Chapter 8 Reflection

      I would like to reflect on the story called “Lullaby” by Leslie Marmon Silko in chapter eight.  This is a very deep and sad story dealing with the topics of loss, regret, and coping.  A Navajo Indian women named Ayah experiences a great deal of loss and pain.  This begins with the death of her eldest child named Jimmie; he dies in a helicopter incident while serving in the U.S. Army.  Ayah copes with this pain by wrapping herself up with the Army blanket that Jimmie sent her before he died.  Ayah later loses her two remaining children to the government because of illnesses.  She copes with this by sitting up in the hills surrounded by the same nature that surrounded her and her children when they were hiding from the government before being taken.  The story ends with Ayah singing a deep lullaby that contains nature themed elements.
      The most interesting thing in this story is the connection Ayah has with nature.  She uses the sights, sounds, and smells of the hills, along with Jimmie’s blanket, as a way to remember her moments with her children.  She takes detailed note of the moon, stars, snow, sky, and the cold.  She sits there, one with nature, and connects to her family this way.  The lullaby at the end illustrates this by assigning one element of nature to a member of the family and saying, “We are together always”.