Dancing with the Power of the Wind

Dancing with the Power of the Wind. That's what comes to my mind when I read the last passage in "Power." I get an image of Omishto feeling powerful in her self, her decision to go to the old people at Kili, to choose her own life path, and knowing the power that is the wind and her people, while holding them inside of her. Kind of a rambling sentence of all the power images entering my mind, but to me, that's also what the wind is- an intense mix of all that makes up the world and that is making up Omishto at the end of the novel. She has found a new power in herself and has started a new life with the elders. To me, the dance with the new, pure white fan is almost as if Omishto is being reborn. She has gone through experiences she probably never imagined throughout the book, and in the end has come out of it a new person. She is no longer a student, living in her mother's household, taking beatings and being chased after by Herm. Omishto has come out of it all a new person. She has made her own decisions and is confident in them with the end of the book. "it was the old people who saved us" (224), and its the old people she goes to.

Oni. Omishto. "It is a breathing, ceaseless God, a power known and watched over by the panther people. It passes through us, breathed and spoken and immortal. It is what brings us to life" (178). Oni is what saves Omishto and brings her to become who she does at the end of "Power." The dance in the wind with the fan, creating her own wind, shows her own power and her new breath of life through this Oni. She has chosen to become one of the panther people, accept this Oni entirely, and let the power into her as well. Omishto dances to signify her new power. The fan shows her new life/wind/rebirth she is creating all at once with the acceptance of this power, and ultimately her finality in her decision.

The Panther

When I usually think of panthers, the image that comes to mind is often

of Bagheera, the panther character in Disney's The Jungle Book.

Bagheera is wise, protective, respected, and caring-a typical Disney character.

The Panther in Power is seen in a similar light, but not as typically Disney. Here, the

Panther is an animal of utmost respect and value.

Omishto and her family are Taiga Indians of the Panther Clan.

The traditional view of the Panther here is of greatness, awe, fear, and love.

When Ama shoots the panther, she tells Omishto to not let anyone know of it

being sick-it holds that much importance to the people of their clan

that to see it sick is unbearable, painful, and devastating. The Panther,

in their eyes, is much like Mowgli sees Bagheera-a powerful figure, one

to be respected and revered. Omishto doesn't understand why Ama doesn't

want her to tell anyone that the panther she shot was sick, even though it would

help in finding her innocent. When she goes to the Kili Swamp to meet with

the old people, Omishto finally understands how her tribe's elders view the panther,

and the effect of knowing it was sick would have on them. The Panther is not

only the name of these people, it is who they are, and who they have always been.

If the Panther was sick and dying, so is the Panther Clan. Once Omishto realizes

the intense connection her clan really has with the panther, she comes of age

a bit, grows more mature in her understanding of the world and what happened

after the hurricane when she and Ama went out in the woods.

The Power of Nature

In the novel Power, the descriptions of nature are almost spellbinding. The world Hogan describes seems magical, hidden, and wondrous. She captures the essence of a place in her words, using "oni" for wind instead of wind as we know it for one. When we use the word "wind," something is lost from the translation of "oni." She makes you feel as if you're being pulled into another world through the use of "oni" and her description of nature.

There is one place in the world that's had the same effect on me as I feel Omishto has when she's in her boat on the water. When I'm on the beach or walking among the trees on Hilton Head Island, my favorite place in the world, I almost feel like I've entered another universe. The ocean breeze, the waves crashing on the shore, the smell of the salt water, and the overall atmosphere of the island makes me feel like nowhere else has before. I love everything about that island-especially the nature. I feel more at home standing on the beach there than I do sometimes even in my own room. It's almost as if I become a part of the island when I go, but when I leave its worse. I feel as if I leave part of my soul, a piece of my heart behind every time I depart. But it also makes going back even better.