In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse

“Now he found refuge, again, in the trees and thickets by the Smoking Earth River. Here the trees accepted him just the way he was, blue eyes and all. So did the grasses, and the birds, and the rabbits. Here, by the river, he was just a boy.”

This passage highlights Jimmy’s initial feelings of isolation before he begins The Journey of Personal Growth and Understanding. The reference to Jimmy's light hair and blue eyes (See: Symbols & Motifs) indicates that his physical appearance separates him from the other kids in his class. By personifying the plants and animals around Jimmy, the novel emphasizes his loneliness, suggesting that his only friends are found in nature, rather than with other children. The “again” that breaks up the first sentence makes clear that Jimmy has felt this way for a long time.

“My great-grandfather—your great-great-grandfather—was born in 1860. He saw Crazy Horse, as close as you are to me. He said Crazy Horse had light skin, like you, and brown hair, like you. He didn’t have blue eyes. But some boys teased him, too.”

The similarity between Crazy Horse’s appearance and Jimmy's light hair and blue eyes (See: Symbols & Motifs) creates an instant connection between the two Lakota. The fact that they both are bullied as children sets them up for parallel paths on the journey of personal growth and understanding, with Jimmy taking Crazy Horse as a role model on his path to adulthood. Grandpa Nyles’s focus on his ancestor’s direct contact with Crazy Horse also emphasizes The Value of First-Hand Experience, while showing that Nyles puts a high value on the Lakota oral histories passed down through the generations.