Aunt Moon's Young Man by Linda Hogan
"Aunt Moon's Young Man" by Linda Hogan is a coming-of-age story set in rural Oklahoma, focusing on the life of a young narrator and her admiration for her Aunt Moon, an older woman with deep ancestral wisdom. The plot unfolds during the town’s annual fair, where the arrival of a magnetic young drifter named Isaac captures the attention of the townsfolk, especially Aunt Moon. The narrative explores themes of identity, cultural heritage, and the complexities of relationships as Aunt Moon becomes romantically involved with Isaac, leading to scandal and gossip among the townspeople.
While Aunt Moon practices traditional medicinal herbalism, the townspeople largely dismiss these customs, highlighting a cultural divide within the community. The story also addresses loss, as Aunt Moon grapples with the death of her dog and the tragic past of her daughter. As the plot advances, the narrator observes the societal pressures surrounding Aunt Moon's choices, contrasting the reverence she has for her aunt's wisdom with the judgment from others. Ultimately, the narrator's journey leads her away from Pickens, carrying memories and remnants of her heritage, while leaving the reader to ponder themes of belonging, family ties, and the impact of love and loss.
On this Page
Aunt Moon's Young Man by Linda Hogan
First published: 1988
Type of plot: Coming of age
Time of work: The early 1950's
Locale: Rural Oklahoma
Principal Characters:
The narrator , a young Chickasaw womanAunt Moon , an older Chickasaw woman who lives aloneIsaac , a young stranger who becomes involved with Aunt Moon
The Story
On an autumn day in rural Oklahoma a town prepares for its annual fair. The event attracts people from neighboring towns who have goods to sell, thereby breaking the monotony of life in Pickens. Among the new attractions in town is a magnetic young man whom the narrator immediately identifies as a full-blooded Indian. Remarking that most of the people in Pickens are of mixed blood, the narrator explains that she feels somehow inferior to a pure-blood. After the narrator and her mother eye the drifter, the narrator thinks about Aunt Moon, an older woman whom she admires.
Aunt Moon lives alone with her dog, Mister, in a house that her father built on a hill. There is something mysterious about Aunt Moon, who seems to have a special kind of vision, an ancestral wisdom. Aunt Moon dries medicinal herbs, upholding a tribal tradition that most townspeople have discarded. The narrator is attracted to Aunt Moon because the old woman seems more alive than the rest of the people in Pickens.
When the narrator and her cousins visit the fair, they see barnyard oddities such as chickens that lay green eggs. The narrator wants Aunt Moon to look at the strange chickens, but Aunt Moon seems distracted. The narrator realizes that Aunt Moon has spotted the young drifter and is drawn to him. That night the narrator's mother and father dress for a waltz contest. At the dance, the narrator notices that the local women seem especially animated because of the presence of the young man. When Aunt Moon arrives, she dances with the young man, causing the other women to raise their eyebrows and whisper. Soon, the town of Pickens is scandalized by the affair carried on between Aunt Moon and the young stranger. The women shun Aunt Moon in public but go to her in secret to buy her ancient remedies. The narrator's father forbids her from visiting Aunt Moon's house so long as the stranger, Isaac, is there.
At this point, the narrator digresses by telling the reader how she came to call Bess Evening by the name of Aunt Moon. Bess Evening seems to fit her nickname because sometimes she is full of strength and light and at other times seems pale and weak. The narrator's mother tells her the story of the freak accident that took the life of Aunt Moon's daughter. The narrator understands that her friend must cope with the tragedy each day of her life. Aunt Moon experiences another loss when her dog Mister, frightened by an electrical storm, runs through town twitching and crashing into things. Thinking that Mister has rabies, men shoot him. This new loss devastates Aunt Moon, but Isaac comforts her. By the next fall, Aunt Moon is pregnant and Isaac has disappeared. With Isaac gone, the local women are not jealous; they offer Aunt Moon their sympathy and cluck their tongues over what a snake Isaac has turned out to be. The narrator is looking through Aunt Moon's window, however, when Isaac returns. Aunt Moon and Isaac hold each other like true lovers. The narrator learns that Isaac has escaped from jail, where he was sent for selling illegal herbal remedies.
The story ends as the narrator sets out for Denver, where she will live with her cousins. She hopes to find work and go to school. Carrying a bag filled with Aunt Moon's herbs and an eagle feather wrapped in a scarf, she leaves Pickens not knowing whether she will ever be back.
Bibliography
Allen, Paula Gunn. The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions. Boston: Beacon Press, 1986.
Anderson, Eric Gary. "Native American Literature, Ecocriticism, and the South: The Inaccessible Worlds of Linda Hogan's Power." In South to a New Place: Region, Literature, Culture, edited by Suzanne W. Jones and Sharon Monteith. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2002.
Arnold, Ellen L. "Beginnings Are Everything: The Quest for Origins in Linda Hogan's Solar Storms." In Things of the Spirit: Women Writers Constructing Spirituality, edited by Kristina K. Groover. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 2004.
Balassi, William, John F. Crawford, and Annie O. Eysturoy, eds. This Is About Vision: Interviews with Southwestern Writers. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1990.
Bleck, Melani. "Linda Hogan's Tribal Imperative: Collapsing Space Through 'Living' Tribal Traditions and Nature." Studies in American Indian Literatures: The Journal of the Association for the Study of American Indian Literatures 11 (Winter, 1999): 23-45.
Bonetti, Kay. "Linda Hogan." In Conversations with American Novelists: The Best Interviews from the "Missouri Review" and the American Audio Prose Library, edited by Kay Bonetti, Greg Michalson, Speer Morgan, Jo Sapp, and Sam Stowers. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1997.
Coltelli, Laura. Winged Words: American Indian Writers Speak. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990.
Cook, Barbara J., ed. From the Center of Tradition: Critical Perspectives on Linda Hogan. Boulder: University of Colorado Press, 2003.
Hegarty, Emily. "Genocide and Extinction in Linda Hogan's Ecopoetry." In Ecopoetry: A Critical Introduction, edited by J. Scott Bryson. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2002.
Hogan, Linda. "'A Heart Made Out of Crickets': An Interview with Linda Hogan." Interview by Bo Schöler. Journal of Ethnic Studies 16 (Spring, 1988): 107-117.