Julie (George novel)

Transcription

This is a story about a young Eskimo girl named Miyax who runs away from her life and marriage in civilized Alaska. On the brink of death, she befriends a wolf pack led by a black wolf named Amaroq, and they accept her as one of the family. As she struggles to stay alive in the tundra, she recalls all that her father has taught her about surviving in nature before he presumably died at sea. To keep appearances that she is a member of the wolf pack, she crawls on all fours and even mimics the behavior of a wolf. She forms a special friendship with Kapu, a friendly pup who is being groomed to lead the pack, and a lost bird, which she names Tornait. The wolf pack, keeping their distance, protect Miyax from danger and provide her with meat. Although initially lost, Miyax travels in the direction of the nearest city so that she can eventually move to San Francisco to visit her pen pal, Amy. On the way, she sees a plane with hunters who open fire. They kill Amaroq and wound Kapu. Miyax watches over Kapu and nurses his wounds until he can fully walk. Miyax builds an ice house and is soon visited by a travelling family. Miyax lets the family stay with her and they reveal that her father is still alive and that he helped to save their struggling town. Miyax walks to the town where her father is and they meet. She discovers that he assisted in Amaroq's death and despises him and his new family. Miyax ventures back into the tundra, hoping to live away from the civilized world. In the end, after Tornait dies, she decides to live with her father. Because most of this story takes place in the wilderness, readers see the relationship between nature and man. Initially, as Miyax is acclimating to her new environment and integrating with the wolves, readers see how close nature and man are. There is a rhythm and season to how things move in the Arctic and Miyax is very aware of these occurrences. However, as the story continues and Miyax approaches the civilized world, readers also begin to sense the separation of nature and man. Physically, civilized territory is marked by the oil barrels and they serve as boundaries of separation between cultured and uncultured. This separation also signifies the cultural border between the Western and Eskimo ways. As with any culturally rich place that is overtaken by Western culture, there is a struggle, or negotiation, between which culture is dominant. By the way Miyax speaks of her Eskimo heritage, readers initially see that Eskimo is the dominant drive in Miyax's life. In fact, she points out how weak she's becomes by relying on Western tools, like matches and electricity, to survive. However, through the backstory and Miyax's ultimate surrender at the end, the Western way of life is more prominent. Miyax will presumably change her name to Julie and exclusively read, write, and speak in English. But the ending isn't all that sad. It's a conceded surrender with no ill feelings or anger.