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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page essay that analyzes Canadian writer Howard O'Hagan's novel Tay John, which is a deeply psychological novel that brilliantly blends elements of Native American legend with narrative that encompasses virtually all of the myriad factors that make up the cultural background of the Canadian West. This examination of the rich symbolism that O'Hagan incorporates into this novel focuses specifically on the function and significance of Tay John's shadow, which serves to both bind him to the human race, while also setting him apart. No additional sources cited.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khtayj.rtf
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factors that make up the cultural background of the Canadian West. The following examination of the rich symbolism that OHagan incorporates into this novel focuses specifically on the function and
significance of Tay Johns shadow, which serves to both bind him to the human race, while also setting him apart. However, in order to understand what Tay Johns shadow signifies,
it first necessary to see this element in conjunction with his extraordinary birth. Tay John, a corruption of the French "Tete Jaune," is also known by the name "Kumkleseem"
within the Shuswap tribe. All of these names refer to Tay Johns most significant feature, his golden hair, which is also a sign of his half-breed status, another element that
keeps him apart, never fully a member of any group, Native American or European. Tay Johns father, Red Rorty, was a rowdy, drunken trapper until he happened upon a church--on
his way to the side of town where the whore houses were located--where the singing caught his attention (OHagan 15). Rorty was soon the loudest voice in the church and
abandoned his previous life to become a missionary among the Shuswap, who were sometimes called the "Tete Jaune, or Yellowhead people" because of their belief that one day a leader
would come -- a tall man...with yellow hair, and lead them" (OHagan 21-22). Red Rorty did well among the Shuswap as was accepted until he spied an Indian woman
named Hanni, wife of Swamas, who was gone on a long hunt. Rorty desired Hanni and pulled her into his house and she did not resist (OHagan 27). For this
offense, he is beaten, tied to a tree, shot with arrows and set aflame. Hanni, who is pregnant by Rorty, dies before the baby is born. Swamas returns and is
...