Turtle Meat

By Emerson McCormick
Story

Plot Characters Setting

● Takes place over ● Homer ● Wind Farm
one day ● Mollie
● Story mainly focus ● Turtle
on the main ● Mollies daughter
character on a
fishing trip
Joseph Bruchac III Background

Occupations-Writer and
Educator

Part of the Abenaki Culture

Writes about indigenous

people
Cultural Background Abenaki Culture

Practiced ethnobotany
● Treats ailments Natural
○ Plants
○ Herbs
○ Bark

● Language spoken-Abenaki/Slovak/English

● AbenKai are part of the Indigenous People of what is now Vermont, New Hampshire,
New York Maine and parts of Quebec, Canada
Theme Throughout the Story
In Turtle Meat, Joseph Bruchac III presents the idea of an
individual conforming to society by showing the
relationship between a Turtle and the main character.
Throughout the story, the main protagonist grapples with
understanding his culture heritage by reconnecting with
nature, however he would learn that a loss of respect for
nature can cause a loss of culture.
 Essential Question Response

Throughout Native American literature we see humans

showing respect and gratitude to nature. In the story,
Turtle Meat, Homer treats the Turtle as his equal when
he says, “Turtle, I believe I got you and you for me” as
well as “I understand you Turtle.” (Page 55) Homer‘s
connection with the Turtle shows how much he values
where his food comes from and the respect he has for
the Turtle.
 Homer Ware Characterization Quote 1.
“Whenever there was something about him that seemed
maybe different from what others expected he would say
simply, “It’s the Indian in me. Sometimes he thought of it
not as a part of him but as another man a man with a name
he didn’t know but would recognize if he heard it.”(Page
52)
 Homer Direct and Indirect Characterization
Analysis 1.
Homer is direct when he says “It’s the Indian in me.” Homer is
explicit in telling readers his ethnicity. Homer is indirectly
telling readers about how he feels about his own culture when
he says, “Not as a part of him but as another man, a man with
a name he didn’t know but would recognize if he heard it.” In
this quote Homer is indirectly addressing the feeling of losing
one’s culture due to assimilation to attempt to fit into the mold
society sets for men.
 Homer Ware Characterization Quote 2.

“I am not asking for any property, Amalia.

It‘s the Indian in me that doesn’t want to own
no land.” (Page 52)
 Homer Direct and Indirect
Characterization Analysis 2.

In this quote, Homer is directly telling Amalia (Mollie) that he does not want to own any part of
Wind Farm. However this quote is indirectly showing readers large amounts of information
about Homer's character, when he says “It’s the Indian in me that doesnt want to own no land.”
Homer means he doesn't want to own land because of his ethnicity it shows the deep hardship
he has faced as well as his people. Native Americans lost their land to the United states
government, then that government passed laws to restrict their access to own land. Therefore,
Homer’s connection to his culture makes him not want to own any land.
Mollie (Amalia) Characterization Quote 1.

“The dogs were the only ones ever giving back

her love, he thought, not that no-good
daughter.”(Page 53)
 Mollie (Amalia) Direct and Indirect Quote 1.
Characterization Analysis
Homer speaking about who truly loves Mollie
(Amalia) directly gives readers an idea of her
relationship with others. The quote also indirectly says
that something happened between the relationship of
Mollie and her daughter that has caused the daughter
to not love her in the same way Mollie loves her
daughter.
 Mollie (Amalia) Characterization Quote 2.

“But it hadn’t stopped her from coming for him and

getting him, all those years ago. It hadn’t stopped her
from throwing Jake Wind out of her house and
bringing Homer LaWare to her farm to be the hired
man.“(Page 51)
 Mollie (Amalia) Direct and Indirect Quote 2.
Characterization Analysis
The quote is indirectly talking about a greater sense of
something stopping Mollie from leading Homer into her
house. As well as giving some insight to Molly has a
character, she was willing to throw Jake Wind out of her
house so something may have happened to alter their
relationship. The quote is directly talking about Mollies
character, she was determined, to help Homer even if it
meant kicking out Jake Wind.
Man VS Society Conflict

Man Vs Society Conflict is

present in the Story, Turtle Meat
because the main protagonist is
grappling with embracing his
cultural values but also facing
pressure to conform to society's
expectations.
 Man VS Self conflict
Homer is having an internal conflict about
their heritage throughout the story,
repeating the phrase, “It’s the Indian in me”
Homers statement demonstrates a conflict
between embrace culture heritage and not
wanting to have his culture define who he
is.
The Symbol of the Turtle
The turtle death is a symbol for culture assimilation and loss of heritage. At
first, the Turtle is content swimming around and surviving off the land. Then
Homer comes along and tries to trick the turtle into eating the worm, the Turtle
manages to eat part of the worm and get away. However, the Turtle would
ultimately be caught and killed by Homer. Homer slitting the throat of Turtle is
a symbol of him cutting off his culture due to the pressure society put on him.
After Homer cuts the throat of the Turtle, his life comes crashing down
repressing when Homer loss his connection.
The Symbol of Fishing
Homer fishing in the story represents him
reconnecting with his culture. Homer fishing,
catching and cleaning the fish illustrates a way
of life that is in harmony with nature. The
protagonist fishing demonstrates him
embracing his cultural heritage despite the
pressure society puts on him to assimilate.
 The symbol of the “Dogs”
The dogs in Turtle Meat are a symbol of embracing
culture in the story. At the beginning of the book the
dogs are “alive”, the dogs being alive is a symbol of
Homer fully accepting his culture. However over
time, the dogs ”died” because Homer stopped
embracing his culture
 Final Thoughts
The story Turtle Meat was a story that encouraged me to further analysis
the text, it provided me with numerous perspectives as well as gave me a
greater understanding of the cultural identity and the struggle Native
Americans had to experience during this time. This unit provided me a
different perspective of deep appreciation and continuous oppression
Native Americans had to face within the United States.
Works Cited

Yost, Russell. “Abenaki Tribe Facts, History, and Culture.”

The History Junkie, 10 Nov. 2023,
thehistoryjunkie.com/abenaki-tribe-facts/.