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4.0étoiles sur 5
An Analytical Outlook to a Magic-Realistic Novel, Déc 22 2000
The couples, who are likely to become the parents of a little baby, first find a name for that sojourner even before he/she is born. This name usually has to carry positive meanings beneath it, such as the ones from religious, legendary themes which remind people of force ,power, durability etc... The reason is obvious: People all around the world -no matter where they are from or what religion they have etc... - name their children with names associated with strength, stability as they believe -at least want to believe- that those names bring the attribution of the meaning to their children.Naturally, in literature the influence of this belief can be seen. In the novel of Louise Erdrich The Antelope Wife, the protagonists (as there are multiple points of view, I mention here Protagonists) believe that there is a strong relationship between the names they possess and their destiny. The Antelope Wife's impact mostly stems from its different way of narrating. In most of the ordinary novels there is usually one protagonist. In this novel there are many important characters all of whom contribute to the plot. Yet the most vital character can be perceived as the Antelope Wife. Klaus Shawano at first sight, falls in love with her, feels himself compelled to be with her, and begins to follow her secretly. Stubbornly, Klaus keeps on following her, and he manages to catch her; yet she rejects to be with him, and he, not knowing how to make her stay "tie[s] her up" with sweetheart calico. (30). Here, he metaphorically ties her up to himself with sweetheart calico. At the end, Klaus unties her, that is to say, ends his obsessive love affair with her. Richard Whiteheart Beads' story is a bit tragic as his life was performed just the same way as the beadwork's. Richard's last name depends on a naming story,by which the scattered life of him is revealed. According to this story his family name - Whiteheart Beads -derives from the beadworks. In the course of time, the beadwork was scattered, similarly the life of Richard was scattered: "... Whiteheart Bead. That name went until Richard ended up with it" (240) . First, her wife Rozin leaves Richard for Frank Shawano. In the stupefaction of the shocking desertion of his wife, he accidentally causes his daughter Deanna to die. The two distress which come in a series profoundly deplores him. That is to say, his life was ruined just like the beadwork had been ruined, scattered... Thus, apparently, the Indian belief comes true: The name completely influenced the entire life of Richard Whiteheart Beads. The Ojibwa society in the novel also name the animals just like they name their children. The Windigo dog who represent intelligence in the book, manages to escape before they cook him in the stew pot to make soup, by using his ability of intelligence. As he manages to escape the stew pot, the owners of him name him as Almost Soup. The witty dog criticizes human beings: "In Ojibwa language, that is my name and I refuse to give it up for human mistakes or human triumphs" (81). The attempt to emphasize the significance of naming again strikes here, which determines Erdrich's Indian society. The names of some characters have been changed throughout the novel and these alterations of names have a great deal of contribution to the novel. As the novel is mostly based on dialectical adjustments, the alteration of names have a profound impact on the climax of the events. The one whose name have been subject to these alterations most frequently is the Blue Prairie Woman. Although the name changes, the characters' name still take place in further parts at the story, which means that the new name does not replace the former name. The old name remains active. In my opinion, Erdrich tries to conduct the sense of her concept of dialectical adjustments; the old concept remains even if new one comes out. Erdrich, throughout the novel, uses a lot of Indian words. The usage of these words give the sense of beadwork which also takes part in the novel; as one critic claims the bead-sewing twins are "create[ing] the patterns of the world" (Martin) . The Indian words among the English sentences seem to match thoroughly the beads among the patterns. That is, as the twins create the patterns of the world, the Indian words such as "nibi", "Daashkikaa" etc... create the pattern of the novel -or in other words- maintain the completeness of the novel. When examined attentively, Louise Erdrich implies a figurative meaning using the Indian name of Minneapolis: Gakahbekong. She ,consciously using the Indian name, tends to contrast the permanency of the Indian culture and temporality of Minneapolis, the name which belongs to Newly adopted culture. For, in Erdrich's literature, Gakahbekong represents the old, permanent generation whereas Minneapolis represents the new, the changing and the temporary. Although time changes everything in the world it can do nothing to the real, permanent,special ones such as Gakahbekong. No matter how much the appearance of Gakahbekong has transformed, it still contains the spiritual values inside itself. As I stated above, in Louise Erdrich's magical novel The Antelope Wife, the people believe that there is a strong relation between the names they possess and their destiny. Finally, it is clear that they are right about their belief in names as throughout the story, the names have influenced their lives. Almost for all the characters, their names have an important influence on their lives. In the beginning I mentioned that every society pays attention to names, nevertheless in the Ojibwa society it is a little more emphasized. The names have a great contribution to the rendering of the meaning. Specifically, the place, Gakahbekong, plays a significant role since its meaning serves as a symbolical explanation to the general meaning. With a lot of motives beneath the mysterious characters, two complex family relations, a time which consists of lives of three generations and the important characters like Zosie Roy, Antelope Wife, Richard Whiteheart Beads etc... the novel serves as a guide for the social importance of the names in the Indian society. Finally, as the paper dealt with the naming of characters and the influence of both naming and the alteration of the names to the plot, it helped to reveal the underlying motives in the novel of Erdrich, The Antelope Wife.
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