, and ideas. Whenever he returned to the fort for a few days, the loneliness was too much to bear and he had to return to the village. 

Eventually, it was evident that the army post had been completely abandoned and forgotten, prompting Dunbar to officially meld himself into the community of Comanche family he had naturally become a part of. After all, he and the white woman were ultimately married. (You saw that coming.)

As time went on, Dunbar transformed into Dances With Wolves

Unfortunately, the story regressed drastically when Dunbar returned to the soldier fort one final time to retrieve the only piece of evidence of his existence: his journal. If you are not familiar with the story, I won't say anymore. 

The good news is that it does not end there for Dunbar, who then went by his Comanche name Dances With Wolves; however, it was not a hopeful future for the native people in general. Not long after the Civil War ended, the United States used its military to removed the majority of remaining native tribes onto reservations in the American West and Southwest. 

About the book vs. the movie

If you do not know already, Dances With Wolves was made into a movie in the early 90s. The author, Michael Blake, had written a screenplay for a movie that Kevin Costner was starring in, and when Costner read Blake's book, Dances With Wolves, he asked him to write a film adaptation. Then Costner directed the film version, and it won countless awards, including best picture, director, screenplay, and actor. 

The movie was and is epic. It is far better than the book, in my opinion. I am assuming either Blake or Costner added humor to several characters and scenes that the book did not. There were many chapters from the book that were left out. You could say the film deviated occasionally from the book, and I am soooo thankful. 

Plus, the music score, by John Barry, is also glorious in its own right. If the wide rolling prairie could have a soundtrack, this is what it would sound like: romantic and grandiose.

Should you read this book?

The book has good parts, and technically, the movie follows most of the plot from the book. It also fills in some spots that the movie does not have time to tell. But over all, if you are curious, definitely see the movie. It is a great story and well done for the big screen. 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 

Maya Angelou 

Published 1969

American Memoir  

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a coming of age story for Marguerite Johnson, a black girl growing up during the 1930s and 40s.  She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but when her parents divorced, she and her older brother Bailey were sent to live with their grandmother, an independent and self-sufficient woman living in a little segregated town, in Arkansas. 

Maya (a nickname) and Bailey were intellectual, and their grandmother fed them a healthy diet of literature. They loved to read and often escaped through books. Maya said she "fell in love with Shakespeare." 

In Arkansas, a wiser, older woman, Mrs. Flowers, befriended Maya. Maya liked her because she showed her it was ok to be yourself. She told Maya that 

words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning. 

She encouraged Maya to read books aloud and "in as many different ways as possible," to embolden her to find her voice. Maya had stopped talking after a horrific crime was committed against her when she was only eight-years old. Mrs. Flowers also gave her a book of poems to memorize and recite. I love how Maya described the joy of reading. She said:

To be allowed, no, invited, into the private lives of a stranger, and to share their joys and fears, was a chance to exchange the Southern bitter wormwood for a cup of mead with Beowulf or a hot cup of tea and milk with Oliver Twist. When I said aloud, 'It is a far, far better thing to do, than I have ever done...' tears of love filled my eyes at my selflessness.

Maya said Mrs. Flowers "had given [her] her secret word which called forth a djinn who was to serve [her] all [her] life: books." 💜 

But aside from the joy of reading, there were severe issues to confront in the story. Racism was one of many. Growing up in a segregated town, Maya said she knew "whites were to be dreaded." She said they were not referred to as people because they were "see-through, had small feet, and walked on their heels." They were "folks, not people," "pale creatures," "aliens," the "un-life."

In fact, whites were referred to as "powhitetrash." It was easy to understand why Maya could write so sharply about the white race. When she was ten, she had a painful experience with white kids mocking her grandmother. She also had to learn "female training" while serving a white woman for a short time, though this woman humiliated and disrespected Maya terribly that Maya "found a masterful way to be released from her service." 

