The Spirit of the Yellow Woman
Spirits and the supernatural have always intrigued people. Some people can feel a spirit's presence; some people can see a spirit as if it was a normal person or as a transparent person; and yet others cannot even see the spirit at all. Spirits do not normally interact with humans, but sometimes it does happen. One example of this is the urban myth of the ghost taxi rider. In that myth a taxi driver will see a man or woman on the side of the road and pick him or her up. When the taxi driver arrives at the rider's desired destination, the rider will be gone. Stories of ghosts and supernatural events are also common in many other cultures throughout the world. The Native Americans believed that mountain spirits existed and would come down to earth and take human form. They also believed that sometimes the mountain spirits would seduce women and take them away. The woman would return home later, but she would be changed in some way. In the short story "Yellow Woman" Leslie Mormon Silko uses literary devices and setting to prove that the man, Silva, is actually a mountain spirit. Silko hints at Silva's true identity when she writes about the morning after the Yellow Woman sleeps with Silva and wake
Another clue brought out when the Yellow Woman wakes and Silva is gone is that it appears that Silva is making the woman come to him and also temporarily erasing part of her memory, because she would not know where to go to find him. Whatever the case the supernatural has always fascinated society. A second clue towards Silva's identity is shown when the Yellow Woman expresses her reason for going with him in the first place. The fact that he didn't deny or admit that he took other girls helps point towards the fact that the Yellow Woman wasn't the first. He knows that the Yellow Woman does not think he is a mountain spirit, but he wants to gradually prove it her. He responds by not saying anything and looks confused. Silko uses many literary devices and setting in the short story "Yellow Woman" to prove that Silva is a mountain spirit. She also believes he is not a ka'tsina spirit. It is as if she has no involvement in the decision and must go with him. I wandered along the trail to the pine trees. Some people can see spirits and some people cannot. That action conveys that he must believe the story he told her about being a "ka'tsina, or a mountain spirit" (823), because he looks at her like he is puzzled when she asks him. That also conveys that Silva had to have had some way of knowing that she was coming to him. When I saw the stone house I remembered I meant to go home.
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