The Man to Send Rain Clouds
The central character of Leslie Marmon Silko's tale, The Man to Send Rain Clouds, is an elderly man named Teofilo who has been deceased for at least a day while tending to the sheep in the field. He is found laying under the large cottonwood tree by Leon and his brother-in-law Ken. Leon conducts a customary ritual for their deceased grandfather to send them rain before the man is taken home for burial because the story takes place during a dry season. Father Paul questions them about Teofilo's whereabouts as they travel to Pueblo. Teofilo is said to be fine and will attend the following service, according to the two. The two do not want to alert the Father about the old man’s fate until after the funeral when Louise suggests for a priest to come and sprinkle holy water for the old man’s grave. The priest at first refuses but finally gives in. He performs the religious procedure and Leon are happy and satisfied that the old man will send them ‘big thunderclouds’ (Silko, 2001).
The Significance of the Story
What transpired in the story is cultural and religious rituals that cannot co-exist in mutuality in society. However, the characters in the story find themselves entangled in both settings. The most significant events in the story include death, tradition and religious rituals and beliefs. The main characters are Teofilo, Leon and the Priest, all who are presented in the story as protagonists of their views. The story fails in that it does not develop a conflict between tradition and religious beliefs and thus lacks in antagonism. The story’s title is significant in that it represents a society that is caught in a dry season and they have to consult the spirits of the dead for rain. The setting is dry season and a period of civilization that indicates a level of suffering, where the drought has caused the old man to go looking at the sheep, a situation that eventually leads to his death and confusion which leads them into performing both traditional and religious funeral processes. Each of the characters is introduced to make the readers capture differences that prevail in a society undergoing transition. The main idea the author is communicating is people’s belief in dead spirits coming to check on them and providing them with solutions to their problems. This idea is developed through the death of the old man until the time he is buried. The story carries with it a sad tone. The difference between this work and others such as a story by James Joyce (Joyce, 2008) is that it has a combination of both religious and traditional beliefs, each of which does not manifest itself strongly. On the other hand, the story by James is more inclined on religious context.
References
Joyce, J. (2008). Araby.
Silko, L. M. (2001). The Man to Send Rain Clounds. In J. R. John L. Purdy, Nothing but the truth: An anhtology of Native American Literature (pp. 358-361). Upper Saddle Rive, N.J.: Prentice Hall .
