Photo via:http://www.tribalcollegejournal.org/archives/28054

 

Imagination and spirituality in Crazy Brave

 

            In Joy Harjo’s, Crazy Brave, her identity is clearly linked and derived from her imagination and spirituality. As a young girl, she would imagine the spirits of her parents as fire and water, the heat and excitement from her mother and the fluid strength of her father. All small children have that kind of active imagination and they play out stories and scenarios, but Joy’s stories are also rooted in her ancestry. Spirits of animals are important to the Creek. Joy communicates with fireflies and bees in the backyard, and I believe she connects with their spirits, their essence. It isn’t until a family member tells her that she’ll get stung if she plays with the bees that she ceases. As she got a little older, she went to church, where seeing spirits and communicating with animals was seen as the devil’s work. She personally forced herself to stop looking at the spirits and to stop her imagination.

          When she got to college, Joy found a new kind of imagination in art. Painting and drawing gave her an escape from her past. She could create new pieces and work through her anger and fear. Another way she was able to express herself and battle her demons was through poetry. She could conquer the physical abuse of her father, suppress the alcoholism that plagued her husband, and go to war with the oppression of her ancestors with words. Her imagination and creativity gave her courage to live her life and fight every obstacle that popped up in her life. She took her life into her own hands and overcame a long series of unfortunate events. The strength she pulled from spirits and her creativity inspires others to take a stand and fight for better in life.