Power: A Novel

Ama and Omishto’s hunt for the sickly panther is the inciting event upon which the rest of the narrative turns. Hogan portrays it as an inevitable act, emphasizing that both Ama and Omishto are repelled by the act but are powerless against their respective fates as killer and witness. Omishto’s youth, her refusal to touch the panther’s body after its death, and her genuine lack of knowledge of the whereabouts of the weapon or carcass create distance between the events and Omishto’s perspective. She is the sympathetic witness, alongside the reader, allowing for a more objective view of the act and its consequences.

The magical realist elements of the text repeatedly contrast the Western view of linear time with that of cyclical time, adding to the reader’s understanding of a multiplicity of perspectives. When Ama and Omishto enter the Taiga Birthplace, they “rise” into “flesh” from the footprints of their ancestors into “another world,” embodying simultaneous rather than delineated spaces and times. For Omishto, history is not a time, but a “place where the Spaniards cut off the hands of my ancestors” (73), indicating that the events of the past are cyclical and exist in the spaces of the present. Omishto’s understanding of Ama’s belief in parallel worlds that overlap and weave through each other deepens. Hogan hence breaks down Western ideas of linear time and correspondingly colonialist ideas of bounded spaces, exploring Indigenous Knowledge Versus Western Scientific Knowledge.

Hogan’s treatment of time highlights the coming-of-age conventions in the novel. From Omishto’s perspective, the panther is fated to be killed by Ama because they have a magical connection to each other. The panther’s death, Ama’s “dying” house, and the destructive storm are all “a beginning and an end of something” (73). This indicates the necessity of Ama’s actions for the hope of Taiga rebirth. It also signifies the inevitable death of adolescence. Omishto cannot return to childhood and innocence; she is inalterably changed by time and her experience of witnessing the panther’s death, so much so that her sister doesn’t recognize her afterward. She comes of age in a cycle of time in which adolescence ends but adulthood begins.

Hogan explores the complexity of justice in systems with contradictory beliefs, crystallized through her narration of Omishto’s inner conflict regarding the rightness of Ama’s actions. Omishto sees Ama’s violence as “cold-blooded” but also thinks that she had a right to be the one to kill it because she “worshipped” the panther. She considers Ama’s traditional practices of caring for the cat after it is dead and recalls moments when Ama protected it from harm. Omishto’s opinions are not guided by the law, which she views as uncaring, but by her own burgeoning morality code. She sees right in Ama’s action as well as wrong. These contradictory belief systems, reaching a crisis point in the justice system, are therefore crucial to Omishto’s character development. Omishto begins to question her fear of snakes, death, and the storm, and starts to see their dualities. And despite her frustration and regret, she is still loyal to Ama. Omishto tries to protect Ama by taking Willard’s horse back so that she wouldn’t be accused of stealing it. Her agreement to keep ama’s promise despite not understanding the reasons for it is an act of faith, both in Ama and tribal practices.