Not By Choice: The Image of Motherhood in There There

by Perla Cuevas 

The American novelist Toni Morrison once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it” (Brown). Her words after a speech in 1981 to the Ohio Arts Council became the motto of underrepresented writers, and Tommy Orange is not the exception when he creates There There. In the novel, Orange introduces us to the lives of twelve characters from Native communities whose circumstances make them reconnect with their Native American heritage regardless of their status. The diversity in these characters helps us see the Native Experience from different roles: the role of motherhood is the topic of our interest. Many Native communities are originally Matriarchal-based which enriches our discussion about motherhood. In Tommy’s world, two characters represent this role like both sides of the same coin. On one side, we have Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield: her journey of maturity, her loss of innocence, and the necessity of jumping into adulthood. On the other side, is her sister Jacquie Red Feather, with her chaotic and rebellious choices. There are many other female characters in the story; however,  these two will set the tone and rhythm for how motherhood is portrayed in the book and how female characters fit or undermine some stereotypes around the topic. 

Tommy Orange uses his novel to represent many of the difficulties of motherhood without falling into stereotypes. It was refreshing to find female characters who despite the tragedies, try to fight against the odds and their precarious situation. One example is the moment Opal encourages her sister after they lose their mother, “Yeah, Mom’s dead, I know. We’re alone, but we’re not dead. It’s not over. We can’t just give up, Jacquie. Right?” she said, showing such resilience for such a young age (Orange 60). The females in There There aren’t the only ones trying to survive the world of stereotypes. Tommy Orange also is trying to “push back against  Native tropes, and the new generation of Native authors” with the creation of the novel (Shoton). 

There’s one term relevant for the analysis of There There, representation. There are many stereotypes and misrepresentations around female characters in popular culture, for this reason, “feminists have learned to look at what is absent as well as what is all too present”  (“Representation” 135). When we hear the word, mother, we unconsciously attach it to others such as protection, house, sense of tranquility, and femininity because this is how usually mothers are portrayed in popular media. Mothers are associated with gentleness, pure love, devotion, and altruism. However, in the novel, not all the female characters adhere to these roles:, only a few are mothers by choice, and most of them become motherse by accident, force, or unpredictable circumstances. In There There, mothers are imperfect, sometimes resentful but always strong. This doesn’t mean they are bad characters; the real value of representation is in the fact that “they tell us something about how women’s lives are valued and the difficulties in being represented (more literally) in the public sphere” (“Representation” 136). In this case, Tommy Orange represents mothers of varying natures with both successful and unfortunate journeys, which are all reflected in the life and decisions of their children. 

The first example of motherhood in the novel is shown with the character of Maxine, who is  Tony’s grandmother. She is taking care of him because his real mother used to drink since she was pregnant and caused him to be born with“fetal alcohol syn-drome (15). Whether by choice or by force, she raised Tony after his mother went to jail. Tony and his mother do not have a good relationship. e blames her for his disease, misfortune, and for having no connection with his biological father, “You fucking did this to me” he said once after a phone call to his imprisoned mother (Orange 19). Maxine, however, is responsible for making him a decent human being while he battles his syndrome and bad decisions. Despite Tony’s behavior, Maxine tried her best to make him understand and live with his illness. She loves him and teaches him to embrace his differences, to read “Indian stuff that [he doesn’t] always get,” and connect with his native culture (Orange 20). Unfortunately, she doesn’t succeed completely, and even though Tony derives a deep sense of validation from her, he ends up killed after a criminal life. It is bittersweet to see how he remembered her as a safe place in his final moments, the light at the end of his tunnel, and the only one who would protect him. He forgets about her fragile bones, her “broken hip” and her inability to move on her own because, in the end, she would always be his safe place (Orange 20). 

