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Chapter 26
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Motorcycles & Sweetgrass, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Cultural Maintenance vs. Loss
Grief and Trauma
Colonialism and Land Use
Stories and Religion
Humor
Summary
Analysis
17 years later, a member of the Otter Lake community dies insisting that he once saw a man driving an Indian brand motorcycle across the waters of the lake. Only Wayne, Dakota, and Virgil ever believe him. The narrator concludes the story by relating that it is “a long story” that “happened to a cousin of mine.” The narrator reflects that long stories are the best kind.
The epilogue reveals that the skill Jesus taught to Nanabush was the ability to walk on water. Nanabush embraces this ability and puts his own spin on it by driving his motorcycle the lake on the Reserve, once again demonstrating how tradition can interact with Christianity and other aspects of the colonial world. The narrator’s direct address of the reader also suggests that part of the significance of a story is the act of storytelling.
Active
Themes
