The Surrounded: Summary, Analysis, and Themes of McNickles Work
Well now, let me tell you about this book, “The Surrounded.” I ain’t no scholar, mind you, but I’ll tell it to ya straight, like I heard it from my neighbor’s girl who reads all them books.
See, this fella, Archilde Leon, he’s the main guy. He’s kinda caught in the middle, see? Half-Salish, they say. Means his Ma was one thing, and his Pa was somethin’ else. Don’t rightly matter what, I guess. Just makes things hard for him, like a burr under your saddle.
This D’Arcy McNickle fella, he wrote this story a long time ago, way back in 1936. Then they printed it again, and again, seems folks liked it enough. He was one of them Indian fellas, a Cree they called him, but lived with the Salish-Kootenai folks on some reservation. Don’t know where that is exactly, some valley or other, Snil-emen, they call it.
Anyways, Archilde, he’s been off to some fancy school, a government school for Indian kids. Learned all sorts of things, I reckon, but it didn’t make things easier. He comes back home, and that’s where the trouble starts, like a storm brewin’ on the horizon.
Now, the book, it’s about him bein’ surrounded, like the name says. Surrounded by what, you ask? Well, all sorts of things. Surrounded by his family, for one. They got their ways, their traditions, and he’s kinda stuck in the middle of it all. Not quite fittin’ in, not quite out neither.
- He’s surrounded by white folks too, with their rules and their laws. They don’t understand his ways, and he don’t rightly understand theirs. It’s like tryin’ to fit a square peg in a round hole.
- And then there’s the land, that Snil-emen Valley. It’s beautiful, I hear, but it’s also causin’ trouble. Folks wantin’ it, fightin’ over it. Archilde, he’s caught right smack in the middle of that mess too.
This book, it ain’t no easy read, not like them dime novels you find at the store. It makes you think, makes you feel for this Archilde fella. He’s tryin’ to figure out who he is, where he belongs. He’s got his Ma’s people pullin’ him one way, and the white man’s world pullin’ him another. It’s enough to make a fella go crazy, I tell ya.
They say there’s summaries and analyses and all that fancy stuff about this book. Chapter by chapter, they tell you what happens. Who said what, who did what. They talk about the themes, the big ideas in the story, like family and tradition and what it means to belong. And they tell you about the history, what it was like back then for them Indian folks. It ain’t pretty, let me tell ya.
But for me, it’s just about this fella, Archilde, tryin’ to find his place in the world. He’s surrounded by all these things, pushin’ and pullin’ at him. And he’s gotta figure out how to make his own way. It ain’t easy, but he’s a tough one, that Archilde. He’s got that Indian spirit in him, that stubbornness that keeps him goin’.
So, if you’re lookin’ for a story that’ll stick with ya, somethin’ that’ll make you think, then maybe you should give “The Surrounded” a try. Just don’t expect no easy answers, ‘cause life ain’t got none, especially not for a fella like Archilde Leon.
It’s like tryin’ to hold onto water, this story. It slips through your fingers, but it leaves somethin’ behind. A feelin’, a understandin’ of what it’s like to be caught between worlds. And that’s somethin’ worth thinkin’ about, don’t ya think?
Anyways, that’s the best I can tell ya about “The Surrounded.” I ain’t no book reviewer, but I know a good story when I hear one. And this one, it’s a good one, even if it is a bit sad and complicated. Just like life, I reckon.
Tags:[The Surrounded, D’Arcy McNickle, Salish, Cree, Snil-emen Valley, Native American Literature, Identity, Family, Tradition, Boarding School]
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