Grass Dancer by Susan Power Term Paper

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The differences between Anna and Lydia are fundamentally their relationships with the forces that define the future: fate. Anna methodically rejects the idea that anyone should hold power over her own agenda and desires. She declares,

Fate will never ride me again.... I broke that horse a long time ago and kicked it with my heels. I had to take my own spirit in hand, or it would have shriveled like gauze held to a flame, been consumed, and my mind would have been in too many pieces for me to scrape together. So I am here, working my fate, driving it, before it has the chance to drive me.... I am Providence." (Power 180).

This statement is analogous to her earlier declaration of herself as Mercury: it is her aspiration, not necessarily the truth. The forces outside of her jurisdiction still demand that many things happen to her that she does not desire.

Lydia, on the other hand, voluntarily limits the effects of her powers so they may not bestow horrible outcomes upon others. She remembers:

They said a drunk driver was responsible for the tragedy, but I knew it was my anger and the terrible power of my voice.... But I do not speak to the people around me. I won't unleash the killing voice, even to soothe my son, who is the only blessing. And so I have become another person, one who sits on her tongue." (Power 216).

Accordingly, Lydia is the spirit that opposes all that is selfish and cruel.

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Although she could easily have blamed the unfortunate outcome of fate on Anna and her spells and she could have used her destructive voice upon her, she instead chooses to diminish the sorrows of the future by forestalling the evil under her control.

The contrast between Lydia and Anna nearly paints a dualistic picture of Dakota beliefs. It appears that the forces associated with both characters need the other as an adversary; with action and counteraction they generate the setting that those around them live in. This, apparently, is the spiritual role of the Dakota woman: she battles for the fates of those she loves. If the only one she loves is herself, she is doomed to an amusing but unfulfilling life. If she loves everyone around her, her path is one of sorrow and self-sacrifice. It is the female who occupies these important positions.

The life cycle of grass involves general dispersion of grass seeds and eventual germination and growth in a single location. The dispersion phase is almost completely random in its ultimate outcome, but once the blade takes root the fate of the plant is sealed. By trying to escape this cycle Anna becomes something like a weed, gradually sucking the life out of everything that comes into contact with her. Yet, her moral fate cannot be avoided. Lydia, recognizing her weed-like capabilities endeavors to breathe life into everyone around her. Yet, she too fails; those closest to her are destroyed sucked away by resentment.

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