Fatal Learning
Mark Brian, the main character in Craven’s, I Heard the Owl Call my Name, undergoes a life altering change during his stay at the village of Kingcome. He learns the true meaning of death by experiencing it first and second hand. Mark encounters death directly, or indirectly through these people: Caleb and Jim Wallace, the weesa-bedo, Keetah’s sister, Gordon’s mother, Calamity Bill, and himself.
Mark’s first encounters with death arise from conversations he has with Caleb and Jim Wallace. Caleb advises Mark, when performing a burial service, to always look inside the coffin at the very last minute before burying someone. Caleb tells him he once buried the wrong man. While on patrol with Jim, Mark hears many stories of death associated with the villages in the area. As they pass Ghost Island, Jim tells Mark, “The Indians of Gilford village once buried their dead,”… “in low sheds.” (14) In both of these situations, Mark does not experience death directly, He......
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Approximate Word Count: 793
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |