Grand Avenue Masks :: essays research papers

Windows to the SoulMany Characters in the novel Grand Avenue, by Greg Sarris, are wearing masks. Masks that conceal themselves and their culture in an attempt to fit into the worldly concern that has enveloped their hi score and stifled their heritage. The key to these masks is the eyes. The eyes of the characters in the novel tell stories.The dispair of the Native Americans is first shown in The Magic Pony when Jasmine, the voice of the story, describes her Aunt Faye&8217s eyes.&8220Her eyes looked dark and motionless, like she was seeing something she didn&8217t want to see and couldn&8217t look awayfrom (p.4)Faye, like many inhabitants of the novel, seems helplessly focused on the sordid history of her family and the poison that seems to infect their very souls. She is obsessed to the point of madness and this poison is best described by Jasmine when she comes upon Faye the morning of Faye&8217s conclusiveness to create order out of the chaos that has been her life.&8220I reali zed talking about it was useless when I saw her eyes. The fearful person I had seen back end her bright eyes thepast few weeks had come out now she was that person.She had told stories to save herself - now she was telling them to excuse herself. Hatred. Jealousy. Anger. Evil. each(prenominal) I had seen in my return&8217s and my aunt&8217s eyes at different times were here in Faye&8217s. (p. 23-24)After doing her best to fight the poison that curses her family, she finally succumbs.Jasmine describes her full cousin Ruby&8217s eyes as being &8220a million miles away (p.7). But when Ruby&8217s mind is set on saving the pony, her ending comes shining brightly through.&8220Her eyes were like a pair of headlights on the highway, staring straight ahead, zooming past me. (p.18)Ruby has found a purpose, a cause. All of her will is focused on achieving this goal. For her, saving the pony from the slaughterhouse is a way to retake a part of her that was lost in the very alike slaughterh ouse when she went to work for Smokey, the local pimp.In another story, Ruby&8217s eyes still exhibit an innocence and exuberance of youth. Slaughterhouse is a story told by the voice of Frankie, Ruby&8217s teenage boyfriend. The story begins with Frankie describing her eyes &8220pretty as the nighttime sky. (p.51) But later in the story, Frankie notices a wobble in Ruby.