Emo Character Analysis

Another Laguna war veteran who believes in the necessity of racial purity among Native people in order to escape oppression by white people. Emo hates all white people for the things they have stolen from Native Americans, planning to seek vengeance on white people by “stealing” white women. Though the novel affirms that white culture has negatively affected Native Americans, it does not condone Emo’s ruthless need for revenge. In fact, the novel portrays Emo’s bloodthirsty desires as the result of manipulation by the “witchery” that wants to destroy the entire world, which the novel uses as a metaphor for what it sees as the greed, selfishness, and disrespect of life and nature endemic to white culture. Emo drinks constantly, hates Tayo for his mixed blood, and ends up murdering three other veterans. Emo is eventually banished from the Laguna tribe for his actions, but never faces physical consequences – a fact that the novel holds up as a testament to Tayo’s commitment to refrain from the dominance-based ethos of white culture.