Mean Spirit

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1990

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Pages 3-113

Part 1, Pages 113-203

Part 2, Pages 207-270

Part 2, Pages 270-371

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Essay Topics

Discuss the theme of Greed, Corruption, and Anti-Indigenous Racism. How are the murders of so many innocent members of the Osage community made possible by bias, dehumanization, and racism? Can you see parallels between this story (based on real events) and contemporary examples of systemic anti-Indigenous racism?

How is oil used as a motif within the narrative? Which of the text’s themes does it connect with? How might oil relate to the idea of progress and modernity?

Discuss the characterization of Grace Blanket. What kind of a woman is she and how does she embody the text’s interest in the tension between modernity and tradition?

How are dreams, visions, and prophecies used as a motif? Which of the novel’s themes do they resonate with?

Discuss the theme of Modernity and White Culture Versus Traditional Indigenous Practices. How does the text juxtapose white and Indigenous ways of life?

Discuss the theme of The Exploitation of Indigenous People, Land, and Resources. How and why are the Osage people exploited, and by whom?

Discuss the characterization of Stace Red Hawk. Why is he so invested in investigating the murders?

How does community function in this text? How are white and Indigenous communities shown to be different from each other, and how is the Osage community characterized?

Discuss the characterization of Nola’s watchers. Who are they and what do they symbolize?

10.

How well does this text represent the historical facts of the Osage murders? How might such a fictionalized account bring added attention to the real events that occurred in the 1920s in Osage country?