48 pages • 1 hour read
Richard WagameseKeeper'n Me
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1994A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Balance
Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racism, colonialism, and prejudicial terminology for Indigenous people. The study guide uses the term “Indian” only in quotation to convey the tone of the text and not as an acceptable characterization term.
The text represents balance, a key motif, as a foundational value in the Anishinaabe way of life. For the Anishinaabe, people must “live in balance with the whole world” (168). Balance connects to the cultural symbol of the eagle. Keeper compares learning balance to how eagles learn to fly. Keeper teaches Garnet that balance is achieved from the inside out. Garnet must regain inner peace to be able to live well. First, people learn balance from the natural world. Being connected to “Mother Earth” teaches people the respect and humility necessary for a balanced life. Garnet realizes that being alone in nature “[h]elps [him] balance [his] insides” (212). Inner balance helps Garnet reconnect to the outer world: “So finding a balance inside myself as a man and as an Ojibway meant that finding a balance with the outside world was gonna be a whole lot easier” (213). This motif hence encompasses the Ojibwe values of respect for others and for nature in contrast to colonialist values.
Inner balance also signifies the Anishinaabe perspective on gender equality. In the Anishinaabe mindset, as Keeper explains, people are born with gifts from both their mother and father. Those gifts signify inner balance and full humanity. Keeper stresses that only with inner balance between “man side and woman side” can people become whole (237). Inner balance also helps the Anishinaabe to navigate a postcolonial society. Inner and spiritual power will help people find “a balance between worlds” (199). As long as they carry the Anishinaabe life values within, they can “go and be whatever” (200). Ultimately, balance represents the core of the Anishinaabe way of life.
Eagles
Eagles are a symbol in the text that relate to Anishinaabe traditions. The eagle is an Anishinaabe symbol, representing people’s connection to the Creator and to everything spiritual. The eagle appears after the tobacco offering to carry people’s prayers to the Creator. The Eagle clan is also important for the Anishinaabe as a clan of spiritual leaders and guides of the community who teach people to live in balance. They also pass on history and traditional stories, guarding knowledge and heritage. Eagle feathers are a symbol of honor. Holding an eagle feather is a big responsibility and granting one to an individual is a sacred gift.
The text illustrates the importance of the eagle as an Anishinaabe symbol as it connects the characters of Garnet and Keeper. As a young man, Keeper made a four-day trip alone in nature to offer tobacco and pray. Garnet practices the same ceremony. Both men see two eagles appearing after their prayer. Harold told Keeper that the Eagles “were signs to [him] about living in balance” (237). Harold gave him two eagle feathers to symbolize this way of life. Years later, Garnet has the same experience. Interpreting his dream, Keeper tells him that the two eagles might have been his ancestors. The eagles emphasize the spiritual connection between Garnet and Keeper, reinforced by Anishinaabe life values: “You wanna be Anishanabe, live the Indyun way, you gotta learn to be whole that way. You’n me. Both of us the same” (272). As an honor to Garnet’s courage and inner transformation, Keeper grants him his grandfather’s feathers. The eagle feathers complete Garnet’s journey.
Humor
Throughout the story, humor is a motif as Richard Wagamese represents humor as a cultural trait of the Ojibwe. The emphasis on humor counters the dominant dehumanizing stereotype of Indigenous people as stoic, unsmiling, and without emotion. In his narration, Garnet notes that “Indians have a real good sense of humor” (57). Many Anishinaabe teachings and legends involve humor, because it is “the best way to pass on learning” (57). The characters believe that humor reinforces memory, as when people laugh, they pay attention to the stories. The Ojibwe also tease one another. Garnet realizes that humorous teasing is a sign of communication and “a way of showing affection” (57).
Humor is not only a cultural characteristic but also a matter of survival. Garnet explains that people always used humor as a mechanism to cope with historical trauma. Even regarding political issues, people “always find some funny way of looking at it” (125). Ultimately, people’s humor keeps them together, being “the way they’ve survived and still remained a culture” (125). The text illustrates humor as an innate human need and part of the Indigenous process of healing.
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By Richard Wagamese
