Tag Archives: John

An Emerging Leader?

One aspect that struck me while reading the last section of “A Dream in Polar Fog” is the great extent to which John integrates into the Chukchi community. Even more importantly than just integrating into the community, he becomes a leader of the people and also serves as their representative, especially when dealing with white people. By the end of the story, John promotes the interests and image of the Chukchi by ensuring that outsiders understand that “the people of the North… can be not only loyal and obedient guides, but also true heroes” (255). He aims to dispel the western notion of the Chukchi as savages by making it clear to outsiders, that the people should be respected for their understanding of the land and for living in unforgiving conditions. By taking pride in the Chukchi way of life, John make others (and the reader in particular) understand the Chukchi cultural tradition and how they thrive through what some would consider a primitive lifestyle.

As the story progresses, John takes on a greater role in the Chukchi community. While he initially completely depends on others’ help, he learns to provide for the tribe and subsequently plays a central role in their survival through his help on animal hunts. He also becomes a leader for the tribe through his further dealings with the white man. Upon John’s encounter with Captain Bartlett and discussion of national land ownership, the other Chukchi find it “strange… to see their own fellow-countryman Sson as someone in a position to discuss this unknown but evidently important business” (279). This marks a major change in John’s relationship with the tribe, as he now bears responsibility as a representative of the tribe’s interests. In the same scene with Captain Bartlett, John also requests the captain “not to use [his] engines,…make too much noise,… or shoot,” as this “frightens off the animals, [leaving us] without food or fuel” (280). The Captain respects John’s request, which underscores how John has the authority to defend the interests of the Chukchi. While John being a white man may have a role to play in the respect that Captain Bartlett gives him, John’s ardent support of the Chukchi interests nonetheless supports his emerged role as a leader for the tribe.

While John appears to have respect from the outside, one question I had at the end of the story is whether the Chukchi people consider him a leader. What intrigues me is how Orvo has few reservations about having John leave (and in fact encourages it), despite John becoming a key part of the community. I am eager to hear what others think about Orvo and John’s relationship and what role that plays at the story’s end.

Olenin vs. John

Comparing The Cossacks and A Dream in Polar Fog – this last section of Rytkheu’s A Dream in Polar Fog reminded me of Tolstoy’s The Cossacks in a couple of ways, but I will discuss two here. First is the way in which two different social classes think about themselves and “the other”. In The Cossacks, Olenin and his aristocratic fellows of Moscow are divided both physically and socioeconomically from the people of the Caucasus. Olenin, of course, has his own preconceived notions of the Cossack people, but nonetheless claims to go on this journey with an open mind and lofty goals for self-improvement. At the start of Chapter 21, John says, “The thing that divides us from one another is stereotypes about others and wrong ideas about ourselves… I think that the biggest mistake might be this: Each nation thinks that it’s the only one that lives in the right way… In itself, the idea is harmless. It even helps keep order in a society. But when a nation tries to change another’s way of life forcibly, that’s when things go wrong” (Rytkheu 222). I believe this to be true in the majority of cultures and societies, but do not feel this overlaps with how Olenin feels about the Cossack society. As the story goes on, we see Olenin purge himself of the wealthy values he’s adopted through high society Moscow in an attempt to integrate himself into this new village lifestyle he desires. He finds the simplistic lifestyles and values of the Cossack people beautiful and in this sense, does not appear to believe his aristocratic life is any better than that of the Cossack people. In fact, Olenin is sickened by the life he once led.

Second, the personification of nature appears in A Dream in Polar Fog as it does in The Cossacks. Also, in this same chapter, Orvo says, “…man starts to believe that he is the strongest and the smartest, and that he is the only master of the earth. And this is how it goes, for a time. But then, nature, Narginen, the Outer Forces, take away all the extraneous things… This is the kind of storm the Outer Forces use to clear away all that can lift man about them… It’s as though Narginen is reminding us: I’m master here, and it’s only on my sufferance that man lives here at all…” (Rytkheu 230). At the bottom of page 229, it is noted that *Narginen is defined as “the external forces that guide all life”. In The Cossacks, Olenin states, “Perhaps in her I love nature, the personification of all that is beautiful in nature; But I do not have a will of my own, and what loves her is some elemental force passing through me all of God’s world, all of nature presses this love into my soul and says: “Love” (Tolstoy 148). Olenin’s quote here shows that nature is stronger than him and therefore has control over him and his love for Maryanka. In this instance, the Narginen Orvo references, to me, seems relatable to the elemental forces Olenin mentions.