I think a most heartbreaking moment for Maya was when a white dentist refused to care for her while she suffered a painful toothache; he adamantly refused to see black patients. She described how this dentist treated them and how he spoke to Maya's grandmother. It was disheartening!

At twelve-years old, Maya graduated co-valedictorian of her eighth grade class. The guest speaker was a white politician who talked only about how the boys would go on to be great athletes. Aside from only talking about the boys, Maya felt like her graduation was for nothing. If one wasn't athletic enough to be an athlete, he could be a farmer or a handyman; and girls...they could be a maid or washer woman. 

Nothing else mattered anymore. Not "Invictus," "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Not the valedictory address, "To be or not to be."

Hadn't he heard the whitefolks? We couldn't be, so the question was a waste of time.

And later, another prejudiced incident occurred, this time to Bailey, which prompted him to ask questions like what colored people did to white people in the first place, and "...why do they hate us so much?" 

This caused Maya's grandmother to take Maya and Bailey to their mother, who was now living in San Francisco. Their mother, Viviane, was a self-reliant, self-determined worldly woman, and San Francisco was a culture shock. Maya said that San Franciscans did not think racism existed in their city, but evidently, it did. 

For a short time she went to stay with her father and his girlfriend, in Los Angeles. That did not turn out well, and Maya ended up on the street for a month, though she learned a few valuable life lessons, including tolerance. 

Then it was back to San Francisco to live with her mother. At sixteen, Maya was determined to do something that no other black woman had done before. Her mother's advice was this:

That's what you want to do? Then nothing beats a trial but a failure. Give it everything you've got. I've told you many times, "Can't do is like Don't Care." Neither of them have a home. 

Maya said "it was the most positive encouragement [she] could have hoped for." What Maya went through next was a most disturbing series of events, which I had to continue reminding myself that this was the 1940s. I was very proud of her for her persistence because it paid off. 

While her memoir ended soon after, at seventeen, she experienced another major live change, albeit, after a very unexpected decision; but I don't want to share any more because I have already shared too much. If you do decide to read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, just be forewarned of heavy topics on race, child rape, and sexual curiosity.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is such a popular book and already an American classic. At times it is provoking, yet also absorbing and inspiring. While there are trials, they are not without victory. Graceful and seamless, it is a story that will stay with every reader long after she is done reading it. 

Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

The Red Badge of Courage

Stephen Crane  

Published 1895

American Novel

The Well-Educated Mind Novels

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Set during the Civil War, The Red Badge of Courage is not a history about the Civil War.  It is not about who stared the war or who won.  It is not necessarily about war either, but about man’s personal struggle with conscience, courage, fear, pride, shame, honor, glory, maturity, existence, and death.   It is a story about “coming-of-age.”

The main character, Henry Fleming, is a young soldier with an idealistic view of man and heroes.  Men are born to do “mighty deeds of arms” and live for great battles and be worshiped as godlike heroes.  Henry romanticizes about glory in war.  But when his regiment is faced with its first battle, he reexamines his ideals.

Henry experiences variations of emotions from questioning his own courage to doubting the commanding officers.  He wonders if he will run when the battle begins, and he suspects that those in charge are leading them straight into danger.

After the first battle, Henry’s regiment has the upper hand, and they feel valiant and prideful until the enemy unexpectedly returns; then Henry retreats and runs away.  To justify his actions and to soothe his self-reproach, he states that it is natural to escape danger, and others should have been as wise.  When he is alone within the bounds of the forest, he sees a corpse and questions whether his wisdom is capable of protecting him from death at all.

Once Henry returns to his regiment, after fighting has ceased, he blends in with injured soldiers and escapes questions about his missing “battle wound.”  His secret is a burden on his heart.  When he witnesses a friend and another soldier succumb to their injuries, he experiences shame for not having earned “his red badge of courage.”  He is deeply conflicted between acting bravely and feeling a natural desire to survive.  

