Indigo

A detailed Summary of Indigo

People are born with passion. The irony is that most people spend all their lives searching for that passion without looking inside that soul to the heart of the passion. The trick to discovering that passion is to find what makes us happy. For Indigo the main character of Sassafras, Cypress and Indigo by her passion lies in the music she creates from her soul while using her violin as her tool. From a modern literary criticism standpoint this passion is seen through her characterization and the symbolic use of the violin. However in peeling back the layers and focusing on this story from a Post - Modern standpoint the reader uncovers deeper issues. There is a sense of discontinuity in the linear structure that leads to a discovery about the cultural issues in this story. Indigo challenges the boundaries of her age and a society that struggles to find a place for her and her soul. That is going under the assumption that there is a place.

"Indigo did not tell her mother about Mr. Lucas being so evil, nor did she mention that her new fiddle could talk."(Norton 43) With in the first few lines of the story Indigo's violin begins its transformati

Indigo from a musical standpoint challenges what people consider music. For her it was an extension of what she experienced inside her soul. It was the depth of who she was. Sometimes that was not pretty or what people wanted to listen to. "Indigo stood up turned her back and began to play those strange erratic non-songs she played each night." Indigo followed the music instead of making the music follow her. It was attempt to let the music take her on a journey far from the streets of Charleston that held all the pain of her past and her people's past. Her attempt to challenge what was traditionally thought of, as music is a heavy postmodern theme. Much of post modernism is about challenging what is normal and making people uncomfortable with it long enough until they begin to appreciate it or bring you back to the "correct" way of thinking.

Indigo is in search of a place to express herself. Her mother forbids her to play in the house anymore unless she has lessons. Indigo knows that if she takes lessons the violin will no longer sing. Indigo's mother tried to place Indigo into a mold that said music had to sound a certain way or make you fell a certain way. Indigo's mother is very representational of society and its attempt to make things fit. This is contrary to the ideas of post modernism and its almost urgency to not find places for everything. Indigo's haven became the underground of Charleston where people went to gamble and drink. She played in the bars to men who had experienced more than she could imagine. She brought out their soul with her un-melodic music. She had the ability to take away their pain for just five minutes as she played her violin. Her music offered an escape that they ahd not known was there. However much like her mother the people began to realize that they could not take all the honesty that Indigo expressed fron her music and they once again placed restraints on what she palyed. Mabel, the bosses girfriend wnet out and purchased records for Indigo and she learned to play by ear because she had no other choice. Suddenly her music lost ots passion and desire as she was no longer able to express her emotions and the

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Approximate Word count = 1473
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English