Motorcycles and Sweetgrass

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2010

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapters 6

Chapters 7-14

Chapters 15-22

Chapter 23-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Literary Devices

Anthropomorphism

Throughout the narrative, Taylor uses anthropomorphism—the attribution of human knowledge, perceptions, and characteristics to animals or inanimate objects—to imbue the novel with a folkloric and mythological quality. For example, in the prologue, as Lillian and Nanabush have a romantic swim, a thoughtful sunfish decides to avoid interacting with human swimmers.

What’s more, because part of Nanabush’s powers as a deity is the ability to communicate with animals and elements of nature, the novel’s anthropomorphism sometimes even verges into the territory of fable. Nanabush’s relationships with the creatures around him are personal, long-standing, and very human—for instance, readers see him bargain with hungry mosquitoes. The most important example of this kind of fable-like anthropomorphism occurs with the novel’s raccoons. In Anishnawbe folklore, the trickster god has a rich history of interacting with animals; he is specifically said to be responsible for the raccoon’s distinctive facial markings—a punishment for stealing food. In the novel, Taylor makes funny use of this myth, positing a long-running feud between Nanabush and the general raccoon population based upon this event from the distant past. To end the dispute, Nanabush must purchase junk food for an army of raccoons.

The converse of the notion of anthropomorphism is theophany—divine beings taking human or animal form to interact with humans. While Nanabush is already a deity well-known for his human appetites and desire, Taylor also bestows this trait to Jesus—a Christian demi-deity who appears to Nanabush in a dream and teaches him the secret of walking on water. The scene boldly equates Nanabush and Jesus, rather than assuming that figures from Indigenous faith are inherently inferior to those from the Christian belief system.

Fable

While Motorcycles and Sweetgrass is primarily a work of realistic fiction, it also features many elements of the fable, mythology, and folklore—storytelling that often focuses on faith-based creation narratives, the adventures of deities, and allegorical morality tales that explain the origins of customs and traditions. By including Nanabush in the otherwise realistic narrative, Taylor is necessarily referencing some of the creation myths of the Anishnawbe people—traditional stories about this trickster deity often feature explanations about how a specific feature of reality came to be. For example, the novel’s extensive subplot about Nanabush’s ongoing feud with raccoons alludes to the myth in which Nanabush gave raccoons their facial markings and made them nocturnal as a punishment for theft. Nanabush’s interference in the lives of the people of Otter Lake often leads to the rediscovery of Indigenous traditions, the reintegration of isolated people into the community, and the rejection of the destructive status quo—moral and historical lessons that he imparts much like a fable would.

Irony

Taylor’s narrative frequently and in various ways uses irony and contradiction to engage and challenge readers. Sometimes characters perceive the contradictions around them, as they cope with the absurdity and chaos that follows in Nanabush’s wake. For example, no one quite knows how to react when Nanabush—who looks like a white man in his twenties—insists he knew the 80-year-old Lillian as a young woman. Sometimes Taylor expresses irony through wordplay, as when Maggie realizes that accepting a ride on Nanabush’s motorcycle means she will be “a chief on a Chief” (88). Dramatic irony also features in the novel—for instance, when Dakota wonders whether the 10- or 15-year age gap between her and John matters, readers may smile because they know that John is actually the thousands-year-old Nanabush. A final type of irony requires readers to consider the whole arc of the story. For instance, while the novel makes it clear that Western European white settlers were and are still responsible for the restricted life of current Indigenous nations, Nanabush rides into town in the form of a cocky white man bent on rescuing the Anishnawbe from complacency.