The Ka Tsina In Leslie Silko's Yellow Woman

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A ka’tsina in the Pueblo people’s mythology was a benevolent spirit associated with religious beliefs. Throughout Leslie Silko’s Yellow Woman, there is an air of lingering ambiguity. There are flips between what seems like reality and a fantasy throughout the story. The protagonist escapes her reality with a man, but never fully acknowledges the situation’s actuality. Silko blends the traditional yellow woman tale with a more modern interpretation. The man she has these encounters with attempts to convince her that he is a kat’stina, a personification of the forest and trees around her. He refers to her as the Yellow Woman, which supports her fantasies of escaping reality, and furthers his claims that he is a Ka’tsina. Ka’tsinas are understood…show more content…
The protagonist is a restless woman, who enjoys the adventures Silva has offered her. Although in some sense she is the victim of her mysterious abductor, she becomes all too willingly, almost eagerly his victim. In a specific instance the protagonist speaks of feeling Silva’s body pushing her down into the sand. When she tries to pull away from him at one point he says, “You don’t understand, do you, little Yellow Woman? You will do what I want.” And there are other images of Silva entrapping her in some small way, like refusing to release her wrist when she tries to pull away. It is significant to how the protagonist knows she should leave and attempts to leave the forest, but also to how she really isn’t resisting him. There are also moments where she has opportunities to leave but does not, upon waking up she realizes that because Silva is still asleep, she is free to leave and return to her family. However, when after mounting her horse, she changes her mind when she thinks of Silva sleeping in the sand. She goes to wake him up, which implies that the protagonist knows he will persuade her to stay. She is attracted to him in a way that is almost instinctual, she fears him but its what draws her to him. An example of this is after Silva encounters the white rancher, forcing her flight back home. She finds the wilted willow leaves and yearns for him, but knows that she cannot go back at this time. She desires to find Silva waiting for her on the bank of the river some day in the future. "And I told myself, because I believe it, he will come back sometime and be waiting again by the

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