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
know much about them, and that the Navajo who caused his terrible injury in a riding accident wasted away and died, and she knows that her sister befriended Emmett and then took up with Anderson. But she cannot know the depth of Emmett's obsession with Bernadette or the means he employs. Grade's usefulness in providing the novel with a structural thread is as important as the picture she gives of Indian life and character from the inside. However, she is only intermittently conscious of telling a story, and in her opening lines almost effaces herself: I'm just barely sixteen years old, but sometimes I feel a whole lot older than that. You know how sometimes a person can get to feelin' like their life's already just about over with? Or worse yet, like they ain't even here anymore? Well, that's how I feel a lot of the time...at least ever since Bernadette died. (2) Then, after telling how she and her father were notified of Bernadette's death, she presents fragmentary memories about her sister's beauty and prowess as a dancer and Anderson's triumph at the Taos powwow, the highest point of his beauty and power. Later — perhaps to indicate that the shock has worn off—Querry has her describe settings, customs, and characters, seemingly by association but in fact providing expository material essential for understanding what is to follow. The middle of the novel, in which Grade describes a trip to the Navajo and Hopi country with Bernadette and the George brothers, is more coherent. On the surface, the trip is the high point of Grade's life, her farthest excursion into the world outside Dulce. In fact, intercut with the italicized passages introduced at this point, the trip marks the beginning of Anderson's decline, either because of Emmett's witchcraft or because of the alcohol which Emmett gives him. After the trip and Tom's death. Grade chronicles Anderson's decline and her sister's growing sadness and continued silence about her problems. The one moment of relief comes in Grade's account of Bernadette's last powwow, where her beauty of body and spirit are emphasized most strongly. This sequence is clearly intended to echo 63
