84 pages • 2 hours read
Tommy OrangeThere There
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
Indigenous Identity
One of the most central themes of There There concerns the complexities of Indigenous American identity. Each of the novel’s 12 perspective characters illustrates a different facet of modern Indigenous identity, from Edwin’s conflict about being half-white, to Blue’s challenge of growing up in an adoptive family, to Orvil’s struggle to understand his heritage without information about his people’s history. Orange poses a larger question concerning how Indigenous Americans can find their place in a world that barely acknowledges that “real Native American boy[s…] still exist” (235). Early in the novel, Edwin describes the “double bind” for Indigenous Americans today: “If it isn’t pulling from tradition, how is it Indigenous? And if it is stuck in tradition, in the past, how can it be relevant to other Indigenous people living now, how can it be modern?” (77).
As the 12 characters move closer to the day of the Big Oakland Powwow, each questions their connection to tradition and modern relevance. When she is 11, Opal has a conversation with her teddy bear that illustrates more clearly how Orange views this tension: “Us bears, you Indians, we been through a lot. They tried to kill us. […] Sister, they slit all our throats” (51). The violence in Indigenous history means that the very act of existing is part of one’s identity, yet each character finds it important to understand what that identity means—beyond mere existence and survival. When Orvil asks his grandmother to tell him more about his heritage, she explains that understanding his history is “a privilege we don’t have.” Yet Opal also adds that Orvil should not “let anyone tell [him] what being Indian means” (119). To some extent, it seems Orange’s primary message about Indigenous identity in modern times is that there is no singular definition or way to be an Indigenous American. This conclusion is supported by his use of so many characters with so many varied backgrounds, illustrating more clearly how many ways there are to be Indigenous.
Healing from Trauma
Almost every character in There There has experienced significant trauma, whether the loss of a parent, familiarity with addiction, or experience of assault. Octavio, who is the primary instigator of the novel’s major violent event, affects his own healing by learning from his grandmother Josefina’s traditional practice. And Octavio’s uncle, Sixto, explains how trauma gets passed down from generation to generation; Josefina told Sixto that “[he] had something in [him, and he] could handle it like a man. Die with it. But that [he] could also share it with family […] could give it away over time” (181). The legacy of trauma either stays within a person or is given “away over time” to others.
The lengthy narratives of death at the end of the novel reinforce the concept that men can “die with it” instead of sharing it with others. Tony also illustrates this through his intentional sacrifice. Although his mother passed on trauma to him through fetal alcohol syndrome, he chooses to die to make the world safer for others. In this way, There There offers a more positive modality about how people can deal with their trauma without bringing more violence to others.
Violence Caused by Colonialism
Most of the violence and trauma in There There is attributed directly or indirectly to US colonialism and imperialism, which devastated Indigenous communities across the country. Whenever a negative event occurs, it is linked to the United States’ perpetration of colonialism and genocide on Indigenous people. In the second interlude of the novel, Orange explains:
The bullets have been coming for miles. Years. […] The tragedy of it all will be unspeakable […] we’ve been fighting for decades to be recognized as a present-tense people, modern and relevant, alive, only to die in the grass wearing feathers (141).
The “bullets,” which come from a long history of violence toward Indigenous Americans, foreshadow the powwow shooting. Orange also brings to light the ultimate tragedy: that just as Indigenous Americans are able to be “modern and relevant,” they will die “wearing feathers.” The eventual shooting at the powwow, thus, is more a reflection of the legacy of United States colonialism than it is any one character’s flaws or choices.
Orange also explores the ways individual characters internalize the legacy of colonialism. Thomas, who is half-white, carries a chip on his shoulder because he is stuck between two histories: He is “from a people who took and took and took and took. And from a people taken […] both and neither” (216). Several Indigenous characters struggle with this “both and neither” bind. Navigating this double identity is tricky, requiring that characters participate in Indigenous culture while also knowing that a part of their heritage is connected to the very people who have made—and continue to make—it difficult for Indigenous people to exist.
