Night of the Living Rez

“[S]ince I had taken methadone, I was ineligible to participate in Native spiritual practice, according to the doc on the rez.

Natives damning Natives.”

This quote introduces Talty’s complex commentary about the double binds of contemporary Penobscot identity. Dee takes methadone to treat his own addictions, which he’s developed as a result of traumas he’s experienced trying to survive life on the reservation. This attempt to heal, though, only isolates him from his community’s practices and traditions, thereby furthering his emotional disconnect from his identity.

“I did, but I didn’t want to be in my room. I wanted to help, to be part of it all. Whatever it all was.”

Here, David struggles to understand what has happened to Paige and why action needs to be taken. This passage demonstrates Talty’s willingness to withhold clear explanations of ambiguous situations. This embrace of ambiguity mirrors the experience of being a child and struggling to make sense of the challenges and traumas that adults try to protect children from.

“I brought my plate to the sink. My hands shook and the fork on the plate rattled. I rinsed the plate and slid it under a dirty bowl. There was one piece of bacon left and I wanted to eat it, to chew on it and release a primal rage, but Fellis took it before I could and stuffed it into his mouth.

He smiled at me and I broke his fucking nose.”

This passage showcases Talty’s craft in building and releasing tension in a way that mirrors Dee’s experience. The first paragraph uses mundane character action to show Dee’s mounting rage; the anger is expressed only in nearly imperceptible actions, reflecting the suppressed nature of Dee’s emotions. The short, declarative second paragraph describing the release of Dee’s violence creates a sense of surprise following the much more detailed, descriptive first paragraph.