Ginett Pineda Stephanie Fitzgerald English 571 The University of Kansas Solar Storms Language: The use of Anthropomorphism

as Nature Writing The relationship between women and the non-human world I wish to explore in this essay is best exemplified with the literary device of anthropomorphism, the attribution [usually falsely] of a human form or personality to a god, animal, or thing (Illustrated Oxford Dictionary). The use of this rhetorical device is a recurrent key point in Linda Hagens second novel Solar Storms (1995). Given that all human representations create a new borderline dimension between human and non-human, Hogan uses anthropomorphism as a powerful tool in order to promote a more empathetic connection, not only with all living creatures, but also with the non-living ones. The effect of scattering numerous examples of personification of nature and inanimate objects in the novel might show a pathway for understanding the world from a reconciliation stand point. As we read the novel, the reader witnesses the protagonist Angela Jensens constant development of respect for the natural world. Such transformation leads to a recognition that there is not an absolute impermeable difference between humans and non-humans. This view, however, is only gained by Angela once she develops an understanding that all things are interconnected. In this way, Angela recovers certain aspects of her Native American culture, which ultimately will lead her to resist and fight against the development of a hydroelectric project in the Northern Quebec region. Clearly, the way Hogan reverses her characters thinking about the non-human world is deliberate and emphasizes Hogans ideals on interconnectedness with animals, plants and nonliving entities.

In setting up this connection with non-living entities, Hogan starts the novel with a bond between Bush and her house. The prologue, narrated by Agnes Iron, describes a mourning ceremony done by Bush when the county sent Angela back to live with her mother Hannah. The first sentence states the house is crying (11) to refer to the steam running down the walls. However, this statement sets up the forthcoming bond that the four women in the novel --Angela, Agnes, Bush, and Dora-Rouge-- will develop with the non-human world. By giving to the house a human attribution, we not only transfer our own shared emotions with the non-living being, but also, there is an implicit idea of reciprocity. In this example, the house portrays a shared bond of grief with the owner Bush. The personification of the house by Agnes, as a crying house, could clearly be understood as a metaphor about Bush. In a similar way that a house is portrayed as a place for resting, protection, and nurture a similar view can be shared when talking about the role of mothers in a family. In Bushs case, the pain originated from not being able to protect Angela from Hannah is conveyed in the crying house. Similarly, Bushs response to this comment, the house can withstand it, coincides with Bushs strength to accept her lost. Later, as part of the grievance ceremony Bush cuts her long hair because it is said, that hair has a memory (16). Once again, the personification of the hair as a human or an animal that is able to perform a brain function, goes back to the concept of forming new alliances with our surroundings. The force that drives these women, arises from coming to terms with the different levels of their own bodies. Which is something that does not occur with Hannah and it seems to be one of the roots for her destructive ways. Angela explains: my mother had been taken by some horrible terrible and violent force. It inhabited her, flesh, bone and spirit (22). This un-reconciliation of the flesh, bone and spirit in Hannah, demonstrates her pragmatic vision of the body as a simple physical matter, a body that by the end of the novel it seems to take retaliation against Hannah her lips

were dry, her teeth had what looked like dried blood on them, and her breath was foul (243), becoming a victim of self-destruction. In Hogans novel, the author creates a space where the characters transcend Occidental thinking, the division between mind and body, and between living and non-living entities. By transforming non-living entities to life forms, Hogan breaks the gap between this realm and the spiritual one. As we see how Angela starts building an empathy bridge between the living and non-living part of nature, the reader experiences her transformation by following her grandmothers examples of respect for the land and it is creatures. By having a deep encounter with nature Angela starts hearing the voices from living and non-living entities: sometimes on this journey I thought I heard the voices of the world, of what was all around us- the stones, the waters flowing towards their ends, the osprey with its claws in fish, even the minnows and spawn (181). In the same light, later on the book we see that Dora-Rouge is not only able to heard the voices of the world but also she is able to make pacts with the non-living forces of nature. In the same way, not only the four women sense the living presence of inanimate objects, but also Angela declares that all the people from Adams Rib believes that everything in the world has life by itself. One example of this conviction is the character of John Husk, who is described as a man of science and owner of stacks of science magazines. In him, it seems like scientific knowledge and tribal knowledge fuse together to give birth to an amalgam of wisdom. Furthermore, Husk wants to use science to prove that everything is alive. According to Angela, Husk puts it One day this will be proven true. You wait and see. Even the tools and the fishhooks were alive, he maintained and the ball-peen hammer (81). In the novel, this division between humans and non-humans is due to a forgotten path with nature. Where nature was supposed to provide for humans and humans would live in peace with natures entities. As Silvia

