"Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother", "Pâtussorssuaq, Who Killed His Uncle", and "The Wife Who Lied" are good examples of the stories focused around teaching moral lessons through showing the harsh consequences of murder and deceit. The characters here seem less important than the lessons taught in the narratives, and this is probably why I didn't much care for these first three stories of the second half of the unit.
Things get better with some of the later stories though. Although I have trouble comprehending some of the events that occur in "The Eagle and the Whale" (how in the world does a whale up and sweep away a girl on land?) and the characters in the story still lack compelling attributes, at the very least the tale is a fun adventure yarn. "Atdlarneq, the Great Glutton" is a very weird story in which the main characters wins the day by the strength of his bottomless pit of a stomach. The concept of an Eskimo bogey man named Copper-Cheeks sound interesting, although I feel like there could be stories that make better use of this interesting character.
"Âtârssuaq" was my favorite story of the bunch, because it was the
first tale I read that featured a character with interesting traits and who even has a bit of a story arc. His training with his father helps establish the son's skills and sets up his triumph in putting those skills to use to defend his own life and those of his people. I also like how the son is a formidable trickster, while at the same time being a merciful hero who is willing to spare the life of the last of the enemy force. A lot of the characters in these stories are pretty darn brutal (the
father in Ángángŭjuk who threatens to kill his wife for allowing their son to run off comes to mind), so the protagonist in this
story was a bit of a breath of fresh air.
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| If that's what a benign Eskimo spirit look like, then I don't want to imagine what the bad ones look like (Un-textbook) |
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