Summary of GRAND MOTHER : Ray Young Bear

Unit One : Love And Reminiscence

Grandmother – Ray Young Bear

The Heritage of Words

“ Grandmother” written by American- Indian poet Ray Young Bear is a recollection of poet ’s unfathomable love for his grandmother . The poet draws the picture of his grandmother – all loving, all inspiring - through the use of images .

As a grandson , the poet ’s heart is very close to his grandmother . This poem presents the poets deep sense of intimacy and closeness to his grandmother even after her death. He can not forget her . Her images come into his mind as fresh as before . He could recognize her by all senses except taste. If the poet would see her from a long distance, he could easily recognize her . Her warm and damp hands with the smell of roots on his head would make him guess that those were her caressing hands . Even the voice coming out of her tombstone would flow inside him like a light coming from a sleeping fire at night . Her words would inspire him and enlighten his spirit .

If the poet saw her from a long distance, he would tell that she was his grand mother . There are certain features to know , she would were a purple scarf and go market with plastic shopping bag . The “ Purple Scarf” and the “ Plastic Shopping Bag” represent our sense of sight . She would come home back working in the field . She would wash her hands. Her hands were wet and had the smell of roots . Due to the smell of roots he could recognize her without looking at her . She would work in the field so there was smell . This smell made him recognize her . “ Smelling of roots” represent sense of smelling. She would touch his head and would care it. He would know it was her hand. “ Touching his head ” represent sense of feeling . Some times he would imagine to have heard Noise from the tombstone voice coming form a rock attracts sense of hearing . The rock is metaphorically the tombstone of his grandmother from the very sound he would recognize her . Her words coming from the rock would inspire him like the light of some one stirring ashes from a sleeping fire at night . In this way the poet finds her grandmother all loving all inspiring .

Important Questions :

1. What are the four things that Ray Young Bear remembers about his grandmother ?

Ans . The things that Ray Young Bear remembers about his grandmother are her shape , her purple scarf, warm and damp hands and her inspiring voice.

2. What images do you find in this poem written by a member of the Sauk and Fox (Mesquaki ) Indian tribe of North America ? To what senses do these images appeal ?

Ans . The poet has used images to discover two intertwined themes – recollection of his grandmother at one level and search for identity at another level . The images like ‘purple scarf’, ‘ plastic shopping bag ’, ‘the light … at night ‘ appeal to our sense of sight. These images also have symbolic link to the Indian culture. ‘Plastic shopping bag ’ indicates the poverty of Indian tribe . ‘The light …. at night ’ associates that the spirituality of Indian culture guides him in the modern corrupt American society . The images like ‘smell of root ’ appeal to our sense of smell . It indicates the work ethic of Indian tribe and his grandmother . They are near to nature and are good farmers . ‘Warm and damp hands’ appeal to our sense of touch. It also shows how his grandmother and Indian tribes work in fields with pleasure and sense of duty. ‘ A voice’ and ‘her words ’ appeal to our sense of hearing . This indicates how the teachings and philosophy of Indian culture enlightens his spirits. Thus by the use of images , the poet has symbolically linked his grandmother to the lost culture of Indian tribe .

Question for Practice :

1 . What are the four things that Ray Young Bear remembers about his grandmother ?

2 . What is the main idea of the poem ?

3 . What impression of grandmother does the speaker give in the poem ‘Grandmother ’?