Broader Perspectives Through Matrilineal Narration

Ellie Duffin

In her novel In The Night of Memory, author Linda LeGarde Grover develops a highly sentimental story of loss and recovery, connecting her readers to a generational chorus of Native  American women as they transform feelings of guilt into actions of love. While the novel centers  around the coming-of-age narrative of two young sisters, Azure Sky and Rainfall Dawn, the incorporation of matrilineal perspectives displays how their individual stories are inevitably  intertwined within generations of familial history. Grover’s intentional narration style is strategically utilized to depict the girls’ poignant naivety through dramatic irony, as well as  deliver an inspiring renunciation of survivance alongside loss. The matrilineal and anachronic narration of In the Night of Memory serves as an uplifting yet haunting force of support and recovery, allowing readers to interpret themes of innocence and survivance  from a broader perspective in the novel’s coming-of-age narrative.  

Forward Reviews’ description of the novel’s narration as “melancholic” is very prevalent,  for while the story may have a happy ending, there is no doubt that the older generation’s point  of view contributes to a slightly remorseful mood. The first break from a young Azure Sky’s  account is from the perspective of Auntie Girlie, one of the oldest and, therefore, one of the most  highly respected members of the extended LaForce family. Grover intentionally has Auntie Girlie’s point of view succeed the narration of Azure Sky’s to provide the reader with essential context regarding Azure and Rainy’s estranged mother, Loretta, from a primary source. Auntie Girlie states that “Stories like Loretta’s were and are sadly so common that it didn’t even merit  mention in the news, that an Indian woman who lived a rough life had lost her children to the  County and dropped off the face of the earth without anyone even noticing for the longest time” (21). Auntie Girlie’s pragmatic tone regarding a deeply personal conflict in the lives of Azure and Rainy reorients the story on a larger perspective, conveying the harsh reality that situations  like Loretta’s are unfortunately common due to the influence of history on contemporary Native  American society. Aunt Girlie and her wistful, yet matter-of-fact interpretation of missing  women is not the only contribution to the novel’s melancholic complexity. Dolly, another older  character in the narrative, shares similar sentiments, yet with more regret than Auntie Girlie’s  practical acceptance. Dolly’s oration ruminates upon alternate outcomes for Loretta if she had  stayed living with affluent family members, “Loretta’s life would have been so different from  how it turned out. She would have gone to school with Artenese, watched over by Patsy like a  miser with a bag of gold, might have graduated and gone to college or to work. . . But that is not  the way it happened” (85-86). Dolly’s repentant tone delivers a sentiment of failed communal  responsibility for Loretta. Her fixation on hypothetical situations is intentionally utilized to  introduce the readers to reoccurring feelings of remorse that further lay the foundations for  healing in the novel. The contrasting attitudes of the two older women display Grover’s  commitment to accurately depicting the complexities of loss and the varying responses it can  warrant.  

Grover cultivates this melancholic mood while simultaneously delivering  a message of support, producing an accurately bittersweet perspective on coming of age, love,  and loss. The older generation’s account of the efforts to bring Rainfall Dawn and Azure Sky back to their extended family gives the reader a broader understanding of the unity needed to  develop a promising future for one’s bloodline (87-89). In a series of letters outlining the process  of connecting Azure and Rainy back to their family, an extended relative, Shirley, pleads, “‘The  Indian people are in grief for the loss of so many our children. Loretta Gallette was one of those  children; she is still lost. Please help us get her children back to our family and tribe’” in a  message to the Reservation Business Committee (91). Grover’s inclusion of these various  communication channels within the family is meant to display the remarkable large-scale group  effort involved in navigating the Indian Child Welfare Act. These details deliver an uplifting  sentiment of community healing, strengthened by Auntie Girlie’s retelling of her first powwow  with the girls after their reintroduction to their biological family, “standing in between Azure  Sky and Rainfall Dawn, who although looked nothing liked them, reminded me of Maggie and  Helen. . . praying a small request to God . . .for five minutes, just five, to stand, to remain upright  between the warmth and youth of the girls who found, would link the generations before me to  the generations after them” (117). By noting Auntie Girlie’s aging condition during her  reconnection with two lost girls, Grover articulates profound gratitude and pride in restoring  these essential connections between the old and the young. In addition, it allows the reader to  appreciate these themes from a perspective beyond the two main characters and comprehend  how deeply rooted recovery efforts are within all aspects of the LaForce family. 

