Summary: Chapter 14
When I thought back … I saw my greatest
hits, the K-Tel Christine Taylor album…. That was what I amounted
to, my big days revolving on the TV screen like Four Seasons titles.
See Important Quotations Explained
The doctor at Indian Health Services tells Christine that
she has worn out her liver and pancreas, and that she has only about
six months left to live. Christine’s only response is to ask the
doctor for a deck of cards. He tells Christine she needs to plan
for her daughter, but she persists in asking for cards. The two
Native American women in the beds next to Christine are interested
in her story. They were in the hospital when Christine was brought
in the night before, kicking, screaming, and ridiculously drunk.
Christine knows Rayona is coming to visit but dreads
talking to her because she knows her death will have severe consequences
for Rayona. When Rayona arrives, Christine braids her hair. Christine is
amazed at how little Rayona resembles her and recalls that when she
was Rayona’s age she was already popular and knew all about boys.
When she finishes with Rayona’s hair, Christine teaches her a game
of cards. Elgin shows up to deliver the Volaré but does not seem
to want to talk. Christine wants Elgin to stay for a while, and is
furious and disappointed when he leaves. Christine hides her head beneath
her sheets, and when she looks up both Elgin and Rayona are gone.
Christine steals some nurse’s clothes and sneaks out of the hospital.
Rayona surprises Christine while she is trying to break into the
Volaré. Christine tells Rayona she is going to crash the car and
leave Rayona with the money from the insurance settlement, but Rayona
decides her mother is bluffing and forces her way into the car.
Rayona annoys Christine by guessing her destination, which is Point
Defiance in Tacoma. When they arrive, Christine pulls over and tells
Rayona to get out. Rayona screams at her and kicks the Volaré. Christine
turns the key to leave, but the car is out of gas. Looking at her
child, Christine realizes that whatever else she has to do in her
life she has to do with Rayona. Deciding she has scared her daughter
enough for one day, Christine attempts to cheer Rayona up by kidding
with her as they walk to the gas station.
Christine decides to take Rayona to Aunt Ida’s because
she wants Ida to look after Rayona when she dies. Christine and
Rayona go home to pack but there is not much to take. Christine
persuades her neighbor, who works at a pharmacy, to send her some
painkillers through the mail. Christine wants to leave something
for Rayona to have while she is on the reservation, but realizes
she has nothing really impressive to give. She then remembers her
membership at Village Video. She chooses the movie Christine as
one of the rentals because she wants Rayona to remember her as tough,
like the car in the movie. They leave the video store and head off
to Aunt Ida’s.
The Volaré dies about a mile away from Aunt Ida’s, and
Christine decides that she and Rayona can walk the rest of the way.
When they get there, Ida is outside mowing the lawn. She asks Christine
for three reasons why she should be glad to see her. Christine knows
Ida is happy to see her crawling back. She carefully chooses her
first two reasons and tells Ida, “I’m your daughter, your only living
child” and “[W]e need someplace to stay.” She chooses the first
response because it touches on Ida’s motherly obligations and reminds
her of Lee—a subject that would surely come up later—and the second response
because it gives Ida some satisfaction to know that Christine needs
her. Christine knows that if she admits she was wrong to defy Ida
as her third reason for returning, Ida will take her in and give
her anything she needs, but she cannot bring herself to admit her
error in front of Rayona. Instead Christine insults her mother and
turns back toward the road.
In school they had taught her all this crap
about drinking and how bad it was for you, smoking too, and she
was convinced I used more than I did, that I was an alcoholic.
Analysis: Chapter 14
For the first time, the events of Christine’s story overlap
with the events of Rayona’s, which gives us a great amount of insight
into the two women’s different perspectives. Christine’s braiding
of Rayona’s hair, which immediately precedes the game of cards that
opens Rayona’s narrative, is the prefect metaphor for the narrative
structure that Dorris is employing here. A Yellow Raft in
Blue Water consists of the stories of three women of different
generations, but these three stories all overlap to create one unified
structure, just as a braid weaves separate strands together. Dorris
uses the braid as a symbol of this union, and introduces this metaphor
at a point in the novel when the connection between the three stories
first becomes apparent.
Christine’s actions in the hospital, which seem silly,
irrational, and selfish from Rayona’s point of view, take on a whole
new meaning for us when we see them in the larger context of Christine’s
life, and the disagreements in their stories tell us more about
each character. There are small discrepancies between the two versions
of the story that make us doubt that either one is the absolute
truth and recognize how each character’s perspective inevitably
shapes how she understands the story. For example, in Christine’s
version, she tells Elgin to go back to his “little fat girl,” but
Rayona translates this command as “go back to your little black
girl.” Considering Christine’s earlier reference to Elgin’s flirtation
with a fat woman, her version seems the more accurate. From this
simple discrepancy, therefore, we can see that Rayona often sees
a racial issue where there is none, which in turn tells us more
about how Rayona’s mixed heritage has heightened her sensitivity
to the issue of race.
