Ñew Book Alert: The Rez: An American Love Story by G. Michael Madison; Bleak, Moving, Realistic, and Uplifting Coming of Age Story About Life on a Pacific Northwest Reservation
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: G. Michael Madison's book, The Rez is one of those type of books in which the Reader must arrive prepared: with a box of tissues and the phone number to their local counseling service on hand. It is a somber realistic book about life on a Pacific Northwest Reservation. It is very honest and bleak about the poverty, illness, and broken families that exist in many of these reservations. However, it is also very moving with plenty of heartwarming and hopeful moments spread throughout.
The Tulalip Indian Reservation, Washington is seen through the eyes of Jonny Esque, the third son and one of ten children total, of Franc and Lois Esque. Jonny is a very shy sensitive boy, mostly silent because of a speech impediment and spends his time tagging along with his cooler more athletic older brother, Caj and being mothered and irritated by his seven sisters. One day while following Caj up the bluffs, Jonny finds himself in the white affluent neighborhood of Mission Heights. He immediately catches the eye of Nikki D. Thomas, a girl who is new to the neighborhood. Despite their different economic positions, family backgrounds, and her mother's disapproval, Jonny and Nikki D. become fast friends. That friendship lasts them through the turbulent times of the 1960's and their own personal problems and developing maturity.
The book is pretty straightforward how it portrays the daily life of the Esque family. Franc tries to be a leader, but receives failure at every turn, so he finds solace in the bottle. His temper makes the Esque home a tense one. The younger children hide from their father rather than risk provoking him.
Lois is a white woman who married Franc for love, but also to escape the sexual abuse within her own family. She appears as a sickly weak willed woman. However, she shows a lot of tremendous inner strength by protecting her children from Franc's wrath and by loving the Tulalip community and becoming a part of it.
The Esque children deal with their unhappy home life in various ways. They act out in school like Caj, take a parental role with the younger children like Claire, or keep to themselves feeling invisible like Jonny. Their oldest brother, Gray, has become a juvenile delinquent and is now residing in prison. It's a hard life and the family knows it.
There are several passages that reveal the hardship and poverty that the family goes through. They are on the brink of starvation a few times. When Lois becomes ill with a nervous breakdown, the children are separated and sent to various Indian boarding schools.
Jonny in particular has a rough time of it. The money that is supposed to be sent for his welfare is late in arriving. He has to suffer from other kids taunting him because he has to wear the same clothes and shoes every day. Madison pulls no punches in describing how hard life is for this family.
Even though, Nikki D.'s family is smaller and wealthier than Jonny's family, it is just as dysfunctional. Her father, Nick, is an alcoholic like Franc, but instead of turning his rages and frustrations outward, he turns inward. He is a meek quiet little man with a domineering wife who lives a life of quiet desperation.
Ginny, Nick's wife and Nikki D.'s mother, is the total opposite. She is scarred from her childhood as the daughter of a Chinese immigrant mother who delighted in verbally abusing her. In adulthood, Ginny focuses all her attention on pushing her daughter to succeed in school and be a part of a high social set. Even though, Ginny comes from an immigrant family herself and had suffered from insults because of her Chinese heritage, she fails to recognize her own racism towards the Esque family and the Tulalips. She refuses to let Nikki D. befriend them to the point of making a scene at Nikki D.'s birthday party when Jonny arrives.
Nikki D. however is determined to be Jonny's friend. The two recognize a kinship with each other because of their mutual dysfunctional backgrounds. Nikki D. Is so determined to be accepted among Jonny's peers that in one horrific passage, she hunts an animal to prove it. She also gets very confused the more mature she gets and the closer she grows to the Esque family. She develops a crush on Caj and has a platonic friendship with Jonny. However, she fails to notice that Jonny's feelings are anything but platonic.
Even though the book is bleak, there are some moments that keep it from being overly depressing. There are some really heartwarming passages. One of them occurs between Lois and Ginny. After Ginny evicts Jonny from Nikki D.'s party, Lois confronts her. The Reader is prepared for a takedown of a total racist bitch. Instead what happens is that both women reveal their insecurities and love for their children and a life long friendship is formed.
While Ginny is still pushy towards Nikki D.'s achievements, she emerges from this conversation as a better person that sees the error of her formerly racist ways. She becomes a true friend to the Esque family and helps provide financial aid to the Tulalip Reservation. Lois' inner strength and love for her children is also revealed in this passage, as she helps make this change happen.
There is also hope provided as the kids grow older and become more active in the world around them. Since the book is set in the '60's, it reveals the youthful energy of that time when young people were excited to get involved and be a part of the world around them. Those A-Changing Times are particularly shown through Nikki D. and Jonny.
Nikki D. is traumatized by the death of John F. Kennedy. This propels her to become involved with politics. She becomes an ardent Feminist and supporter of the Anti-War Movement. Her beliefs are tested when her new boyfriend, Beau enlists to fight in Vietnam. She is a woman of high standards and beliefs, but uncertain about what she wants. Does she want a steady high society boy like Beau, adventure and excitement with a known heartbreaker like Caj, or someone who is a good friend like Jonny? This sexual confusion frustrates her as she takes an active part in the world at large.
Another character who changes because of their involvement is Jonny. In fact, his is the strongest change for the better. He first gains strength at the boarding school when he becomes fed up with the mistreatment. He ties himself to a flagpole to protest the way he and the other Native American students are treated at the school.
As he matures, Jonny becomes an active leader at the Tulalip Reservation, the leader that his father wanted to but failed to become. Caj goes backwards when he returns from Vietnam, falling into the same alcoholic and unhappy marriage pattern that his parents fell in. Their sisters follow their own paths (which will be elaborated upon in the next book, Sisters). However, it is Jonny who emerges as the hero and the strongest character.
Jonny becomes a spokesperson for the tribe and raises funds for a new community center. His best moment occurs after a death in the family. At the funeral, Jonny the once shy kid who tried to be invisible, gives an impassioned eulogy sending love and blessings to his friends and family. Jonny's actions provide hope for the future that he won't make the same mistakes that his parents did and live a life of poverty and despair. Instead, he will lift his community upward.
There are two important symbols throughout the book that symbolize Jonny's trajectory. The main story is surrounded by a wraparound tale told by a storyteller about a mouse traveling amongst other animals to discover his true identity. The second is an eagle that flies overhead a few times and appears as a source of encouragement towards Jonny leading him to the next step in his life. It becomes apparent that Jonny started out as the mouse, nervous and uncertain and having to experience the world before he recognized his part in it. Then he became the eagle, strong, confident, and a leader that can soar above his despair and lead his tribe above that despair as well.
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