How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Every Indian boy must have a manitou, he said, before he could take his place as one of the men of his family. (20.15)
In many cultures there is some sort of initiation or ceremony to welcome a child into adulthood, and here we see that the Penobscot culture is no different. Is there a coming-of-age tradition in your culture?
Quote #5
If he did all this, if he waited faithfully, one day his manitou would come to him. Then he could go back to his village. He would have a new name. He would be a man and a hunter. (20.16)
Finding his manitou is a massively big deal to Attean. All he wants is to become a hunter, but in order to do so he needs to find his manitou first. We're pretty sure he'd do almost anything in order to find it. Knowing Attean, he'd rather fast to death than go home a failure.
Quote #6
Attean was afraid he might fail, that he might have to return to the village and admit that his manitou had not appeared. For Attean this would be a disgrace, a shame that must be terrible if the thought of it had brought fear into his eyes. (20.23)
Attean is scared of… well… nothing but this, it seems. His dream is to be hunter. This makes Shmoop wonder how many young Indian boys actually had to face the reality of no manitou. Was it common?