How we cite our quotes: (Poem.Paragraph)
Quote #7
When he felt the dampness of the river, he started running. The sun was pushing against the gray horizon hills, sending yellow light across the clouds, and the yellow river sand was speckled with the broken shadows of tamaric and river willow. The transition was completed. In the west and in the south too, the clouds with round heavy bellies had gathered for the dawn. It was not necessary, but it was right, and even if the sky had been cloudless the end was the same. (XXVI.32)
In this final scene of Tayo's victory over the witchery, we see a whole lot of good signs: the dampness of the river (water is always a good thing in the desert), the color yellow (definitely a good color in this book), and even rain clouds. Thanks, Mother Earth.
Quote #8
It was a world alive, always changing and moving; and if you knew where to look, you could see it, sometimes almost imperceptible, like the motion of the stars across the sky. (XI.43)
In moments like this, Tayo feels intimately connected to the earth. Notice how the world is described as "always changing and moving"—the theme of the natural world is also connected to the theme of transformation in this novel.
Quote #9
He rode slowly through the groves of dry sunflower stalks left over from better years, and it was then he saw a bright green hummingbird shimmering above the dry sandy ground [ . . . ] Then it was gone. But it left something with him; as long as the hummingbird had not abandoned the land, somewhere there were still flowers, and they could all go on. (XI.44)
Tayo's encounter with the hummingbird is a repetition of the traditional Laguna story about hummingbird, who was fat and healthy during the drought. What's his secret? (VIII)