Grand Avenue Masks

A detailed Summary of Grand Avenue Masks

Many Characters in the novel Grand Avenue, by Greg Sarris, are wearing masks. Masks that conceal themselves and their culture in an attempt to fit into the world that has enveloped their history and stifled their heritage. The key to these masks is the eyes. The eyes of the characters in the novel tell stories.

The dispair of the Native Americans is first shown in The Magic Pony when Jasmine, the voice of the story, describes her Aunt Faye's eyes.

"Her eyes looked dark and motionless, like she was seeing

something she didn't want to see and couldn't look away

Faye, like many inhabitants of the novel, seems helplessly focused on the sordid history of her family and the poison that seems to infect their very souls. She is obsessed to the point of madness and this poison is best described by Jasmine when she comes upon Faye the morning of Faye's decision to create order out of the chaos that has been her life.

"I realized talking about it was useless when I saw her eyes.

The fearful person I had seen behind her bright eyes the

flowers in my front yard and the different baskets on my

seen the mountain range, everything in her eyes clear to the ocean and back."

and holding the sun in little dots of light, and if I hadn't closed my eyes just then and kept looking I would've

"I leaned over and kissed her. Her eyes was wide open

different times were here in Faye's." (p. 23-24)

kitchen table. She is a clear as water, as open as the bright blue sky." (p.222)

This passage underscores the Indian girls' purity, which is about to be soiled. The images of mountains and ocean seem to symbolize the sanctity of the land, which was soiled by the White man.

She had told stories to save herself - now she was telling

While the eyes of Ruby and Faye reflect the hopelessness and dispair of the Indians, it is the eyes of Alice, as told by Nellie Copaz in the story The Water Place, that show the pride and honor of the Native American people.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Anger Evil, Aunt Faye's, Smoke Frankie's, Native Americans, Nellie Copaz, Frankie Ruby's, Greg Sarris, Ruby Faye, Native American, Pony Jasmine, native americans, nellie copaz, saving pony, ruby's eyes, pride honor, characters novel, eyes eyes,

Approximate Word count = 742
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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