Representation of Human Nature in "Raven and Marriage"
"Raven and Marriage" is a narrative which originated from the Tlingit Indian tribe. This story comes under the category of Trickster Tale; a story where the main character, usually an animal which takes the form of a human, is a deceiver. In this story, the major character is Raven who married a girl, Fog-over-the-salmon, whose father is a chief. Fog-over-the-salmon provided Raven with plenty of salmon fish that he loved; but somehow they quarelled, Raven hit his wife and she went away. Later on, Raven wanted to marry the daughter of another chief. A bird who knew about Raven's past prevented Raven from marrying her. Angered by that, Raven cursed that neither he nor the bird will get the woman, instead she will get married to a "nobody". With his magic, Raven turned a poor, old man named Damnadji into a handsome, rich man. The woman instantly fell in love with Damnadji and they got married. Eventually, the truth was revealed and it displeased everybody.There are variety of characters in "Raven and Marriage". It is clear that Raven is the 'villain' of the story. Probably, raven was chosen instead of other animals because black, which is the colour of a raven, is often associated with death, darkness, and evil. Damnadji is a grey
character, not fully good nor bad. At the beginning, he knew that he could not marry the chief's daughter because he is poor, thus unfit for her, but he was tempted by Raven's offer. The chief and his daughter are not totally bad but, as ordinary humans, they are tempted by materialistic wealth. The people who lives around Damnadji needs to be highlighted in particular. It is told that when Damnadji returned to his village with his wife, everyone rejected him. They refused to take his wife, help carry the goods Damnadji's father-in-law and his slaves brought in the canoe, and they refused to get water for Damnadji's guests. All of these actions took place because the practise of a man marrying a woman of higher social status is frowned upon by the society. It is also said that when Damnadji went to a creek to get some water from his guests, the creek moved and Damnadji had to run after it. This symbolizes that he had done a great deal of mistake that even a creek avoids him. Tlinguit Indians are said to have complex social systems and religious ceremonies. This is very evident in "Raven and Marriage". First of all, the social norm that a man should not marry a woman of higher status is the most perceptible moral of the story. A person who breaks the norm will be excommunicated b
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Approximate Word count = 869
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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