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Irene Murua

Dr. Bell

ENL 2350

9 August 2022

Analyzing There There through a Feminist Lens

There There by Tommy Orange tells stories of different Native American characters who

are all attending the Big Oakland Powwow. By narrating the novel from thirteen different

perspectives, Orange conveys a range of deep messages about identity, the effect of the past on

the present and future, and the unifying power of culture. At the same time, the book shows real-

life struggles of many Native American women, such as rape, abuse, and trauma. This essay

explores how the female characters in There There symbolize the devaluation and violence that

Indigenous women experience both within their own communities and in the broader society.

That is to say, they are more than simple fictional characters, they are representative of real case

scenarios.

One of the first characters the reader is introduced to, who suffers domestic violence, is

Vicki, the mother of Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield and Jacquie Red Feather. When Opal talks

about moving to Alcatraz, she also mentions that it is not the first time that they have moved. She

recalls the last time their mother hurriedly announced to them that they had to leave the house

after she had been beaten up by a boyfriend: “our mom woke us up in a hurry, her face was beat

up. Both her top and bottom lips were swollen. She couldn’t talk right. She told us to pack our

things then too” (Orange 45). This is not an isolated case within the Native American

community, as domestic violence is especially common in this group. It is believed that the
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treatment of “Native Americans by colonizers, racism, exploitation of resources, seizure of lands,

introduction of alcohol, and disease . . . have profoundly negatively affected the values and lives

of indigenous peoples” (Wahab and Olson 355), and have caused domestic violence to increase.

In the Native American community, the abuse that some men commit on their wives can be

understood as “anger turned inward as a result of historic trauma” (Jones 115). This, even if it is

not justified, might be a reason behind these violent acts. With regards to the book, the violent

events that can be perceived are caused by the manner in which Native communities internalize

and reproduce the violence that has been inflicted upon them for years by white settlers,

oppressors, and current gentrifiers.

Apart from intimate partner violence, family disintegration is another important challenge

facing Native Americans. Back to Vicki’s character - she is a resilient and strong woman who

confronts several struggles that come with single parenting. Her daughter, Opal, mentions that

“Both [their] dads had left [their] mom” (Orange 46). This is surprisingly common among Native

Americans. According to a demographical study of Native American families, “The proportion

of children under 18 who lived with two parents is lower on all of the Native American

reservations than it is among the US population, and is less than 50 percent on many of the

reservation” (Sandefur 101). For example, on the Pine Ridge reservation, “just over 35 percent of

children under 18 lived with two parents” (Sandefur 100). It is understood that almost all single

parents are women. It is also reported that “reservations with higher single parenting rates also

tend to have high unemployment and poverty rates” (Sandefur 105). In fact, it is likely that

women struggle psychologically and financially because they do not have a two-income salary,

and they have to do all of the housework. What is more, it can be the case that some of them

cannot have a full-time job, or a job at all, due to lack of time.

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In addition, Orange uses Jacquie’s character to represent the trauma that Indian women

victims of sexual assault experience. When Jacquie moved to Alcatraz, along with her sister and

mother, she met Harvey and their interaction ended in an assault. “I told him not to. Then he did.

I told him to stop” (Orange 56), Jacquie confessed to her sister just after the violation. Again, this

is not an unusual occurrence among the Native American community. According to the 1999

Bureau of Justice Statistics report, American Indians and Crime, “Sexual assault among Native

Americans is 3.5 times higher than for all other races living in the United States” (Smith 36).

What is more, “34 percent of Native women are raped in their lifetimes” (Smith 37); that is to

say, one in three Indian women reports having been raped during her lifetime. Some of these

women have been raped more than once, as almost happened to Jacquie. In fact, Ronal, who is

the man with whom Opal and Jacquie lived after their mother Vicki’s death, tried to assault

Jacquie. Fortunately, Orange narrates that this did not occur because Opal was present and hit

him with a baseball bat: “Ronal was on his knees about to pull Jacquie up to him. Opal got up as

quiet as she could, breathed in slow, then raised the bat up high behind her. She came down as

hard as she could on top of Ronald’s head” (Orange 166). Jacquie is a representative of the

violence enacted on female indigenous women within their own communities and even within

their own households.

