Reading Log of Talking to the Dead



Content Prediction
Reading the title at the first time makes me confused. Who can talk to the dead? What does it mean by talking to the dead? It definitely connects to someone’s life before their death. It may tell us about a culture or something that can be explained using logical science because we can see that the story is taken place in Hawaii, a place that has spiritual and traditional cultures.
On the title page, the author also writes the summary, so we can see that the story is about the relationship of an old spiritual woman and her young apprentice, Yuri. They are isolated from modern society, so they work together to maintain ancient Hawaiian traditions. Yuri learns from Aunty Talking to the Dead how to be independent.
The content is about two Hawaiians who want to keep their ancient tradition. It may be a nice story to read.

Commented Sentences
“Mama, wake up!” Clinton hollered, like he’d wanted to all along. “The old spirits have had it. We’re part of progress now, and the world is going to roll right over us and keep on rolling, unless we get out there and grab our share.”

There is a point of view contradiction in this paragraph. We can see that Clinton wants to make his Mama sure that they must leave ancient traditional like Mama and Yuri do. Mama thinks that she must maintain her tradition from her previous generations. On the contrary, Clinton wants to bring modernism in the village. He graduated from mortician school. He opens the Paradise Mortuary and brings scientific spirit of free enterprise.

I nodded. This is the long-awaited moment. My moment.
This was it: My moment had arrived.

Those sentences show Yuri’s willingness to be someone like Aunty. She waits for her “moment,” which comes when she feels a directive from her recently deceased mentor, Aunty Talking to the Dead.  The story’s title, by excluding Aunty, suggests that Yuri is assuming Aunty’s role and is now the one to communicate with the dead.  Yuri thinks that becoming a shaman can require a calling followed by a lengthy apprenticeship.

Yuri’s Character Sketch
spinster.jpgYuri Shimabukuro is not a good-looking woman. It is stated on the first page in paragraph 3 when she was in her wedding. “It’s bad enough she has the face of a horse,” I heard one of them complain. She is also tall, proven in the same paragraph, sentence before it. At the time, I didn’t have many prospects—more schooling didn’t interest me, and my mother’s attempts at marrying me off inevitably failed when I stood to shake hands with a prospective bridegroom and ended up towering a foot above him. The next paragraph implies that she is big, or fat maybe. Because her mother dressed her in navy blue, on the theory that dark colors make everything look smaller. So, in appearance, Yuri is a big, tall, and plain spinster.
And about personality, we think that Yuri is unusual, smart, strong, tough, coward at first, but then she became a brave woman who has self confidence and integrity.
Questions and Answer
a.       Q: Why did Yuri think of quitting everyday for the first year?
A: Because there were many things to learn. She was also the constant subject of ridicule from her community, who considered both Aunty and her anachronistic.  At one point, her mother prepared a large dinner, her method of persuasion, to convince the Yuri to quit.

b.      Q: Why did Yuri decide to go back to Aunty?
A: Because she remembered things about being in her mother’s house, her failed marriage, the navy blue, and the humiliating weekly tea ceremony’s lessons at the Buddhist temple. She thought that she had to stay right where she was. Yuri persevered for over twenty-five years for her “moment”.

c.       Q: What do you think about Aunty Talking to the Dead and Clinton’s relationship as a mother and son?
A: They actually have difference opinion and view about how to bury somebody who has passed away. Clinton wants to make it modern because they are in progress, but Aunty wants to maintain the old tradition. Clinton tries to talk Aunty into retirement so as not to be embarrassed by her in his run for a village council position. Aunty seems almost oblivious to the outside world and its supposed logic and technological progress.  She seems self-contained, in possession of a deeper, more mystical, and more spiritual.  They still do what they usually do. When Aunty died, Clinton still wants to take care of her.

d.      Q: What is the theme of the story?
A: A prevailing theme here is the conflict between the ``wholeness'' of traditional lifestyle and so-called progress.

e.       Q: Is there any humorous things in the story? Mention it if yes.
A: Yes, there are humorous things; the appearance of the very tall Yuri next to the short Aunty, the elaborate dinners Yuri’s mother served as persuasion tactic, and the death of a woman from choking on a bone left in salmon mousse.


