"Blue Winds Dancing," written by Tom Whitecloud, is a short story about a young man's struggle to exist in both a civilized and uncivilized America. Throughout the story, the young Native American encounters a foreign concept, what he perceives as "civilization", and wants to return to a more familiar and understanding place - the great outdoors. The theme of the story centers on the mans interactions with civilization and his conflicts with people, nature, and culture. .
The narrator in the beginning of the story, describes how one conforms to civilization: "Being civilized means trying to do everything you don't want to, never doing anything you want to."(276) In the story, white people are used to describe this quote, as they are what civilization is; the narrator describes them as "always dissatisfied"(277) and always wanting "us to be like them"(277). They are materialistic and ignorant people, always being taught to "want radios and automobiles and new suit every spring."(277) .
The way the narrator portrays them makes them appear as a zenith of society, culture, and progress; the perfect model of civilization. Interestingly, the bums are an example used also to explain this quote, as they are seen as outcasts in society. As the narrator states: "These men in caps and overcoats and dirty overalls living on the outskirts of civilization are free, but they pay the price of being free in civilization. They are outcasts."(277) These men and women are people who "never adjusted"(277) to the concept of society, as they are simple in their ways, never wanting more than "a woman and a place to hang his hat."(277). .
Because of civilization these people are robbed and ignored of their desires; they become hollow and shallow. They don't conform to society and never will; they are unlike the narrator who will eventually return to his people.
Conflict is a major element of a plot because opposing forces arouse curiosity, cause doubt, create tension, and produce interest. In the story "Blue winds dancing- by Tom Whitecloud there is a dilemma or a natural conflict amongst himself. This story follows the structure of a fiction short stor...
