Animal Dreams
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Sheryl Stevenson reports that Barbara KingsolverÆs intention in creating Animal Dreams (1990), the story of Cosima ôCodiö Noline, was as follows: ôI wanted to write about the way that loss of memory is the loss of self, both for a culture and an individualö (327). In providing us with the account of CodiÆs homecoming to Grace, Arizona, Kingsolver reveals this process both for American culture and for Codi. In doing so, she not only shows us the impact of memories that affect Codi, including her motherÆs death as a chhld and her hidden miscarriage, but Kingsolver also shows the impact on a culture that prefers to forget child abuse, Native Americans, Nicaraguan foreign policy and destruction of the natural environment. Combined with these self and cultural memory issues, CodiÆs father Homer exhibits signs of AlzheimerÆs that serves as a metaphor for cultural and individual reluctance to remember and come to terms with painful memories. What Animal Dreams reveals in the process is that until a process of acknowledgement and closure occur that involve such memories, neither the individual nor his or her culture forms a true identity. The narration of Animal Dreams involves CodiÆs first-person narration and her father HomerÆs third-person narration. HomerÆs third-person narration is a symbol of his inability to exist fully in the here-and-now because of his inability to remember. This serves to reinforce CodiÆs struggle to reconstruct her pas
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assion of these women, Codi comes to realize that she is no longer an outsider; even when she thought she was, she was only seeing her role in a limited way because of experiences she endured when too young to fully understand them. As she says of the women, ôI remembered every toy, every birthday party, each of the fifty mothers whoÆd been standing at the edges of my childhood, ready to make whatever contribution was needed at the timeö (Kingsolver 328). Though she maintains change would come slow and they were all ôa little stiffö in the ways of love and expression of familial love, Codi has come to terms with her past and reconnected with self and community.
By studying her familyÆs history, examining her life choices, and investigating strategies to shut down the mine that has undermined her birthplace, Code learns new knowledge and insight into a number of significant concerns. Codi works with civic groups and she and an art dealer help win federal protection for their orchards and water supply. Her travels with Lloyd and her newfound appreciation of the richness of a town she once felt removed from help her change. However, in changing, Codi also becomes an agent for change. Eventually, Grace is named a protected his
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Approximate Word count = 1976
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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