The Missing Information
I don’t find the reason why Yuri decided to apprentice herself to Aunty Talking to the Dead after her failed marriage. Previously, her mother attempted to marry her daughter but it failed because someone complained that she had a face like a horse.
After Clinton talked to Aunty that she should leave her old tradition, Aunty began to sing. Firstly she sang quietly, and then louder. Watanabe doesn’t tell us why.

Letter to a Friend
Dear Jody,
    How’s life? I heard you need a reference about Hawaiian culture and tradition, right? A few days ago, our friend, Emma gave me a short story. The title is Talking to the Dead. Emma told me that it was about two Hawaiian women that wanted to maintain their old tradition of funeral ceremony.
    Actually, this story also tells about a shaman’s moderation, in this case is Yuri. They perform many functions: including healing, leading sacrificial rituals, preserving tradition through storytelling and song, clairvoyance, guiding souls, and various spiritual rituals. As in Yuri’s case, becoming a shaman can require a calling followed by a lengthy apprenticeship.
    It is an interesting story because we can find that there are people who still want to keep their tradition when the era is in progress now. It is good to read when we want to see spiritual things that live in certain area.
    I will send you the story if you interest in it. I’ll be happy to receive your reply letter. J

Your friend, Nury

Talking to the Dead as a Film
It will be a great film because it is taken in Hawaii, one of beautiful places in the world. I will adopt the whole text. It has a mystique side also.

The Ending
Now, in the dark, the old woman is singing.
I have washed her with my own hands and worked the salt into the hollows of her body. I have dressed her in white and laid her in flowers.
Aunty, here are the beads you like you like to wear. Your favorite cakes. A quilt to keep away the chill. Here is noni for the heart and awa for every kind of grief.
Down the road a dog howls, and the sound of hammering echoes the still air. “Looks like a burying tomorrow,” the sleepers murmur, turning in their warm beds.
I bind the sandals to her feet and put the torch to the pyre.
The sky turns to light. The smoke climbs. Her ashes scatter, filling the wind.
From here I can see Clinton runs, comes to me. “Stop it!” The wind is blowing softly, sweeping my hair. “I don’t wanna see my mother’s body is buried by you. I can handle it by myself.”
“Can't you see? This is her last wish. I can hear her singing.”
The day is getting dark. Clinton feels suddenly frightened. His wistful eyes look at her mother. Then, a minute later, he begins to hear a voice, quietly, but very sure. Clinton knows that it’s his mother’s voice. The crows fly shorter, flapping their black wings strongly. Clinton kneels when he hears the voice is getting louder and louder. Yuri smiles and the sun is sinking slowly, bringing a dark.

Recommendation
For someone who has never been to Hawaii, this story provides an insider's look of the people's lives. I like most stories, though I wish that they could get into more depth of their characters' psyche. It is a collection of short stories following different people in a community, which connect enough to give a picture of the community from different points of view.
It is good because you can learn about a difference point of view between mother and her son that should make them tight.

Cultural Aspects
a.       Some Hawaiians have a job as a kahuna who prepares bodies for burial.
b.      People are so democratic because in a family, the parents will let their children choose their own job. It can be seen from Aunty’s family. She let Clinton, her son, to have a modern mortuary, compared with the fact that she has a traditional mortuary. It’s like Yuri’s family. She, when she was young, she didn’t have many prospect to continue her school. At the first time, her Mama didn’t permit her to apprentice herself to Aunty, but then she was permitted.
c.       Hawaii is an archipelago, so it consists of many small islands. People who live near the beach usually collect salt.
d.      People at that time still use herbs for traditional medicine such as a’ali and awa.
e.       They believe that a death caused by awkward causes can't be handled by ordinary people. A death that looks like a tough case will need some real expertise. In their belief, the spirit will require some talking to. 

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