Grover’s decision to narrate her novel from an unconventional anachronic  and matrilineal perspective not only creates a realistic tone embedded in emotional complexity  but also works to solidify the novel’s overall theme of survivance. By including perspectives  across time periods in no particular order, Grover delivers the crucial notion that Native  American survivance is not linear; rather, it is an ongoing presence passed down through generations. Towards the novel’s end, Grover displays the older women’s changing attitudes as  they renunciate their past tragedies and decide to look ahead. When discussing future  accommodations for Azure Sky and Rain, it becomes clear that the women actively transform  what was once rumination into inspiring acceptance, “Beryl set her coffee cup down hard on the  table. ‘How many of you were on the RBC when Junior Gallette was trying to find those girls?  How many remember the work that Artense and Shirley and Fred Simon did to get them tracked  down? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: it was a long, hard road to the Indian Child  Welfare Act, and though it’s not perfect, it’s what we’ve got. We are still in mourning for the  children we lost, and that included the girls’ mother; we lost Loretta and there’s no use blaming  and pointing fingers, but we lost her long before she disappeared, and she may never be found.  How can we not do what we can to protect her children?’” (197-198). This conversation is  arguably a climactic point in the novel, for it is one of the most direct manifestations of  communal survivance thus far. The women possess the stark ability to recognize their past  hardships without regret nor blame, but instead with a forward outlook, displaying their  remarkable capacity to live with their pain instead of simply pushing through it. The chorus’ role  as a voice of community adds a level of resonance to the novel’s central theme that is  unattainable through a singular narrator.  

While the unique narration style of In The Night of Memory supports the novel’s theme of  survivance through emotional nuance, it is also utilized by Grover as a means of dramatic irony.  This chorus is purposefully included to draw attention to the girls’ innocence and nativity  towards their love and support. By juxtaposing their youthful narration with the wise and  hardened perspective of characters like Auntie Girlie, Grover strategically develops  characterization further. When the girls first learn they are leaving their abusive foster home to live on a reservation, they are ignorant of the efforts conducted by their extended family to bring  them home and even admit that they “were afraid to leave” because “. . .there were lots of foster  kids worse than us . . . and lots of foster homes besides Mrs. Kukonen’s” (79). By placing insight  into Azure and Rainy’s fears alongside Dolly’s caring preparations for their arrival, Grover gives  her audience information that surpasses the girls’ understanding, intentionally highlighting their  innocence. The girls’ shared oblivion to their future loving household with their found family has  an intense emotional impact on the reader, for their naivety is a manifestation of their separation  from their Mohzay family. However, Grover’s employment of dramatic irony accentuates the  care and love Azure and Rainy will receive, although undisclosed to them. The varying narrators  strengthen the coming-of-age component of the novel by allowing the audience to perceive the  girls from an external viewpoint, drawing attention to their refreshing innocence through literary  devices like dramatic irony. 

Grover employs the female chorus of characters in her novel The  Night of Memory for many purposes. While Forward Reviews was accurate in stating this  narration style works to “ring in melancholic yet dauntless tones,” it is also utilized to display the  reverberating effect of lost Native American women across family lines. In addition, Grover uses  these matrilineal voices to convey broader themes of generational survivance while  simultaneously developing the novel’s main story surrounding the innocence and growth of the  two central characters. Throughout the novel, the audience steps into the shoes of complex, fully  developed female characters in different stages of their familial history. While the book  concentrates on Azure and Rain, Grover’s inclusion of these characters develops eternal themes  that are applicable beyond a single story.

Ellie Duffin is a junior from Braintree, Massachusetts. She is majoring in Politics with a minor in Communications and Spanish.  At Saint Anselm, she is very involved in the Student Ambassador Program in the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, where has the opportunity to promote civic engagement on campus, contribute to political discussions, and most recently work with ABC News. In her free time, she enjoys skiing, hiking, traveling, and going to concerts. This summer she is excited to study abroad in Granada, Spain