Shortly after another skirmish breaks out, Henry witnesses his comrades retreating, and he grabs a soldier to ask questions.  The frantic soldier slams his rifle upon Henry’s head, bloodying him.  This injury serves as a cover up for his guilt, and he will not have to reveal his “crime,” but he is privately ashamed since he did not earn his injury for courage.  After a friend treats his head wound and he rests for a night, he goes through a period of pride and vanity because he has thus survived, and he is fraudulently arrogant toward other soldiers who have run from this latest clash.  

Henry develops a deep vengeance toward the enemy, and in the next battle, he is blinded with such wrath that his lieutenant is enthusiastically enthralled.  Again, Henry is swollen with juvenile pride and arrogance.  

Yet, there is a change in Henry now. 

“It was revealed to him that he had been a barbarian, a beast.  He had fought like a pagan who defends his religion…He had been a tremendous figure, no doubt.  But this struggle he had overcome obstacles which he had admitted to be mountains.  They had fallen like paper peaks, and he was now what he called a hero.  And he had not been aware of the process.  He had slept and, awakening, found himself a knight.”

Soon after, Henry and his comrade, Wilson, overhear two officers talking: one, they will charge the enemy; and, two, they insult and mock Henry’s regiment, expecting that most will be lost in the next conflict.  Henry and Wilson prepare the soldiers, but they do not share the other information.  Henry acquires a sense of clarity and determination.  

In battle, he and Wilson are fierce and valorous.  They recover the flag from a fallen color bearer, and Henry guards it protectively as it has become a symbol: “…a creation of beauty and invulnerability.  It was a goddess, radiant, that bended its form with an imperious gesture to him.  It was a woman, red and white, hating and loving, that called him with the voice of his hopes.  Because no harm could come to it he endowed it with power.”  

They urge their comrades on, and the enemy retreats; Henry and Wilson learn that the colonel is greatly impressed by their actions, which provides them much confidence going into the next battle.  

And after the final battle before the end of the story, Henry and Wilson perform heroically once more and help push the enemy back in another retreat.  It is over.  Contemplating his past errors and admitting that he was wrong, Henry demonstrates maturity and accepts his mistakes as part of the entire process of becoming a man.  

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn 

Betty Smith

Published 1943

American Semi-Autobiography / Novel

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was born in Brooklyn and thought this book would appeal to me simply because of the setting; but the protagonist, Francie, is from a different neighborhood of Brooklyn that I am not familiar, and the story takes place in the early 1900s, whereas I grew up in the 70s.  Life was very different for Francie. 

When we did live in Gerritsen Beach, my father took my brother and me all over Brooklyn, especially to Coney Island and Prospect Park, where he grew up.  He would often take us fishing in Sheepshead Bay or to one of the largest Brooklyn Public Libraries or the Brooklyn Museum of Art.  He showed us the statues and monuments all over the borough, and told us their stories.  I learned that there is much history and culture in Brooklyn; and while reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, it transported me back seventy years before I was born, to the place I would later live, and I can imagine all the history that was there before me.

Nonetheless, this was an excuse for me to dig up old photographs.  Brooklyn was special to me for many years after I moved away but, as I have been living in California since 1982, the emotional connection to my birthplace has faded away.   I no longer feel the nostalgia of the place I grew up.

Since this story takes place in the early 20th century, it was the beginning of technological advancements - an exciting time for the United States; everything seemed possible.  America was in the middle of an immigration boom from Europe.  Many people settled in New York, and therefore, the reader may experience the different European heritages of Francie's neighborhood.  But there was also a time of uncertainty on the eve of World War I.  

 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a coming of age story that chronicled Francie's youth, from birth to sixteen.  Readers observe her disappointments, her joys, and everything in between.   She was faced with adversity, poverty, rejection, disappointment, unfairness, and inequality; there were so many things wrong with her world, but it was the reality of her world.  Nonetheless, she persevered because Francie was a tough girl.

Francie learned early on that education (in part) was key to rise above hardships and obstacles.  With each generation, the women in Francie's family bettered themselves: Francie's grandmother could not read; but Francie's mother could, (though she never went to school); and Francie not only could read, but she would soon attend college.  Besides the benefits of education, Francie discovered the value of family.  When everything else seemed dire, being surrounded by family was encouraging.