Another relevant image of motherhood in the novel is with Opal’s and Jacquie’s mother,  Victoria. We do not know what circumstances made her a mother, but the fact that she ran from both her husbands can be a hint of a negative past or toxic relationship. Opal even describes her as a crazy person and not a reliable source. She is always running and hiding from something or someone, maybe from the eviction notices at the front door, or other consequences of her choices in life (Orange 47). In Opal’s words, she was always taking them, “in and out of work, moving us all over Oakland, in and out of our dad’s lives, (…) different schools and shelters,” she said (Orange 49). Victoria, without both of her husbands, and with no source of income, took a series of bad decisions hoping for a better future for her daughters, but nothing seemed to work. The light at the end of their tunnel seems to appear once they are evicted from their original house and move to Alcatraz to work their “way out of from the inside with a spoon” (Orange 48). Unfortunately, this is just the beginning of their nightmare. Victoria didn’t have bad intentions; she loved her daughters the most and we could see in her actions that she wanted a better future for them. However, life had different plans for her, and she dies from cancer when the girls are too young to understand how drastically their life has turned. Victoria’s death forced both of her daughters to grow up and look to each other for the love and support their mother couldn’t give them anymore. It will also shape their future and relationship with motherhood in both negative and positive ways.

Through these females, Orange presents a wide range of the image of motherhood. It’s fascinating how all these characters get immersed in and reclaim the role, mostly by force. However, this isn’t a foreign behavior, in some Native American cultures, we can see how tales, rituals, and stories are created around the idea of Mother Earth and femininity. Dawn Knickerbocker, an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe from the Ottertail Pillager Band of Indians says, “The practice of Mothering is deeply embedded in Indigenous communities and can be delivered by anyone who brings life,  nurtures life, and cultivates the development of embodied love” (Knickerbocker). As the Earth is the main source of life and fertility, mothers are the only creatures capable of creation and their instinct pushes them to take care of their children. In this definition, we can see details of Opal’s journey to motherhood. Opal has always been a smart girl despite being the youngest.  Her instinct takes the wheel when she encourages her sister Jacquie to have her first baby. She directly tells her the pregnancy is part of their story, and she cannot “Just get rid of [it]” (Orange 60).  She is a lovely girl, who has been forced not to trust the adults in her life completely once they failed to take care of her. The role model of her life, her mother, loved her to death, but was an unstable figure, as we explained before.

Opal doesn’t have the chance to enjoy her childhood or adolescence because she is forced to grow after her mother died of cancer (58). Orange shows us this scene beautifully: it is the moment she leaves her teddy bear “Two Shoes” after the cancer conversation with her mom, “When I got to Two Shoes he was (…) in bad shape like something had chewed on him (…) I couldn’t see the shine in his eyes anymore. I put him back down like he’d been. Left him like that” (Orange 58). The whole scene is bittersweet and indirectly tells us that she is giving up something bigger than a teddy bear. When she leaves Two Shoes on the island in such a poor state, she decides to fight against the odds and survive on her own once her mother dies. She knows there won’t be more time to play or fool around, no more time to be a simple girl, and this is proven as the stories unfold. She has so much pressure on her because she is still living up to her mother’s expectations and the responsibility of keeping their native heritage by telling their stories to the next generation (Orange 58). Years later, she is cornered into become a mother when Jacquie’s daughter Jaime committed suicide by shooting herself. It is at that moment she becomes the official mother, grandma, and great-aunt of her three grandchildren who were first abandoned by their biological mother, and later by their grandmother Jacquie. Orvil even confesses that Opal was taking care of them even before their mother died because the only thing “Jamie ever did was push them out” (Orange 120). Jamie was only another biological mother who didn’t fulfill her role because of her addiction and the absence of another good mother figure in her life. These characters are examples of generational trauma, and none of them truly knows how to fix them, but Jamie isn’t the only one.  Illnesses such as alcoholism, depression, and addictions are recurrent topics among these mothers as we can see in the case of Tony’s biological mother, Jamie, and Jacquie, which surprisingly goes in a different direction from the nurturing, caring, and almost divine portrayal of Native American  motherhood.

