Line #16 Literature/ThereThere

Context Literature / ThereThere

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1	[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/therethere.png]]
2	->''"Don't ever let anyone tell you what being Indian means. Too many of us died to get just a little bit of us here, right now, right in this kitchen."''
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4	''There There'' is a 2018 novel and the debut work by author Tommy Orange.
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6	The book focuses on twelve "urban" Native American characters around UsefulNotes/{{Oakland}}, UsefulNotes/{{California}}, and their lives before they all convene at a big pow wow at the Oakland Coliseum. It examines their individual struggles with heritage and identity in the modern world; through their arcs, Orange showcases the mistreatment and abuse Native Americans have faced throughout the centuries, and how the United States sanitizes it and continues to leave them with nothing.
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8	Has a sequel, ''Wandering Stars'', published in 2024.
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10	!!This work contains examples of:
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12	* TheAlcoholic: A recurring theme, examined through its effects on others. Thomas is an alcoholic and lost his job, Tony's mother left him with fetal alcohol syndrome, Octavio lost his family in a drunk driving accident, and Jacquie is trying to become sober after her daughter committed suicide.
13	* AnachronicOrder: Most of the stories take place in the days immediately leading up to the Coliseum pow wow, but one of them is set decades in the past during the 1969-1971 occupation of Alcatraz Island.
14	* {{Cliffhanger}}: [[spoiler:The novel ends in the middle of the pow wow robbery, leaving it ambiguous if the characters will survive their wounds or not.]]
15	* ADegreeInUseless: PlayedForDrama. One character has a graduate degree in native studies, but no job prospects. This is used as a metaphor for the plight of Native Americans in the modern day.
16	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Edwin's story about a Native American man being forced out of his apartment by a white friend is an unsubtle metaphor for the treatment of Native people by white people.
17	* DomesticAbuse: Blue suffers from an abusive partner, whom she eventually leaves.
18	* HyperlinkStory: At first, none of the characters or stories appear related to each other, but as they converge on the Coliseum pow wow, the connections between them are revealed.
19	* ShoutOut: The title is one to Gertrude Stein's autobiography: "There is no there there." There's even a scene where a minor character quotes the line, and another thinks to himself about how it's always taken out of context.
20	* TheWhitestBlackGuy: How Calvin views himself, as he doesn't claim to be Native and just says he's from Oakland.

Context Literature / ThereThere