Orange's Use of Irony to Convey History in Comparison to Midge

 

One aspect of the reading I would like to hone in on is how, especially in comparison to Midge, Tommy Orange doesn’t necessarily need to use humor to portray an accurate picture of Native American culture in his work, There, There. As mentioned at the end of last class, while irony is still a type of humor, it is much different from the sort of gut-busting humor we have seen from the previous works covered. In some cases, ironic humor isn’t meant to be laughed at. One of the best examples I found of this in the first half of Orange’s book comes on page 119, in which he writes, “Learning about your heritage is a privilege. A privilege we don’t have. And anyway, anything you hear from me about your heritage does not make you more or less Indian. More or less real Indian. Don’t ever let anyone tell you what being Indian means” (Orange 119). In this scene, Opal refuses to teach Orvil about what it mean to “be Indian”, as she believes that learning about their culture is something which needs to be done through first-hand experience. This relates directly back to the theme we explored with Midge of history being carried in the body, and I think it is worth noting that Orange and Midge relate this through two completely different styles of writing. While Midge used a more refined humor to get the point across in some of her dialogues, Orange isn’t afraid to give the reader a completely uncensored account of the Native American lifestyle and is quick to bring up how many people tried to kill them, writing that they would go on to describe it as, “One big heroic adventure across an empty forest” (Orange 51). This is just one of many examples showcasing how Orange uses irony to convey the history of Native American culture, as we know that the forests these people were “adventuring” through were all-but-empty. It just goes to show that, with enough experience, different authors are able to use different styles of writing to convey the same message.