The Plunge of the Brave Symbol Analysis

The Plunge of the Brave is the painting Nector sits as model for, and it symbolizes the racism that Native American people face, but, more specifically, it also symbolizes the negative representation of Native Americans in popular culture, such as in arts and entertainment. Nector is initially excited to sit for the painting, until he is asked to remove his clothes and pose nearly naked. Then, Nector is painted as a brave man jumping from a rocky cliff to certain death to the river below. The painting, which depicts Nector’s demise, hangs in the state capitol in Bismarck, and to him, it perfectly captures Custer’s famous saying: “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.”

Like The Plunge of the Brave, Nector’s demise is also represented in the Hollywood film he acts in, in which he is asked to grab his heart and fall dead off a horse. Furthermore, this popular trope of killing Indians is reflected in the childhood game of cowboys and Indians that Gordie and Aurelia play as children, in which they try to hang June from a tree in the backyard, and this game undoubtedly is rooted in films similar to the one Nector acts in. After Nector sees The Plunge of the Brave for the first time, he is shocked and angry, and he vows to “get out” of the painting, a metaphor for America’s racist society. Of course, Nector is never able to “get out” or escape the racism of American society, and this is evident years later, when Lulu moves into the senior living complex and hangs a copy of The Plunge of the Brave on her living room wall. Nector is still in the painting both literally and figuratively, and as long as the painting exists, the negative representation of Native Americans in popular culture continues, further fueling and perpetuating racism against Native American people.