17 pages • 34 minutes read
Mary TallMountainThe Last Wolf
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1995A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Destruction of Modern Society
In her 1989 interview with Joseph Bruchac, Mary TallMountain identified three themes in “The Last Wolf.” One theme is “the destruction of the civilization we know and possibly the rebuilding in a better way. That is one possibility” (Bruchac, Joseph W., and Mary Tallmountain. “WE ARE THE INBETWEENS: An Interview with Mary Tallmountain.” Studies in American Indian Literatures, vol. 1, no. 1, University of Nebraska Press, 1989, pp. 13–21). Elements of modern urban life do not have eternal, enduring qualities in her poem. The speaker describes the “smashed warrens / of Montgomery Street” (Lines 4-5). In the 1990s, when this poem was published (and even into the 21st century), San Francisco’s Montgomery Street was known for being chockfull of people. A major stop on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) line is the Montgomery Street Station; generous swaths of people travel along this road on a daily basis—especially those commuting into the city from cities in the East Bay, like Berkeley and Oakland. However, in TallMountain’s post-apocalyptic world, the warrens—the many branches off of this main street—are “smashed” (Line 4).
Furthermore, the features of the city that remain are transformed and evacuated. TallMountain describes the buildings that have not fallen as “ruby-crowned highrises [sic]” (Line 6). This phrase can be read in a couple of ways: First, this is a kenning (a hyphenated description) inspired by Homer’s “rosy-fingered dawn,” but recast in the post-apocalyptic landscape. The red color of sunset, rather than sunrise, in the west coast city of San Francisco is seen on the tops of tall downtown buildings. In another reading, this phrase can be interpreted as a California city on fire—an image familiar to those who have seen the famous opening shot of the 1982 film Blade Runner.
TallMountain’s poem shares other postapocalyptic imagery with Philip K. Dick’s novel on which the Blade Runner film is based (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep)—he describes the crumbling matter of San Francisco as “kipple.” His entropic kipple is very similar to TallMountain’s “clutter and rubble of quiet blocks” (Line 14). Pieces of modern society become simply clutter and rubble. Adding to the visuals of this, the quietness is an auditory description highlighting how the city is mostly evacuated or emptied.
The potential rebuilding TallMountain mentions in her interview can be seen in the uniting of the wolf and speaker. The two form a collective opposed to the actions of the “they” (Line 28) mentioned in the final line of the poem. “They” (Line 28) are responsible for the destruction, and creating such an impermanent, unsustainable society. TallMountain hints that the plurality—the new we/us of wolf and speaker—can create a new way to live that is more sustainable and just.
Destruction of Indigenous Language
Another theme that TallMountain lists in her 1989 interview with Joseph Bruchac is “the loss of my people because of the loss of their language, that’s another part” (Bruchac, Joseph W., and Mary Tallmountain. “WE ARE THE INBETWEENS: An Interview with Mary Tallmountain.” Studies in American Indian Literatures, vol. 1, no. 1, University of Nebraska Press, 1989, pp. 13–21). TallMountain’s mother was part of the Athabascan Indigenous tribe that spoke the language Koyukon. This language is represented in the voice of the wolf. The wolf makes a variety of sounds; the speaker describes his “baying” (Lines 3 and 11), “whine” (Line 16), and “snuffle” (Line 20). In the emptied and destroyed city, only the speaker pays attention to his “voice” (Line 15).
The other voice in the poem is that of the speaker who answers the wolf in the final stanza: “Yes, I said” (Line 27). This is affirmation that someone is hearing the dying language of TallMountain’s maternal line. TallMountain researched the Koyukon dialect with the assistance of linguist Eliza Jones at the University of Alaska in order to write poems with “Athabascan/Koyukon words in them,” she said in her interview with Bruchac.
Spirit Vision
The third theme that TallMountain mentions in her 1989 interview with Joseph Bruchac is of a spiritual nature:
That poem really was a spiritual experience I had when I was in the hospital at one time. I just received that in the night and wrote it in the dark [...] It was written by some spirit person. Well, yes, it’s mine, too. It’s what I think (Bruchac, Joseph W., and Mary Tallmountain. “WE ARE THE INBETWEENS: An Interview with Mary Tallmountain.” Studies in American Indian Literatures, vol. 1, no. 1, University of Nebraska Press, 1989, pp. 13–21).
In her maternal indigenous belief system, messages from dreams and animals take on deep significance. She believes that natural, benevolent spirits can communicate with humans. Poetry is one method for conveying these messages; many poets in the Western canon describe their poetics (practice of writing poetry) as an act of channeling divine messages.
TallMountain’s “spirit person” can be compared with divine inspiration from the Gods of many religions. According to Gabrielle Welford, in her 1994 article on Mary TallMountain’s writing, TallMountain became a Franciscan Catholic at the age of 30, over a decade before “The Last Wolf” was written. This means TallMountain’s spirituality evolved over time, and she likely incorporated Catholic ideas with indigenous ones in her poetry.
The third element in this theme is the individual as co-creator with the divine. Upon further reflection, TallMountain mentions how she is present alongside her “spirit person.” They have similar thoughts, and a unified vision to share. Thus, the poem is born.