Schultermandl argues, The spiritual healing that comes from the reunion of human nature and the nonhuman biosphere opens new approaches for a world view that ceases to locate human beings at the center of all creation (76). In similar manner, in Adams Rib, many of the people that still lived by the tribes traditional knowledge knew this, and for those who had forgotten about the pact, nature was harsh against them. As we are able to see through the character of La Rue Marks Times, who, by disrespecting the fish and the animals, had a very hard time fishing and hunting. By not taking care of nature and its creatures, nature did not take care of him either. As the four women proceed in their journey to Beautiful Ones land, Dora-Rouge finds that the topography of the land has changed. The diversion of east flowing rivers to the west created vast deforestation and mudflats. As they keep getting closer to the Se Nay River the land begins to become rocky and darker. Angela explains that the Se Nay River has now become the force of two rivers, The Big Arm River having been diverted in to the Se Nay. She describes it as: the water of two rivers, forced into one, was deeper and wider than it should have been, hitting the walls far up the sides and spreading out wherever it could in other places, taking down trees (191-192). This passage shows the impossibility of navigating the river. However, Dora-Rouge makes a pact with the water of the river to let them cross. Hogan portrays the natural element of water as an active agent, able to negotiate with humans. As Barbara Cook points out, a negotiation with nature and an attempt to understand the oppositions are representative methods of mediation (47). Dora-Rouges pact with the water does not assert an anthropocentric point of view, but instead reflects on a non-dominant occidental behavior towards the land. Hogan expresses that there must be a mutual respect between human and land, which in the novel is referred to as being alive.

In this case, the author shows how the rivers are being manipulated by humans and in response, the rivers are angry. Dora-Rouge refers to this anger when she hears the noises made by the Se Nay. Because of the ongoing destructive ways of using the worlds natural resources in the novel, a respect for the earth has been lost. In this light, the author illustrates how tribal cultures systems of knowledge could present a solution to reconfigure the first Eurocentric impression of space as something that needs to be conquered and instead, offers a possible communication between land and humans. The four women develop a stronger sense of empathy towards the land, which leads to an extra-sensorial dialogue. Before putting their canoes in the waters of the Se Nay River, Angela refers to their connection with the environment as: Now our arms were strong and we were articulate in the language of land, animal, even in the harder language of one another (193). Angelas spiritual training by her grandmothers has led her to reestablish her bond with the biosphere and its spiritual world. Hogans ongoing use of language to refer to all inanimate objects, land, and natural forces offers a clear example of the characters continual fight to protect their environment, as well as their mission to reorder a lost cosmogonic equilibrium before European settlers colonized Indigenous peoples land. Through her writing, then, the author restores the notion that the land is the source of humanity (235). Therefore, in the novel, humans integration with the biosphere is a goal achieved by the use of anthropomorphism. This rhetorical device enables Hogan to create empathy with the land and all the elements that form it. By reading Solar Storms nature writing, we are able to see the ways in which Hogan advocates for a cultural, social and intellectual integration of humans with the environmental realm. Thus, as an example of ecological thought, Hogan shows us a new way of understanding life. For Hogan, life is not just inherent in humans, animals, or plants, but also as an innate characteristic of everything that inhabits the earth. The

political implication of such a notion creates awareness and humility about our place in the grand cycle of the natural world.

Cited Works Cook, Barbara J. "Hogans Historical Narratives: Bringing to Visibility the Interrelationship of Humanity and the Natural World." From the Center of Tradition: Critical Perspective on Linda Hogan. Colorado: U of Colorado, 2003. 35-52. Print. Hogan, Linda. Solar Storms: A Novel. New York: Scribner, 1995. Print. Schultermand, Silvia. "Fighting for the Mother/Land: An Ecofeminist Reading of Linda Hogan's Solar Storms." Studies in American Indian Literatures 2nd ser. 17.3 (2005): 67-84. Print.