In Terese Mailhot’s poetic Heart Berries, a book dedicated to her mother, she talks about her relationships with men, and the bad as much as the good. Alongside the main story of her chaotic relationship with her husband Casey, she describes these other “transgressions”. At the heart of it all, her father’s abusive relationship seems to be the precursor to the disarray of her future relationships with men. Mailhot, like Heart Berry Boy O’dimin, must “give her life to this,” or dedicate her life in prose form through memoir (Mailhot 13). It’s no coincidence she dedicates it to her mother, Wahzinak. There is a parallel between the story of O’dimin and the bear and Terese and her mother, a woman who’s sleep is compared to “a bear’s hibernation” (38). By telling her stories, Terese is doing what her poetic mother didn’t: refusing to “keep her secrets from weak people” (13). Just like O’dimin, by “giving her life”, Mailhot can “unearth medicine” (13). In other words, there is catharsis in releasing traumatic stories, but it is never easy, as she says: “therapy is fucking hard” (132). Before we know about her relationship with her abusive father, we get negative snippets of other men in her life. She tells how one “silenced [her] by charity,” how one took her child Isadore, and how men objectify her (3). She even says that “men were born to hurt my mother in the flesh and the text,” referring to Paul Simon’s maltreatment of her mother’s story (38). After revealing her father’s sexual abuse, it is easy to see how Terese doesn’t trust Casey, another male transgression. In concluding an interview with Trevor Noah, she says how she hopes this book can serve to empower other women and maybe influence women to tell their tales. As she writes in Heart Berries, “I can hear my aunt’s voice, telling me that if my security depends on a man’s words or actions, I’ve lost sight of my power” (73). In other words, it is important for women to tell their stories to other women. Terese tried to tell her mother about the abuse, but her mother dismissed it. Her silenced, forgotten story damaged her the most, but she carried this pain with her until she reconciled with it through memoir. Works Cited Comedy Central. “Terese Marie Mailhot - Sharing an Indigenous Voice in ‘Heart Berries’ -Extended Interview.” 07 March 2018. http://www.cc.com/video-clips/549p2i/the-daily-
show-with-trevor-noah-terese-marie-mailhot---sharing-an-indigenous-voice-in-- heart-berries----extended-interview Mailhot, Terese Marie. Heart Berries. Counterpoint, 2018. Art by Zu Dominiak. https://zucomics.com/
1 Comment
Hali
5/2/2019 04:17:09 pm
Wow, I never made the connection between Wahzinak and O’dimin! Now that you've pointed it out, it seems so obvious. That really brings the title into perspective, as it goes beyond the obvious story of O'dimin and shows how the novel has always been connected to her mother. Terese really is trying to come to terms with her mother's treatment of her, and sometimes the only way to do that is through narrative.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |