The Narrator's Point of View on the Life of an Adult in Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway
Narrator's Point of View on the Life of an Adult in Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway
Explanation: Hill's (The Year of Miss Agnes) finely detailed novel set in a Yup'ik Eskimo village in the 1890s feels mesmerizingly authentic. Minuk, the narrator, is 12 the spring that the missionary family arrives, and like the other children she is fascinated by the sight of her first kass'aq (white) woman and child. She can't imagine what the "sort of pink butterfly" hanging from the clothesline is (a corset, which astonishes her still further), and when Mrs. Hoff invites her inside for a cup of tea, she sits on a chair for the first time (and tips hers over) and slurps loudly, "to be polite." These initial misunderstandings may be comic, but the encounters between the Hoffs and the Yup'ik have grave consequences. Mr. and Mrs. Hoff condemn the villagers' rituals and practices. Yet, as seen through Minuk's eyes, the customs make sense, and Hill demonstrates that the Yup'ik belief systems are at least as coherent as Hoffs' version of Christianity ("If your god is love," Minuk asks Mr. Hoff, "why does he make people burn in hell?"). The author penetrates Yup'ik culture to such an extent that readers are likely to find the Hoffs more foreign than Minuk and her family. At the same time, the author doesn't glamorize the villagers, in particular exposing the severe conditions facing women. Not only the heroine but the vanished society here feel alive in their complexities. Ages 9-12. (Oct.)
What is the narrator's point of view about the life of an adult in her culture in the "excerpt from Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway"?
According to the narrator, the life of an adult in his culture was somewhat boring because, adults were forbidden to play and have fun, although it seemed that they wanted to.
Explanation: The narrator realizes this when she sees her mother, grandmother and aunts running their hands and fixing her dolls, as if they miss playing with dolls and having fun. This makes the narrator find the lives of adults boring, because in her culture, adults were forbidden to play because they had too many responsibilities that should be met. Play was limited to children only.