Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge
"Laughing Boy" is a poignant novel by Oliver La Farge that explores the complexities of Navajo culture in the early twentieth century. Drawing from his experiences as an anthropologist, La Farge presents a narrative that is grounded in factual accuracy, distinguishing it from earlier portrayals of Native American life. The story revolves around the love between Laughing Boy, a Navajo man, and Slim Girl, a Navajo woman raised in a predominantly white society. Their relationship faces challenges, particularly when Laughing Boy discovers Slim Girl's affair with an American rancher, leading to a dramatic confrontation. Despite the turmoil, the couple strives to embrace their cultural heritage, with Slim Girl committed to learning about Navajo traditions.
The novel addresses themes of cultural conflict and identity, showcasing the struggle of Native Americans adapting to an encroaching society. Although some critics have remarked that La Farge frames Native experiences within a European narrative structure, many agree that his portrayal of the Navajo people is nuanced and empathetic. "Laughing Boy" ultimately serves as a significant work that reflects both the beauty and tragedy of Native life, anticipating future narratives by other writers about indigenous cultures.
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Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge
First published: 1929
The Work
Oliver La Farge’s Laughing Boy is a moving novel about Navajo culture in the early twentieth century. An anthropologist, La Farge gathered much of his Navajo material during an expedition to the Southwest. Consequently, Laughing Boy is more factually accurate than many works on Indians that preceded it. Its plot resembles a traditional romantic tragedy, but the novel evidences the concern of a white writer for embattled native cultures that American society tended to overlook and to overwhelm.
The novel tells of the love affair between Laughing Boy (a Navajo raised on the reservation with little influence from the outside world) and Slim Girl (a beautiful Navajo woman reared in white society near the reservation). Despite familial objections Laughing Boy marries Slim Girl, and the couple moves into her hut near Los Palos, a town. There Laughing Boy continues his traditional way of life, tending animals and making jewelry, while Slim Girl devotes herself to learning Navajo culture so that she and her husband can eventually move back onto the reservation.
Their plans are disrupted when Laughing Boy learns of his wife’s affair with an American rancher. He shoots several arrows at the adulterous couple, wounding them. Later, Slim Girl explains that she stayed with the rancher only to make enough money to allow herself and her husband to move back onto the reservation. Laughing Boy accepts this explanation—especially after he sees how hard Slim Girl has worked toward adopting a traditional Navajo lifestyle—and the two of them set out for the reservation site where they plan to live. On the way, however, they are ambushed by Red Man, a Navajo who earlier vied for Slim Girl’s affections. In his jealousy, Red Man tries to kill Laughing Boy but shoots Slim Girl instead. Before his wife dies, Laughing Boy promises not to seek revenge. He gives Slim Girl a Navajo funeral, then returns forever to the reservation.
Certain dissatisfied critics have claimed that Laughing Boy only manages to fit native characters into a European story. La Farge’s well-researched observations of the Navajo, however, are far more genuine than the stereotypical depictions of Indians that abounded at the time. For its time, then, Laughing Boy offered an honest and sympathetic depiction of native life that although not perfect anticipates many similar stories by writers yet to come.
Bibliography
Dennis, Philip A. “Oliver La Farge, Writer and Anthropologist.” In Literature and Anthropology, edited by Philip Dennis and Wendell Aycock. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 1989. Profiles La Farge as both a writer and an anthropologist, detailing how each discipline complemented the other.
Gillis, Everett A. “Oliver La Farge.” In A Literary History of the American West. Western Literature Association. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1987. Gillis traces the career of La Farge as a southwestern writer.
Hecht, Robert A. Oliver La Farge and the American Indian: A Biography. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1991. A thorough biography that focuses on La Farge’s depiction of the Indian world, its social conditions, and La Farge’s role in it as an authority on American Indian culture.
Krefft, James H. “A Possible Source for Faulkner’s Indians: Oliver La Farge’s Laughing Boy.” Tulane Studies in English 23 (1978): 187-192. Speculates that William Faulkner’s portrayal of Indian characters was influenced by La Farge’s Laughing Boy.
La Farge, Oliver. Yellow Sun, Bright Sky: The Indian Country Stories of Oliver La Farge. Edited by David L. Caffey. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1988. A collection of short stories spanning from 1927 to La Farge’s death. The collection reflects La Farge’s change from a pessimistic to more positive viewpoint regarding the survival of Native American cultures. Caffey’s introduction presents a useful biographical sketch of La Farge.
McNickle, D’Arcy. Indian Man: A Life of Oliver La Farge. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1971. A critical biography that was nominated for a National Book Award.
Pearce, Thomas M. Oliver La Farge. New York: Twayne, 1972. Pearce provides a critical and interpretive study of La Farge, with a close reading of his major works, a solid bibliography, and complete notes and references.