Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary
devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes.
Pop Culture
References to popular culture appear consistently throughout
the novel and help to color the eras and places that the three protagonists
describe. Ida, Christine, and Rayona all listen to music and talk about
the songs they hear. Christine invests significance in her two rented
videos, Ida watches soap operas every day, and Rayona refers to
brands of soft drinks. Ida, Christine, and Rayona are all products of
the time period in which they grow up, and having a real grasp of when
and where they live helps us understand the characters themselves.
Lee’s death, for instance, a traumatic event for both Ida and Christine,
would never have occurred if not for the Vietnam War. These references
to popular culture thus help situate the story and characters, which
is especially important in a novel that presents forty-two years
of time in a non-linear fashion.
Faith
Faith is one of the more elusive elements of the novel,
but it is an issue that each of the protagonists confronts. Rayona,
Christine, and Ida have very different experiences with faith and
the church. Rayona, abandoned by her parents and ignored by Ida,
turns to the church for security. In her relationship with Father
Tom, it appears as if Rayona has found someone who cares about her
and whom she can trust. However, the basis for this trust turns
out to be illusory, and in the end Rayona finds the security she
needs only with her mother. Ida, on the other hand, does find a
meaningful relationship, and the closest thing she has to a mutual
understanding, in her relationship with Father Hurlburt. In contrast
to the somewhat devious Father Tom, Father Hurlburt is one of the
few people who shares Ida’s secrets. At times Father Hurlburt seems
to be the only person who thinks Ida is worth being around. Ida
has not lived a perfect life by Christian standards, something that
her sister, Pauline, is sure to point out. Father Hurlburt, however,
never judges Ida, and he is able to look past religious dogma and
become her close friend. Finally, Christine’s religious faith wavers
over the course of her life. She shows a strong capacity for faith
in her early life, but when a critical element of her faith is proven
wrong, Christine completely turns her back on religion.
Most of the religious figures in the novel are portrayed
as malicious, absurd, or a combination of both. Though resentment toward
the presence of the Holy Martyrs Mission on the reservation is obvious
from the very beginning of the novel, a feeling lingers that faith
is good and helpful for whomever it touches. For Rayona, Ida, and
Christine, faith is sometimes vague or obscured, even warped and
dangerous, yet it can support them when they least expect it.
