Michael Dorris's A Yellow Raft in Blue Water describes the lives of three Native American women. Dorris complicates the novel, however, by having each woman narrate one section of the story from her own perspective with each woman's story adding new layers of meaning to their collective intergenerational saga. In addition, Dorris further complicates the plot by presenting the three stories in reverse order with Rayona, the "granddaughter," telling her story first, followed by her mother, Christine, and then her "grandmother," Aunt Ida. Consequently, Dorris's novel reads like a complex mystery, and the reader must carefully piece together its plot by continually uncovering new information and reassessing previous information as the story unfolds backwards in time.
Rayona begins her account by describing a typical fight between her Native American mother, Christine, and her.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 1,408 words. This
study guide contains 21,804 words (approx. 73 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our A Yellow Raft in Blue Water Access Pass.
