Shell Shaker - Major Themes

Major Themes

• Connection of spirits: As evident in the novel, if the body to whom the Shilombish (now considered a soul) belonged had been troubled in life or was murdered, the outer shadow would remain around the family until the problem was solved. The burial ceremony popular before Americanization allowed time for the spirit to become accustomed to their new world, also allowing them time to stick around. Koi Chitto is afraid that if the Bone Picking Ceremony is carried out too quickly, Shakbatina may not be able to fully learn her role as a spirit.
• Circular notion of time and nature: Past and present are not words that can describe parts of the story accurately. Those things in what could be called the past are ever present in the later tale, abolishing any differences. Everything returns and everything remains. "Do not forget that the dead are helping the living" Red Shoes is reminded (171).
• Connection to land: Choctaw legend tells of the earth as their birth place, more specifically, the Nanih Waiya, or mother mound, in modern day Mississippi. The novel consistently maintains the connection to land that the Choctaw hold. Burial practices, like the Bone Picking Ceremony, are built around this, as the body must be returned to the land as it was given up from the land.
• Bloodsuckers (Osano)/Cannibalism: "It is used in this book to describe an individual leader's desire for personal power, his simultaneous desire for power for the tribe, and how all this power overtakes him. He becomes corrupt and commits hurtful, destructive acts. He devours human life. Howe takes readers into the minds of the corrupt so that they may be shocked into an understanding of how corruption occurs, and that they may be incited to take a critical look at the actions of their own leaders." Howe herself connects this to corruption in American society today, saying the osano are "everywhere. Since 9/11 within our own country, corporate America leaders, men and women in Congress, people who feed off the blood of others are becoming embarrassingly visible."
• Importance of women: "the contemporary Billy sisters in Shell Shaker are "real" Indian women, exercising autonomy in successful careers as a history professor, a stockbroker, and an actor, not oppressed and marginalized figures without power or romanticized Indian princesses, as Indian women are sometimes portrayed by non-Native writers"
• Power of words: Traditionally, words have the power to become real if spoken, especially if done carelessly. Tema, in her first appearance, displays this when she explains to her English husband why she must suddenly leave home because a spirit called her a mankiller. She describes her fear at the words, being spoken, becoming real.
• Closeness of family/tribalology: The events of the novel do not just draw together the separated Billy family, they also draw together the community in Durant and, eventually, the eastern and western divisions of the Choctaw. Howe herself has mentioned that she has used this novel to show the tribal propensity for bringing things together. Her view of native literature states that: "Native stories...seem to pull all the elements together of the storyteller's tribe, meaning the people, the land, and multiple characters and all their manifestations and revelations, and connect these in past, present and future milieus."
• Americanization of Natives: From the priests present in the early story to the boarding schools Susan and her aunts attended in the later tale, the attempt to Americanize Native Americans is present. While little focus is placed directly on this, it is always present in the background, especially in Auda's lecture. Recounted from memory by Adair, this scene overtly points out the novel's take on Americanization and removal as Auda is violently opposed by the white supporters of the Historical Society. Of further importance in this vein is Father Renoir's power over history. He is often seen keeping a sort of diary of his experiences with the Choctaw, but before he leaves he takes out a great deal that he feels may be embarrassing to his family and his church. His ability to change history and make it something more acceptable to the dominant society is representative of the greatest power held over Native Americans by white society.