Pushing the Bear: A Novel of the Trail of Tears

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1996

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapter 3

Chapters 4-5

Chapter 6

Chapters 7-8

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 4-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 4 Summary: “Kentucky”

As they walk through Kentucky, Sergeant Williams and Maritole continue to learn more about each other’s languages by communicating often. She claims that “each word told its own story” (121). Maritole and many of the other women, such as Lacey, Anna, and Quaty, listen to the men as they discuss whether to act against the soldiers and how to re-establish their community during their resettlement. Maritole worries about two elderly clan members named White Path and Fly Smith, who are slowly dying on this journey. During this time, “a white traveler from Maine” writes about the conditions on the Trail of Tears and describes how the Cherokee people were burying around “fourteen or fifteen” of their people “at every stopping place” (123). Knobowtee remembers his father’s voice, despite having lost his father many years before the Trail of Tears, and he focuses on the sadness that he feels because of the coldness of the snow.

Maritole tells Sergeant Williams the story about a “magic lake” that hides itself from the people to protect animals such as birds. Later, Luthy and her sons tell Sergeant Williams the story of Uk’ten, a snake that kills people. Knobowtee and others use this story to help them continue walking to Oklahoma. A holy man, the conjurers, and Knobowtee all sing traditional Cherokee songs to help heal each other and continue their journey. However, Tanner fights with some of the conjurers when they scare a woman with their magic. As time goes on, Reverend Bushyhead continues to attempt to convert Cherokee people to Christianity. He decides to tell his community that their land never belonged to them but to God; he hopes that this will convince them not to rebel against the soldiers. Knobowtee attempts to gather a council of men to discuss their anger about the resettlement, reminding them of Wilson Lumpkin, the “Commissioner to the Cherokee,” who believed Cherokee people to be “savages” (136). Both Tanner and Knobowtee feel deep anger towards many of the people around them, including the soldiers and their people. Knobowtee claims that their stories keep him motivated to finish this journey.

Chapter 5 Summary: “Illinois”

Now in Illinois, Knobowtee’s sister, Aneh, dreams of being bitten by a snake, and a conjurer sings to her to draw out the snake’s venom. Knobowtee wonders if Aneh “offended a snake or fish” (148), and he watches as she throws up the venom. Maritole tells Sergeant Williams that the Cherokee people live with the land, whereas the white settlers claim that “‘God’s curse separated [the Cherokee people] from the earth’” (149). Another white man tells Maritole that the Cherokee people are not part of “God’s world.” Many of the other soldiers still look down upon them and wish to go home themselves. As Maritole and Williams’s friendship grows, Knobowtee is displeased that his wife chooses to interact with the soldier. Knobowtee reflects on his past with his first wife and remembers dancing with her. He also wishes to eat some of her “bean bread” because Maritole does not cook as well as his first wife.

Maritole and Luthy argue because Maritole does not understand how Luthy can have such a positive attitude toward her sons. Luthy tells Maritole that she wanted to take her daughter from her. Luthy also claims that Maritole is too hard on Knobowtee. Maritole, Luthy, and Quaty listen to a basket-maker discuss the importance of basket weaving. The basket-weaver asserts that the baskets symbolize their stories. However, Luthy gets angry at the basket-maker for creating her own story for the baskets. Knobowtee and Maritole’s father, along with some of the other men, listen to the women discuss the baskets, and Knobowtee attempts to stay warm. Knobowtee and Maritole’s father overhear Reverend Bushyhead's claim that even the angels will need blankets for the night. Maritole’s father worries that his people are hollow like the baskets and claims that they are “meant to hold things” (159). During this time, Knobowtee reflects that his father’s canoe was his version of a basket. Before crossing the Mississippi River, they must wait for chunks of ice to float down the river. Many of their people die while they wait, and Maritole worries that she will not survive the attempt to cross the river. She speaks to the “old bear” and cries to him about her chances of surviving. She sees her grandmother in the clouds, and then she gets into a raft that is being held steady by spirits. She feeds the spirits corn bread, squirrel meat, and a peach cobbler that she made earlier that day.

Chapters 4-5 Analysis

Throughout these chapters, the characters continue to struggle with their relationships with each other, and this dynamic becomes most apparent in the growing strife and discord between Maritole and Knobowtee, for Knobowtee begins to compare his current relationship to his previous one. He remembers how he “had danced with [his] wife who died” and “how [he] longed for her bean bread” because Maritole “didn’t have patience yet with her cooking” (151). Knobowtee’s internal conflict with his loss of identity as well as the grief he feels for the death of his first wife creates tension within his relationship with Maritole because he does not feel as though he is providing for his family. When he continues to walk the trail, he claims to not be “thinking” but “remembering” his past, and this brooding quality creates an internal conflict that affects his marriage. With the loss of their land, the pair cannot farm, and Knobowtee cannot hunt without his musket. At the same time, his perception of Maritole does not match his ideal image of what a wife should be, and the stresses of the trail combine with these discontented thoughts to erode their relationship.

This underlying issue is exacerbated through Maritole’s growing friendship with Sergeant Williams, and as her marriage with Knobowtee continues to suffer, these uneasy dynamics foreshadow additional tension between Maritole and other characters like Quaty Lewis. For example, Knobowtee claims that he “wanted to push [Maritole] into the snow because she looked at the soldier” (150). The image of pushing Maritole into the white snow reflects Knobowtee’s view that Maritole is being unduly influenced by the white man. At the same time, the budding relationship between Williams and Maritole represents an image of peace and solidarity between the two different groups. It also illustrates the possibility that the white settlers and the Cherokee people could share their cultures and beliefs if they were to approach each other with genuine interest. However, because of the reality of their situation, Maritole is met with contempt from her community around her because she willingly engages in a romantic and sexual relationship with a soldier—a member of the group that oppresses her people.

Throughout these chapters, Cherokee beliefs play a pivotal role in how the characters cope with the realities of the Trail of Tears. The white soldiers dehumanize the Cherokee people by claiming that they have been cursed and are not part of God’s world like they are. However, Maritole focuses on her connection with the land to ground herself within her beliefs and persevere until she gets to the new territory. The ongoing conflicts and resentments between the white soldiers and the Cherokee people emphasize The Clash Between Indigenous Cultures and Governmental Policies. However, despite these myriad hardships, Maritole continues to rely upon Storytelling as a Form of Remembrance and Healing, for she approaches new hazards by looking to her ancestors for guidance and reassurance. For example, when she worries about crossing a river, she communes with the spirits of her people in a very real way. As her narrative states:

[The spirits] held the raft steady as it jerked between large pieces of ice. I spooned more corn bread to them, more squirrel meat and peach cobbler. I had cooked it just this morning in my dream. ‘Hold on. Hold on,’ I heard them say as we crossed the river, their ghost voices laughing to the freezing wind (161).

In this scene, Maritole’s reality mixes with her dream world and with the traditional Cherokee beliefs in spirits. By bringing these aspects of her culture into the forefront of her mind, she discovers the strength and inspiration she needs to continue the journey. By feeding the spirits traditional Cherokee foods, Maritole engages with her culture and honors her heritage despite the desperation of her current situation. Although Maritole has been struggling with her sense of self and grappling with her spirituality, the concluding scene in the “Illinois” chapter illustrates her abiding loyalty to her ancestors. By utilizing traditional Cherokee practices, she finds new strength and courage to carry on with the support of Cherokee spirits.