Memory, Language, and Identity
Joseph Bruchac’s Code Talker is a fictionalized account of a group of Navajo marines who fought in World War II with a top-secret mission: using the Navajo language to transmit crucial information during battle in the South Pacific. Through a character named Ned Begay, a Navajo man who is telling his grandchildren his experiences, Bruchac conveys both the shame and triumph such marines encountered throughout their lives because of their Navajo identity. By contrasting…
read analysis of Memory, Language, and IdentityCulture and Patriotism
As a Navajo person, Ned Begay’s story is filled with an understated dignity and pride, both in his people’s heritage and in their role within the United States. Because the Navajo people have suffered so much, often at the hands of the U.S. government, Ned feels a particular obligation to do what he can to improve the circumstances of his family and people. Yet that very devotion to his people, and his gratitude for…
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Though Ned Begay is unwaveringly committed to the U.S. effort in World War II from beginning to end, he never glorifies war. He describes the terrors of the battlefield, the loss of friends, and most of all, the traumatic aftereffects of war in soldiers’ minds, which he believes can only be healed through an intentional effort to restore spiritual balance. As one example of the imbalance wrought by war, Ned describes his struggles to come…
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