Black Elk Speaks Essay

Black Elk Speaks is about a Native American boy that has visions and these visions help him with the religious aspects of live. He has these visions that tell him what to do and shows him the path to righteousness. These visions can also be seen as myths, which are stories that try to explain something. Every culture has their own collection of myths. Black Elk Speaks is also a very symbolic book, because it has the use of many objects or people that represent other things. In the American culture, as well as other cultures around the world, are also very symbolic. The American culture is very diverse in that there are many different cultures that have mixed and created the American culture. The American culture is not something that is easily explained, because it is so mixed with many other cultures from around the world. At first there were American Indians and they brought along their tribes and myths and rituals. Then came the British and over time the Chinese because of the California gold rush. In time America was in habited with many different nationalities and ideas. These ideas were slowly but surely blended together. As for example, when the British shared their meal with the Indians they were also sharing their culture and food. The exchange of food and other ideas brought the two distant worlds closer. The more important ideas are what does all this exchanging of food and ideas symbolize? â€Å"A symbol is something such as an object, picture, written word, sound, or particular mark that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention†(Wikipedia, 1). The object used in Black Elk Speaks is a pipe, given to them by a â€Å"young and very beautiful† woman, which symbolizes trust and companionship. Now, my friend, let us smoke together so that there may be only good between us† (Black Elk Speaks, 5). Black Elk and Neihardt have a smoke together to share their friendship and trust between the two. The pipe can also symbolize peace amongst people and/or tribes. Another act, such as the killing of a bison, might be seen as bravery, integrity, courage, pride. The American culture changed drastically when more cultures were included, such as the Chinese and African Americans. Slaves brought in from Africa, which meant that they brought along their culture and tendencies to America. Even though slavery was not the right thing to do, it brought a new culture into America and made it more diverse and â€Å"developed. † For example, superstitions are something that has shaped the culture as well. Spilled salt, walking under a ladder, a broken mirror, etc. are all superstitions that are said to lead to bad luck. When someone does one of these things they believe that bad luck is upon them. This causes them to act in a different way. Something bad in the future happens they may turn and blame it on the bad luck. Maybe some of the things that happen are just coincidences but culture has taught us to believe that it was the bad luck caused by the spilled salt, broken mirror, or walking under a ladder. Another big symbol in Black Elk Speaks is the four ribbons tied to the pipe that Black Elk and Neihardt smoke. It represents the powers of the four quarters of the universe. There are four ribbons tired to the pipe and each ribbon is a different color, which symbolizes a different power. Black is for the west, the source of the rain; red is for the east, the place of the morning star that gives wisdom; white is for the north, source of cleansing wind; and yellow is for the south, the places of summer and growth. Myths are another big thing that shapes a culture. Black Elk’s visions are like the myths in this story. In his vision, a bay horse greets Black Elk. He then tells Black Elk that he will tell him a story of the life history of himself. The horse walks in a circular motion â€Å"‘Behold me! ’ he said, ‘My life-history you shall see. ’†¦ ‘Behold them! Their history you shall know’† (Black Elk Speaks, 19). Each side that the horse goes to there are twelve horses that are each in a group of different colors. The horses to the north are white, those to the east are sorrel, those to the south are buckskin, and the ones to the west are black. The horses will take Black Elk to his Grandfathers. The sky fills with dancing horses that change into diverse creators and lead a formation of the horses from the four directions. They arrive at a cloud those changes into a tepee with a rainbow door, which inside the six Grandfathers are waiting. A myth is like a traditional story which usually contains some sort of hero or event. In this myth, the vision that Black Elk is having, is an event that is occurring. A bay horse appears in front of him and shows him the way to meet the six Grandfathers. Sometimes myths may sound like a fairy tale. For example, in ancient China, there was once this monkey that was very troublesome and cause destruction to the heavens. He was punished and put under a mountain. After about several hundred to a thousand years a monk comes along to save the monkey and there starts a journey of adventures and evil to obtain immortality. This is a myth because it is a legend of a hero that is punished for his crimes and therefore pays his debt by serving under his master. There are many aspects of a culture. The American culture is very diverse and tough to explain in one short answer. There is no true American culture because it is just a mixture of different cultures from around the world. Black Elk Speaks shows the forms of myths and symbols and how they contribute to American culture. Black Elk’s myths and symbols are very similar to those of the American culture.