Brent has a Ph.D. in American Culture, specializing in cinema studies, from the University of Michigan. She is a freelance writer and teaches courses in American cinema. In the following essay, she discusses the theme of cultural loss in "Lullaby."

Leslie Marmon Silko's short story "Lullaby" depicts Native American culture in collision with a white culture that has dominated and oppressed it. Silko's story illustrates the sense of loss experienced by one Native American woman at the hands of white authority figures. As the main character, Ayah, looks back on the most devastating events of her life, she mourns the loss of tradition, language, and family experienced by many Native Americans in the twentieth century. At the same time, however, Ayah, as many of Silko's characters, is able to combine traditional with modern cultural elements in order to make meaning in her life.

Language as a...