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Chapter 21
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Motorcycles & Sweetgrass, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Cultural Maintenance vs. Loss
Grief and Trauma
Colonialism and Land Use
Stories and Religion
Humor
Summary
Analysis
John’s appearance in Maggie and Virgil’s lives has brought the underlying tension in their family to its breaking point. Now that Maggie, Virgil, and Wayne must acknowledge their strained relationships, Clifford and Lillian’s deaths made worse, they can begin to reconcile.
Themes
John is asleep at Sammy’s house, dreaming for the first time in years. In his dream, he meets Jesus Christ in the woods. John speaks to Jesus bitterly, blaming him for John’s dwindling worship and declining health. He blames Jesus for the atrocities Christians inflicted upon Indigenous peoples, and when Jesus blames human free will, John points out that Jesus still forgives those atrocities. Jesus tries to come to an understanding, because both men loved Lillian, and he tells John that Lillian sends her thanks for the thunderstorm. John asks Jesus to teach him a skill, and Jesus agrees. Meanwhile, Sammy sits outside John’s room, wondering what to do about this man who isn’t a man.
After resenting him for decades, John finally confronts Jesus Christ. Christianity is and was tied closely to colonialism—violent projects of assimilation such as residential schools associated Christianity with civilization and disparaged Indigenous religions as “backwards” or “savage.” When Jesus counters that the teachings of Christianity itself do not endorse all the actions of self-proclaimed Christians, he reiterates Lillian’s explanation at the beginning of the novel as to how she balances her Christian faith her with Anishnawbe beliefs.
Themes
Crystal Park, a liberal Member of Parliament with a patronizing and impersonal view of Indigenous people, drives to Otter Lake for the press conference. At school, Dakota gushes to Virgil about John, and Virgil uses the library computer to research stories of tricksters.
Crystal Park is the only non-Anishnawbe Canadian in the novel. She represents the prejudice against First Nations peoples in Canadian government, as she sees First Nations people as political pawns rather than human beings. In contrast to her ignorance, Virgil seeks to broaden his understanding of his opponent Nanabush, and he finds this knowledge in traditional stories.
Themes
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