Difference between revisions of "33-41 Summary"

Revision as of 12:20, 18 September 2011

Brief Summary

In this chapter, Li contemplates the death of a baby whose mother joined the tribe before the last rains of the season. Where did the mother come from, how, and why? Where is the baby's spirit now, and what happened to the little person who had tried so hard to fight off sickness? Li realizes that these thoughts have no answers, unless she becomes as "other" as death itself. She moves on, still wondering about the small baby, and goest oforage for food in hunger. While she is searching in the ocean, she spots a school of fish that is frantically swimming away from its predator - dolphins. In a quick, speedy motion, Li snatches one of the fish and chews on it, delighted to have such an easy meal. She notices that one dolphin stays behind, and she lets him eat the rest of her fish. A friendly relationship develops between the two unlikely strangers after the exchange of food, and the girl and the dolphin play and frolic together in the sunlit ocean until Li reaches her tribe's shore.

The Concept of Death and an Afterlife

In the beginning, Li mentions a woman who brought her sick, dying child to her tribe. The stranger had been accepted, but her baby dies. The mother buries it in the sand dunes, but eventually forgets her grief and her baby. Li imagines that the baby's soul and spirit must have gone somewhere, and so she asks herself these unexplainable questions of afterlife. She believes that to answer those questions, she would need to become something intangible, such as Ma-ma's dreams, or perhaps she would need to go where the baby itself had gone. She also believes that she was close to some kind of knowledge that she was inside of, and that she herself was the question. She knew that to answer it, she herself had to become that question.

Examples

"...but her baby had died. Where had it gone? Not the body - the stranger had carried that back into the dunes and left it - but the little sick person who'd looked out of the weary eyes? That too was other, never-to-be-known, like dreams" (34).

"Other questions, the ones about using and seeing, she was outside of. She could study them and think and find their answers. This one she was inside of, part of. In fact she was herself the question. To answer it she would need to become somehow other, as other as Ma-ma's dreams or the strainer's lost baby. Perhaps she would need to go where the baby had gone" (35).

The Role of Food Sharing and Bonding

After catching a fish, Li eats half of it and shares the rest with a dolphin she has never met before. In her tribe, this meant trust. She slipped into the sea and waited for it to accept her, even though she knew that the dolphin, which was several times her size, could immediately kill her. The dolphin let her stroke its head, and it waited for her to dive with it. Li knew now a bond existed between the two of them ,and they swam, played, and danced together. Even as she returned home, the dolphin swam by Li and let her clasp onto its side until another man of her tribe was alerted by their actions.

Examples

"They were strong signals in the tribe, the giving and taking of food. They meant friendship, alliance, trust" (38).

"The dolphin was several times her size...but it drifted slowly toward her and past, brushing its long, smooth flank against her chest" (38).

"They swam, played, and danced together in the sunlit ocean and her sense of wonder came back...it and Li shared the moment and the mystery in the rippling golden-green water" (39).