GRANDMOTHER

      --Ray Young Bear

What impression of grandmother does the speaker give in the poem Grandmother?  

The speaker in the poem “Grandmother” is a grandson who fondly reminisces his dead grandmother that remained intimate, affectionate and inspirational to him. Besides, he portrays her as an atypical hardwordking Mesquaki member who has had to suffer some cultural adulteration due to its contact with a dominant modern culture. His recognition of her distant “shape,” “warm and damp” hands on his head, and even “a voice coming from a rock” are proof that tell us that the two must have been very intimate and emotionally bonded. It is also suggestive of the grandmother’s immense love towards him. Further, he symbolically describes how her grandmother still lives eternally like a primordial rock, and how “[her grandmother’s] words would flow inside” him as words of inspiration that constantly guide him towards a hopeful future. However, the speaker also sadly and acutely articulates a sense of loss of identity while he describes her grandmother wearing a “purple scarf” and carrying a “plastic shopping bag” that are but alien to the pristine Mesquaki culture.