Pushing the Bear: A Novel of the Trail of Tears

Content Warning: The source text addresses themes of genocide, displacement, and cultural erasure. In addition, both the source text and this guide contain references to sexual assault and racist ideologies against Indigenous people.

“Now soldiers were in the clearing with their rifles and bayonets. I heard their quick words, but I didn’t know what they said. They seemed invisible inside their dark clothes.”

At the beginning of the text, Maritole’s illustration of the soldiers has a foreboding tone as their impending removal begins to take shape. Her reference to their apparent invisibility creates the sense of an imminent yet nebulous threat. Just as Maritole is unable to see the menacing soldiers in the dark, the Cherokee people have no way of fighting the United States government’s abstract policies. Thus, the first appearance of the soldiers is designed to make them appear to be something other than human.

“They couldn’t remove us. Didn’t the soldiers know we were the land? […] In our story of corn, a woman named Selu had been murdered by her son. Where her blood fell, the corn grew.”

In this passage, Maritole references a traditional Cherokee myth that introduces the corn motif. With the story of Selu, the novel immediately relates the origin story of the Cherokee people’s way of life. Maritole’s questioning of the soldiers also illustrates the Cherokee dedication to maintaining a balance with their environment.

“I wanted to ask Knobowtee what stockade we were going to, but I knew he would not want his wife talking.”

Here, Maritole subtly introduces the tension between her and Knobowtee as their current situation highlights their interpersonal issues and causes additional turmoil in their marriage. Her resigned tone implies that she does not want to upset Knobowtee, but the scene also foreshadows the eventual feelings of abandonment she will have towards her husband.