35 pages • 1 hour read
Margaret CravenI Heard The Owl Call My Name
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1967A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Hamatsa
A rite-of-passage dance performed by select young men of the village, among them Jim, who calls the dance “the greatest moment of [his] life” (71). The dance reenacts the myth of the cannibal-man who bewitched a young man seeking his help in learning a ritual dance. The young man then became possessed by the cannibal spirit, and the village had to defeat him with magic, after which point he disappeared into the woods. The hamatsa represents the changing of the village’s myths and customs—the government banned the use of real human bodies in the ritual, and Peter claims that in his father’s time, men could be killed for making a mistake in the dance. However, Mark reflects that the village’s collective omission of the original ritual and its brutality might mean the young man of the myth is finally free of his madness—in other words, that the village may be better off forgetting some traditions.
The Cedar-man
The most important god in the Kwakiutl culture, the Cedar-man represents the life-supporting importance of the cedar tree. Before Mark arrives at the village, the Bishop tells him the myth of the Cedar-man, how he was once a tree that the gods commanded to become a man. After spending some time in the village, Mark encounters an American woman who makes a joke of the Cedar-man, and he defends the Quee community, as he is now engrained within its culture. Clothing, shelter, canoes, tools, and ceremonial masks are all made from cedar, so the village depends on this resource both physically and spiritually. Mark tells Caleb that Caleb is like the Cedar-man, and in turn, Caleb remarks that if this is so, then Mark is also. In their commitment to fostering a spiritually and materially interdependent community, Anglican clergy Caleb and Mark become like the Cedar-man.
The Swimmer
The “swimmer” is the Kwakiutl term for salmon, as well as for sets of twins. The swimmer represents the journey of life following birth, and the return home preceding death. In addition to having a twin sister, Mark resembles the swimmer in his spiritual and physical journeys and struggles, ending with his arrival in his adopted home of Kingcome, where the Bishop has sent him to prepare for his own death. After Mark’s death, Peter the carver dresses and waits for Mark’s soul to return to the village, indicating that the community believes that Mark belongs there.
Potlatch
A potlatch is traditional feast that began as a ritualistic shaming of defeated chiefs and their tribes but evolved to emphasize generosity over social power. In the past, some families had ruined themselves financially in the purchasing of gifts, putting their contributions to the community above the family unit. When Mark first arrives to the village, he is invited to a potlatch in a neighboring village to perform a service. Jim, explaining the custom, tells Mark of a potlatch in which he danced the ceremonial hamatsa, and how it was a moment of great joy for him. Keetah’s sister’s fiancé, an outsider, swindles his bride-to-be’s uncle, and Mrs. Hudson subsequently redirects her anger for “the white man” towards Mark. Later, T.P. holds a potlatch in Jim’s honor to pass him the rites and ceremonies of the family. Mark is invited, signifying that he is now accepted and valued within the community, no longer viewed as an outsider. Marta uses this event as an excuse to contact the Bishop and bring him to the village, as she can sense that Mark is dying. During the potlatch, the Bishop reveals to Mark his true intentions for sending Mark there. Before leaving, the Bishop tells Mark that he does not have to return with him, that Mark can live out the remainder of his life in the village.
