The Roles of Animals and Plants in Linda Hogan's Solar Storms

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the role of animals and plants in Linda Hogan’s Solar Storms (1995). It investigates how the lives of animals and plants have been intertwined with the Native Americans in their plight and struggle against the whites’ colonization from the pre-Columbian time to the present. It examines Hogan’s unique characterization of animals and plants. This paper argues that Hogan portrays as sentient agents with mysterious, transgressive, and creative qualities that are incomprehensible to human beings. Furthermore, the paper also discusses the non-humans’ roles in shaping the identity and history of the indigenous characters. In addition, the interactions between humans and non-humans also reveal the latter’s disruptive qualities that liberate the Native Americans from the dualistic and hierarchical thinking imposed on them by the colonizers. Finally, to further examine the inextricable relationship between the Native Americans and the non-humans, this paper will focus on the female protagonist’s experience with animals and plants as well as the native stories about theses non-humans in order to discuss how they enable her to recover from her trauma and to transform herself from a rootless teenage girl into a mature Native American woman who fights for her community.