How we cite our quotes: (Poem.Paragraph)
Quote #7
He never lost the feeling he had in his chest when she spoke those words, as she did each time she told them stories; and he still felt it was true, despite all they had taught him in school—that long long ago things had been different, and human beings could understand what the animals said, and once the Gambler had trapped the storm clouds on his mountaintop. (XI.41)
Is the magic Tayo experiences limited to the stories from long ago, or is there evidence that magical things still happen in the world? What do you make of the episode with Tayo and the mountain lion?
Quote #8
"And Emo has been saying things about you. He's been talking about how you went crazy and are alone out here. He talks bulls*** about caves and animals." (XXV.121)
Here we come back to the question of Tayo's sanity. How must he come across to an outsider? No one has seen Ts'eh but Tayo. Could she be a figment of his imagination? Maybe he is living all alone out here.
Quote #9
It was difficult then to call up the feeling the stories had, the feeling of Ts'eh and old Betonie. It was easier to feel and to believe the rumors. Crazy. Crazy Indian. Seeing things. Imagining things. (XXV.211)
Ts'eh, Betonie, and the "stories" are all part of a category we'll call "traditional perspective." The army doctors and Emo's rumors represent a "modern perspective." One group sees Tayo as crazy, while the other does not.