Sense of Identity in "There There"

 

    One quote that struck me in Orange's "There There" came in Jacquie Red Feather. After returning home from her flight, Jacquie states, "Jacquie kneeled in front of the minifridge. In her head she heard her mom say, “The spider's web is a home and a trap.” And even though she never really knew what her mom meant by it, she’d been making it make sense over the years, giving it more meaning than her mom probably ever intended. In this case Jacquie was the spider, and the minifridge was the web. Home was to drink. To drink was the trap. Or something like that. The point was Do not open the fridge. And she didn’t" (101). This metaphor highlights the discrepancies of growing up as a Native American. Minority groups face unprecedented struggles because of their race, religion, etc everyday, and life can start to feel like a trap. Something out of your control hinders you from proceeding normally in society. Additionally, being proud of your heritage but facing discrimination about it presents an interesting and complex anomaly. How do you face society's discrimination and still maintain your sense of self? How can I not let others' perceptions affect my unique and insightful understanding of my own heritage--something others' will never understand on so deep a level--? 

Like Jacquie states, home starts to become a trap. The place where you find the most comfort starts to feel uncomfortable. This questioning of identity can severely denigrate one's self of self and lead to conforming to different ways of life. Also, we can read the minifridge line as both comical and meaningful. One could take her "battle" with the minifridge as a lack of self-control, but one could also read this more deeply in the context of the spiderweb metaphor. For instance, instead of embracing who she is, she "shuts the door" and continues to question her background. 

During my tutoring sessions at Bridges, I tend to wonder about the futures of the students. I wonder if they struggle with forming an identity as they navigate the coldness of teenage years and high school. I read this quote from a teacher one time, and, to briefly summarize, he states that grades don't matter as much as we think because they are only a measure of the teacher's expectations for an assignment. Just because you may not perform well in a subject like math doesn't mean you'll fail in adult life. You may excel in English, so you analysis, writing, and thinking skills will lead you to the perfect career. What matters more is finding a deeper sense of who you are so you can recognize your strengths and weaknesses. So when I tutor a student in one of their weaker subjects, I know that they have great strengths elsewhere and will be successful in their own ways. If you struggle with English, you probably are better at big-picture thinking and are very matter-of-fact (I've drawn these conclusions from my own observations). Conversely, you might struggle in math because you like to think deeply, analysis details, and examine things very closely to find the meaning. These strengths are equal to one another--no one better than the other--and we need this diverse set of skills to propel society forward. If everyone studied biology and became a doctor, who would be there to market your business? Or design brochures? Or engineer your medical equipment? Everyone has a unique set of skills based on how they were raised, so I really hope these kids don't feel inadequate because they can't solve for x or remember where to put a semicolon.