Cowboys and Indians
1. Summary of Cowboys and Indians (about 150 words):
The short story which is written by Lorien Crow (2008) is basically about the narrator and her cousin David. The story takes place in New Mexico where their grandmother used to live but has recently passed away. At first the narrator was at her grandmother´s funeral and after her visit at the funeral, she gets back to her grandmother´s house and she sees the house was full of visitors. She needs fresh air therefore she went out and decides to call David. David arrives with his bike, they were quickly agreeing where they should go. They went to a bar to get something to drink. After leaving the bar they decide to see the sunset and they rest there for a while. David and the narrator talks about their grandparents who have passed away a long time ago. On the way back home they decide to eat at a place. They meet two Indian women and one of them starts to allege that they have brought evil spirits with them. They arrive at their grandmother´s house and says goodbye to each other.
2. A characterization of the narrator:
The narrator’s characterization can be described in two ways. When she is with David she is comfortable, relaxed and stops thinking about all the bad things in her mind. She is not a rebel at all, but everything appears to change when she is with David. When she is with him she feels like doing a lot of things like drinking at different bars, and she does not care if he smokes marihuana or doing bad stuff. She feels more alive like she has more self-confidence and it seems she has more personality. Therefore it makes it easier to get an impression of the narrator what she is really like as a person, even though she is not with David. She has always been a different grandchild than the other grandchildren of the family which is also the reason why her grandfather scorned her. At her grandmother´s house where she is, we get an impression of her she seems calm and it seems she is trying to hold back to fit in. She has two different personalities which she uses in different way. We see this statement in the following quotation: “Why is it that I can do this, switch gears, when David cannot? I will recount memories of my grandmother to drunken mourners, throw out paper plates, make polite conversation, and clean coffee cops while David rides through the desert with devil spirits at his boot heels”
3. Comment on similarities and differences between David and the narrator.
At the beginning it does not seem like they are close to each other and they do not have a lot in common, but after all it seems that they actually has the same point of view in same things and it ends up they have a lot in common. They are quite different in many ways especially from the rest of the family. Both of them are described as black sheep of the family. Like the narrator David was also scorned by their grandfather when he was still alive, they has this thought that they are bored around people who is acting “normal” and they are feeling a little bit uncomfortable around these “normal” people. When they are together everything is different they actually do not has to pretend to be something they are not and it´s very calm that they can be themselves without pretending. Basically they have a lot of things in common and one thing they specially has in common is actuality that they both has this different personalities. David has a feeling of being uncomfortable around the Indians he feels like a stranger, because he has to pretend to be something he is not. The narrator feels the same way like David when she is at her grandmother´s house and sees all these people, visitors from the funeral. If the narrator takes David home to their grandmother’s house the guests will not see David as a behavior child and all the guests will point at him in a negative way. But on the other hand if David takes the narrator to a place where he feels comfortable and relaxed they will not like her either. They clearly do not fit in and belong in each other´s world, but they talk about their feelings and thoughts which is keeping them together.
4. A short essay which you discuss what makes a person an outsider (150-200 words):
Nowadays the fewest things can make you an outsider. We see an outsider like a person who stands out and acts extremely unusual from other people among you. Things that make you an outsider are the slightest thing like your weight, your nose or your clothes. I do not think that when you are standing out or making a difference is something bad, I think it´s something unique try to imagine a world without differences it would just be boring if we all was the same and acts in the same way. I think it´s brave that some people are strongly enough to stand out and do not care about other people´s opinion. People do not have the right to judge other when they do not know them or likes them, but how will you prove them that they are wrong and it might has a influence and reflection of who you are as a person?