Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. [Vol. 5.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 25)
Studies - Robert Murray Davis: Multiple Voices in The Death of Bernadette Lefthand
uninvolved and objective, even scientific, to very limited and subjective. The first kind of voice —quotations from anthropologists about Navajo beliefs at the beginning and end of the novel and between sections —is not usually thought of as part of the narrative at all. In most novels, these would be called epigraphs, casually noted for their relevance and then safely ignored, but Querry clearly regards them as crucial to his purpose. In Bernadette Lefthand the epigraphs offer a more detached and analytical perspective than the other narrative voices. In the novel as a whole, Querry neither asserts nor denies the efficacy of witchcraft, but the epigraphs give scientific and analytic evidence of the widespread credence placed in it by Navajos. They also help to establish the methods by which Emmett Take Horse believes he is operating. The last quotation suggests but does not enforce belief in the means of retribution for his crime: "a witch who escapes human retribution will eventually be struck down by lightning" (215). In what would be considered normal narrative space, Querry creates a voice in italicized passages." The copywriter for Bantam calls this "an unnamed stranger." In fact, the voice is that of an impersonal narrator who employs limited omniscience to present the traditional Navajo cosmological view of the action. Most of the italicized material describes Emmett practicing witchcraft, but Querry also uses it to describe the Devil Chasing Ceremony with which Anderson's grandfather attempts to cure him, Anderson's brother Tom's horror at the sight of a skinwalker which causes his fatal crash, and Bernadette's ebbing consciousness and inert body. Most of these passages present specific behavior to reinforce and be reinforced by anthropological theory. To take a relatively minor example, in one italicized scene we learn that Emmett's father, also a witch was struck by lightning, and in his last appearance Emmett is driving into a rare thunderstorm, exulting in his success. On two occasions, Querry uses a scenic mode of narration, once to describe Anderson and his brother Tom driving across the desert, once to present the police investigation of Tom's death in what seems to be a commonplace collision with a cow. These passages give a secular 2 Geary Hobson has noted that Frank Waters used this device in The Man Who Killed the Deer. 59
