What does the Yellow Raft in Blue Water symbolize?

The raft provided an initial sense of security that Father Tom violates. The yellow raft also symbolizes escape for Rayona. She first sees Ellen DeMarco as Ellen is diving into the water off the raft.

What is the theme of A Yellow Raft in Blue Water?

One of the major themes is identity. This is a novel told by three generations of Native American women, each trying to discover who they are in a Christian white world. Rayona is the “granddaughter” of mixed blood, having a Native American mother and a black father.

How old is rayona In A Yellow Raft in Blue Water?

fifteen-year-old
Rayona (Ray-yawn-uh) A fifteen-year-old girl whose mother is Indian and father is black. Rayona struggles throughout the novel to find a personal identity that acknowledges both her biracial heritage and her own specialized place in the world. Hers is a coming-of-age story.

Who is Clara In A Yellow Raft in Blue Water?

Clara is Annie George’s baby sister who comes to live with Ida when she is about twenty years old. Supposedly Christine’s aunt, though actually her mother, Clara appears no more than five years older than Ida. Clara gets pregnant by her brother-in-law Lecon shortly after she arrives to help Lecon’s wife Annie.

What happened to Michael Dorris?

Michael Anthony Dorris (January 30, 1945 – April 10, 1997) was an American novelist and scholar who was the first Chair of the Native American Studies program at Dartmouth College. He committed suicide in 1997 while police were investigating allegations that he had abused his daughters. …

What does Elgin do for a living yellow raft?

One day, she and Elgin make love in Point Defiance Park and Christine immediately knows she is pregnant. She tells Elgin and he proposes to her. Elgin’s money begins to run low, so he gets a job with the post office.

Does rayona like Mr McCutcheon?

Mr. McCutcheon comments abundantly on Rayona’s sex, color, height, and weight, even though he is one of the first people ever to be impressed by these attributes. Instead of rejection, Mr.

Who does rayona share her story of the yellow raft with?

“A Yellow Raft in Blue Water” is one story, a single epoch, but told three times, each telling by one of the three women who shared it: the grandmother, Ida, the mother, Christine, and the daughter, Rayona.

Who was married to Louise Erdrich?

Michael Dorrism. 1981–1997
Louise Erdrich/Spouse

Is the Night Watchman a true story?

“The Night Watchman” is a blend of truth and fiction, real people and real events matched up with make-believe. The boxing match that Thomas organizes to raise money for the trip to Washington? True.

Where did Christine meet Elgin?

Silver Bullet bar
Christine silently resents, and is jealous about, the time that Elgin and Rayona spend together. After returning to Seattle following Lee’s funeral, Christine’s meeting Elgin in the Silver Bullet bar reinforces the misguided directions that her life has taken.

How old is rayona?

Although the events narrated by Rayona in her narrative section of the novel take place within a brief span of time, perhaps only six months, we learn a lot about this fifteen-year-old girl.

Who are the characters in a yellow raft in blue water?

A Yellow Raft in Blue Water is a novel by Michael Dorris that was first published in 1987. Read a Plot Overview of the entire book or a chapter by chapter Summary and Analysis. See a complete list of the characters in A Yellow Raft in Blue Water and in-depth analyses of Rayona, Christine, and Ida.

Who is Christine in a yellow raft in blue water?

Christine, too, is a single mother; she and her husband, Elgin, Rayona’s father, are estranged, although they have an on-again, off-again sexual relationship. And Rayona, as the youngest member of this female trio, faces the daunting challenge of finding her place in this chaotic, unconventional world in the novel.

Who is Aunt Ida in a yellow raft in blue water?

Aunt Ida is a single mother by choice, opting to raise Christine and her son, Lee, alone. Christine, too, is a single mother; she and her husband, Elgin, Rayona’s father, are estranged, although they have an on-again, off-again sexual relationship.

What year does A Yellow Raft in Blue Water take place?

settings (time) The three stories overlap, but each story spans a rough time period: the 1980s for Rayona, the 1960s to the 1980s for Christine, and the 1940s to the 1960s for Ida. settings (place) The novel opens in Seattle, and then moves to a reservation in Montana.

Who wrote A Yellow Raft on Blue Water?

Michael Dorris
A Yellow Raft in Blue Water/Authors

A Yellow Raft in Blue Water is the debut novel of author Michael Dorris, published in 1987. It tells the story of three generations of Native American women: Rayona, who is half African-American, her mother Christine, and Christine’s mother Aunt Ida.

Who is the father of Blue Water?

Father Tom Novak The two spend a lot of time together, if only because Rayona has no one else to whom she can relate.

What does rayona get for the hard luck prize?

When the awards are given out at the end of the day, Rayona—or rather, Foxy—is given a special prize: the “hard-luck buckle.” When Rayona gets up to claim her award, she notices everyone looking closely at her. She takes off her hat and jacket, and from across the arena, Evelyn starts cheering for her.

Why did Christine leave rayona?

Christine, dumbfounded that she has to explain her actions to her mother, yells a foul curse at Aunt Ida and then runs away, leaving Rayona with her grandmother.

Who is Christine In A Yellow Raft in Blue Water?

Christine is the bridge between old and new in the novel. She is responsible for Rayona’s knowledge of the world, but her own misunderstandings are compounded as they are passed on to her daughter. She is connected both to the city and to the reservation, and both places shape her personality.