       What actually appealed to me was Francie's resilience and tenacity, which she inherited from her mother, her aunts, and her grandmother.  In addition to the aforementioned obstacles, some of the men in their world were not reliable.  I said some.  Hence, the women had to be resourceful in order to survive and take care of themselves and their families.

Finally, I will add that there is a happy ending.  A very happy ending.  While the story ended just as life was improving for Francie and her family, the reader is assured that hard work has paid off.  So you may stop worrying about Francie.  She will take care of herself just fine. There was more to the story than Francie.  The author wrote about Francie's grandparents, aunts and uncles, and mother and father.  

        She described how Francie's parents grew up, met, and married.  I personally think Francie's mother made the error of pursuing Francie's father, chasing him away from his then-girlfriend.  That was her first mistake.  The rest was history.   None of the characters were perfect, and the author showcased the flaws in their personalities and relationships with one another.

P.S. You may have wondered what the tree in the title means.  There was a tree that grew in Brooklyn that was indestructible and could survive anywhere and under challenging circumstances.  Even if it was cut down or covered with cement, another sapling would find its way to sunlight.  That was Francie.  Nothing could discourage her or snuff out her dreams.  She would make it somehow.

Song of the Lark by Willa Cather

The Song of the Lark   

Willa Cather    

Published 1915

American Novel

⭐⭐⭐ 

The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather, the second book in The Prairie Trilogy, is a coming of age story about a young girl and her artistic journey through life, to adulthood.  Using the main character Thea Kronborg to make an argument for artistic maturation, Cather states:

Artistic growth is...a refining of the sense of truthfulness.  The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy, only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is.  

Thea is an independent, aspiring, young girl growing up in small town Moonstone, Colorado, whose ambition as a piano student takes her to the big city of Chicago.  But it is her ability to sing that brings her attention.  She decides to continue her singing in Germany where she blossoms into a successful performing artist, and finally realizes her achievements as an opera singer at the New York City Opera House.

Before Thea left for Germany, she spent time away from Chicago and her family in Colorado to grow and mature.  Here she was alone with nature, which was one of my favorite parts of the book.  Nature often means peacefulness to me, and I imagine Thea was experiencing that same peace; she was part of her environment, and it entranced her.  This was one of my favorite quotes:

Thea began to wonder whether people could not utterly lose the power to work, as they can lose their voice or their memory...And now her power to think seemed converted into a power of sustained sensation.  She could become a mere receptacle for heat, or become a color, like the bright lizards that darted about on the hot stones outside her door; or she could become a continuous repetition of sound, like the cicadas.  

Thea was talented, but it was not without personal difficulty and private struggles to achieve her place in the world.  The author ends her story with this:

The growth of an artist is an intellectual and spiritual development which can scarcely be followed in a personal narrative.  The story attempts to deal only with the simple and concrete beginnings which color and accent an artist's work, and to give some account of how a Moonstone girl found her way out of a vague, easy-going world into a life of disciplined endeavor.  Any account of the loyalty of young hearts to some  exalted ideal, and the passion with which they strive, will always, in some of us, rekindle generous emotions.

As with the other two Cather books I have read -- O! Pioneers, and My Antonia, also part of The Prairie Trilogy -- Cather's narratives are unhurried.  If her works were recipes, they would do well in a crockpot for slow, simmered cooking.  It is not my favorite of the Trilogy, and I felt a little disappointed; I was not as engaged in reading it.  However, this will not be my last Cather, and I look forward to reading Death Comes for the Archbishop next year.

By the way, this painting, with the same title and part of The Last Gleaning series, was the inspiration for Cather's novel.  The main character visits the art museum in Chicago and admires this work, by Jules Breton.

Also part of The Last Gleaning series, this work is at The Huntington Library and Museum in San Marino, California, and I was able to see it earlier this year.