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Discussion
Questions
1. The title of this book at first
seems like it would be better suited to a corporate
how-to manual than a lyrical novel. What is Linda
Hogan saying about the nature of power? More specifically,
what are the different definitions of power at work
here?
2. Compare the two trial scenes.
How do they elucidate differing standards of ethics?
Of justice? Of truth?
3. It is possible to read this
novel as a mystery novel, one where the details of
the supposed "crime" are clear from the start (even,
perhaps, before the crime occurs), but the motive
remains unclear throughout. Discuss this in light
of Hogan's epitaph: "Mystery is a form of power."
4. What does Omishto mean—especially
in light of her strong aversion to killing anything
—when she says of Ama's killing the panther, "What
she did was wrong, I know that. But I understand it."
What standard is she using to determine right and
wrong? What allows her to transcend it?
5. One could read the storm as
an overflowing of oni in all of its various
meanings—wind, life, voice, etc. How does the storm
scene reverberate throughout the rest of the story?
6. The storm could be compared
to Omishto's equally unearthly experience of drifting
in her boat in the fog. In what ways are the unearthly
violence of the storm and the unearthly calm of the
fog similar, even parallel, experiences? How does
one play off the other?
7. Hogan's novel is largely predicated
on a division between the natural world and the artificial
encroachment that is stifling it. What are the bases
of this division? What differentiates Hogan's portrayal
of Taiga tradition from the predominant "noble savage"
image of Native Americans in popular culture?
8. How is nature and landscape
personified in this novel?
9. How does Herm's abuse of Omishto
mirror a larger form of abuse? How does Hogan link
the two?
10. What is so disturbing to Omishto
about her mother's brand of Christianity?
11. In what ways does Hogan link
the physical appearances of characters to aspects
of their personae?
12. How did you react to the seemingly
"supernatural" elements in the story (e.g. the four
women walking along the road before the storm, the
death of Abraham Swallow, the auguring ability that
various characters seem to possess throughout)?
13. Even before she is banished,
Ama doesn't live with the Taiga people, inhabiting
instead a liminal realm of her own. Why is that?
14. Omishto seems pulled between
her ties to her mother and the Western world and her
connection with the Spirit world and the Taiga people.
Why does she choose one over the other?
15. At the end, why is Omishto
able to do what Ama couldn't (or wouldn't) do and
go live with the Taiga elders?
Also
by Linda Hogan
The
Woman Who Watches Over the World
Solar Storms
Mean Spirit
The Book of Medicines
Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World
Seeing Through the Sun
Savings
Red Clay
Eclipse
The Stories We Hold Secret
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