Animal Dreams Chapters 15–16 Summary & Analysis

The several mysteries of the novel are now beginning to unravel. Those pertaining most directly to Codi have been revealed. Codi's failure to complete her medical degree has been explained, as has the loss of her child. She has begun to tackle the mystery of her family, starting with her mother's death and reaching back to the ancestry of both of her parents. What Codi discovers is a series of half-truths her father used to cover up his and her mother's past. These range from the cause of her mother's death (kidney failure, as he had said, but caused by pregnancies during childbirth) to both of their true names. The other members of the community have an ambivalent relationship to helping Codi to discover her family's history. While Viola gives Codi a few clues, she refuses to discuss the subject at great length. This shifts the secret of her family's past from one held simply by her father, to one held by the entire community, paradoxically connecting Codi's past more deeply to the community as it is hidden by the community.

Parallel to, but not in direct causal relationship with, the reintegration of Codi's past with her community, in the present moment Codi becomes increasingly involved with the Stitch and Bitch Club's efforts to save the river. Where the men of the community are content to use officially sanctioned methods of law suits in order to address the problem of the dam, the women refuse to wait the ten years that these avenues will take to pursue. Instead, they take matters into their own hands. Codi is instrumental because of her knowledge about the biology and the chemistry involved in the pollution, and after her speech, the women organize themselves. Their plans do not simply consist of talking or of supporting avenues traditionally expected of women; while officially they organize a demonstration, they discuss at length and unofficially support the violent destruction of mine property.

Whether or not Codi is a descendant of the Gracela sisters, she and Loyd are an interracial couple. As their relationship is a wonderful one, supported by all those who know them, the idea of interracial couples in obviously supported by the novel. First, the interracial nature of their relationship is highlighted through Loyd's explanations of Native American culture. These explanations show that Codi is an outsider to Loyd's culture, but also show both of them as eager to help her to develop an understanding of that culture. Loyd's accusation that Codi sees him as a TV Indian also makes explicitly some of the difficulties of interracial relationships. Both people have to confront the stereotypes they may have, or may fear that the other has. As Loyd voices those problems, he and Codi are able to overcome them: it turns out that while Codi knows the stereotype, she is hesitant to commit to an emotional relationship with him for other reasons.

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