Motifs and Images
- Autumnal Equinox: Both murders take place on the Autumnal Equinox, the day of women and Susan Billy's birthday. Called Itilauichi in the Choctaw language, its importance is especially important in the earlier story.
- Birds: Grandmother of Birds is said to have turned into a bird to punish the Spanish invaders when her husband is killed. They are continually mentioned as flying around whenever the characters are outside and are the form the spirits of Koi Chitto and Shakbatina take when they are reunited in death.
- Smoke: Smoke is used as a screen between times, becoming thicker as the stories begin to meet, culminating in Auda's final dream that is filled with smoke and half-answers. The town of Durant itself is enveloped in the smoke of a fire, suggested as a punishment from the spirits. Adair, a smoker, describes it as a screen to hide behind, much like the truth hides behind the smoke in dreams.
- Burial: Burial is paramount in both times as the Bone Picking Ceremony and Delores's own burials connect as one of the most important Choctaw rituals featured in the novel.
Read more about this topic: Shell Shaker
Famous quotes containing the words motifs and, motifs and/or images:
“The poetic act consists of suddenly seeing that an idea splits up into a number of equal motifs and of grouping them; they rhyme.”
—Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–1898)
“The poetic act consists of suddenly seeing that an idea splits up into a number of equal motifs and of grouping them; they rhyme.”
—Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–1898)
“A child’s self-image is more like a scrapbook than a single snapshot. As the child matures, the number and variety of images in that scrapbook may be far more important than any individual picture pasted inside it.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)