The last but not least important of the mothers is Jacquie Red Feather. She was assaulted while living in Alcatraz, which resulted in her first pregnancy when she was seventeen. Jacquie couldn’t stand the idea of being a mother at that age, with no financial support, or a real home. Therefore, “[she] gave up [her] daughter [in a close] adoption; an action that she labeled “stupid” a few years later (Orange 110). After that, she had another daughter, Jamie, but “she fucked that up too in [her] addiction” and left her too, being this the beginning of motherhood for Opal as we explained before (Orange 107). Jacquie is constantly going back and forth from her decisions, “trying to make [her] way back,” but her addiction, unresolved traumas, and fears are stopping her. “She wanted to go to them,” but She refuses to look at the pictures of the boys, trying to avoid the accusatory eyes of her sister Opal. She tried to make her see the guys over the years and kept her informed about their life; subtly telling her to take back what is hers; “Come and get them, they’re yours,” her guilty mind tells her in the form of her sister’s eyes  (Orange 107).  

I find Jacquie an interesting “mother” figure, regardless of her early choices in life.  Jacquie’s evolution as a character is shown in detail in the novel. She is the most complex character and the owner of a complete character arc, which can be seen in how she evolves as a person and a mother figure. As an adult, she is constantly fighting her inner demons and understands the implications of staying out of his grandchildren’s lives. Her journey isn’t a straight line, she goes from a traumatic teenager who gave her first daughter on adoption, to a grandmother that would risk her life to save her grandchildren despite not being there from the beginning. She tries to redeem herself by fighting insecurities, and addictions, ultimately finding her way back home.  

In other cultures around the world, women were valued as any other warrior when they gave birth. Native American tribes gave respect to their elderly females and mothers were often a fountain of knowledge, security, and blessings. There was this pride and privilege in the act of procreating. Unfortunately, this is not the case in There There. However, whether it can be by duty or choice, these females are strong characters fighting against the odds and a system whose advantages are mostly for men. They are fierce and acted when needed; even Jacquie gets that “momma bear” instinct when Orvil is shot during the powwow.  She acts by instinct and does her best to protect a grandson she barely knew, “before she can feel or think or decide anything, she is already moving towards her grandson (…) she is walking towards the gunfire [but] it doesn’t matter,” the only thing in her mind was to save him (Orange 280). 

The mothers in There There are a beautiful disaster. Some by nature, others by force, but in the end, they are warriors trying to teach their children about their heritage while at the same time dealing with individual battles. Despite their traumas, they listen to their instinct when the situation calls for it. Nobody is perfect, and these mothers are no exception. Tommy Orange plays with our emotions when telling all these small stories. All these characters are seen to be different, but they all have a heritage tinted with blood, and a necessity to protect or be protected that is embodied in the concept of motherhood. 

Works Cited

Brown, Ellen. “Writing Is Third Career For Morrison.” Newspapers.com, 14 July 2018,  www.newspapers.com/clip/21863475/tonimorrison/. 

Knickerbocker, Dawn. “The Sacredness of Motherhood: Ones Who Gave Us Life.” Native  Americans in Philanthropy, Native Americans in Philanthropy, 8 May  2021, https://nativephilanthropy.org/2021/05/08/the-sacredness-of-motherhood-ones-who-gave-us-life/

Orange, Tommy. There There. New York. Vintage Books, 2018. 

Pilcher, Jane, and Imelda Whelehan. Key Concepts in Gender Studies, SAGE Publications,  Limited, 2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://cuny-lg.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01CUNY_LG/12l88rj/cdi_proquest_ebookcentral_EBC6408515Shotton, Heather J. “Resisting the Violence through Writing: A Conversation with Tommy  Orange.” World Literature Today, vol. 93, no. 4, 2019, pp. 56–61. JSTOR,  https://doi.org/10.7588/worllitetoda.93.4.0056. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022.