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Michi Yorkston

Dr. Malashewski

IB English, Period 1

1 December 2023

Representation in There There

All of the main characters in the fictional novel There There by Tommy

Orange are used to accurately represent those in the minority group of Native Americans and

resemble their struggles. The key to having characters that align with real people’s lives is to

have variation which exists in every population. Orange does this by having his characters

experience different levels of association which they have with their culture and background. In

real native communities especially in modern day society not all Indians live in reservations, but

“...all we got right now are reservation stories, and shitty versions from outdated history

textbooks. A lot of us live in cities now.” (Orange 149). This is what makes the variety of

characters and representation between them even more valuable. The fact of the matter is that

there is a whole side of the Native story not being shared shows the importance and impact of

Orange's writing. The stories in There There, even though fiction, are still able to shed light on

the modern day Native Americans. The younger generation uses technology to learn about their

culture, though the urbanization of their homes and communities makes it harder for them to

practice their culture while growing up. The novel presents how far Indians have actually come

compared to their stereotype of all being in reservations. Throughout the story there are facts

embedded in the fiction creating authenticity. It is the truth that the author wants the readers to

inevitably take away from reading the novel. Indians were forced out of their culture and now

they have changed, “The sidewalks and streets, the concrete, absorbed our heaviness…the city
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took us in. We were not Urban Indians then.” (Orange 9) One of the characters, Dene Oxidene

realizes that “We haven't seen the Urban Indian story.” (Orange 40). The Native American

identity has been modernized to live in society like anyone else making it harder to distinguish

people who are Indian. This description completely contrasts the expectation that Native

Americans are connected to nature or live simple lives but that they are complex beings showing

an unrepresented side of the Native American minority. Tommy Oranges In certain moments in

the novel it can be noticed that Orange speaks through his characters, saying in that instance how

the “Urban Indians” lack representation.

Orange uses his personal experience of being a native while writing his characters in order

to create realistic representation which reflects the lives of people in real life. The character Dene

is a direct parallel to the author, someone who wants to “document Indian stories” (Orange 40).

Dene does this through filming diverse members of the native community while Orange writes

about these different perspectives. He includes characters with both flaws and highlights

otherwise these characters would not speak for the wide group that are Native Americans. Dene

and Orange work towards getting rid of the stereotype that “The only way to be Indian in the

world is to look and act like an Indian” (Orange 122). This assumption has had an effect on most

of the characters in the book similarly to how it would in real life as well. Dene is the type of

person who knows that by spreading awareness and stories explaining how “that's just what our

community needs considering how long it's been ignored, has remained invisible.” (Orange 40).

The problem is that everyone is used to there being stories coming from the traditional native

perspective, the variation becomes lost, “Sometimes not having a story is the story.” (Orange

148). Stories being represented in media and novels such as There There is the most important

part.