However, Jacquie is not the only woman who serves as an example of the abuse that

Native American women experience. As mentioned before, Jacquie was assaulted by Harvey, but

it was not specified that she became pregnant with Harvey’s child and that she decided to place

the child for adoption. Her daughter, Blue, is also a victim of domestic violence since her

abusive husband has beaten her various times. She mentions that she “had been gone since that

first day he laid hands on [her]” (Orange 199). As reported by “a NVAWS survey exploring 1-
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year prevalence rates of violence in marriage, 15.5% of Indian couples reported violence within

the marriage, and 7.2% reported severe violence. Prevalence rates among White couples in the

same study were smaller at 10.8% and 4.3%, respectively” (Wahab and Olson 354). Therefore,

intimate partner violence is not unusual in the Native American community, in fact, Indian

women experience the highest rate of domestic violence.

Furthermore, the female characters in There There are representative of mental health

problems that Native American women suffer. Specifically, Orange illustrates the association

between substance abuse, mental health problems, and suicide by using Jamie’s character, a

heroin addict who commits suicide. It is obvious that the introduction of drugs by the colonizers

created a big problem in the Native American community. As reported by the Indian Health

Service, “Native American adjusted substance abuse deaths are 627% higher than rates for all

races in the U.S” (Bohn 334). With respect to Native American women, alcohol and the abuse of

other substances might be a way to ease the pain that the traumatic and violent experiences,

which have been mentioned before, have caused these women. In fact, a study by the University

of Minnesota confirmed that there is a “relationship among physical and mental abuse and

negative health consequences such as depression, substance abuse, suicide attempts, and

revictimization” (Bohn 345), and this association is something that can be seen in many

characters in the novel.

Moreover, Orange tries to convey a message about the devaluation of Native women. He

mentions that Jacquie had “recently read an article that called the number of suicides in Native

communities staggering” (Orange 98). Staggering can be interpreted in many ways here. On the

one hand, it can mean that the number of people committing suicide is so high that it is deeply

shocking. On the other hand, it can also mean that some people do not care about them, and
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therefore, are not aware of this problem. The truth is that Orange uses this term to express the

underestimation of Native women. Some people are not interested in knowing the high rates of

suicide attempts among Native American women because they simply think that Native women

are worthless or they are just invisible for them. Another example of the depreciation that

Indigenous women experience is that there is incomplete data of Native women that are missing

and have been murdered. Therefore, devaluation is a real problem concerning the lives of Indian

females.

As shown above, the female characters in There There are representative of larger issues

that Native American women face. Numerous statistics show that Jacquie’s rape, the intimate

partner violence experienced by her mother and her oldest daughter, and the mental health issues

that her second daughter faced are real problems that Indigenous women have within their

community. In other words, the female characters in There There represent real case scenarios

rather than just being fictitious. At the same time, Tommy Orange illustrates how Native women

are devalued in the broader society. It is fair to say that the major themes in the novel are

identity, how the past affects the present and future, and the unifying power of culture, but by

telling the stories of the female characters, Orange also illustrates how femininity is often

depicted in terms of trauma, violence, and devaluation in The Native American community.
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Works Cited

Bohn, Diane K. “Lifetime physical and sexual abuse, substance abuse, depression, and suicide

attempts among Native American women.” Issues in mental health nursing vol. 24,3

(2003): 333-52. doi:10.1080/01612840305277

Jones, Loring. “The Distinctive Characteristics and Needs of Domestic Violence Victims in a

Native American Community.” Journal of Family Violence, vol. 23, no. 2, 2007, pp.

113–118.

Orange, Tommy. There There. Vintage, 2019.

Smith, Andrea. “Decolonizing Anti-Rape Law and Strategizing Accountability in Native

American Communities.” Social Justice, vol. 37, no. 4 (122), 2011, pp. 36–43.

JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41478932. Accessed 1 Aug. 2022.

Wahab, Stéphanie, and Lenora Olson. “Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Assault in Native

American Communities.” Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, vol. 5, no. 4, Oct. 2004, pp. 353–

366, doi:10.1177/1524838004269489.