Birdfoot’s Grampa

Joseph Bruchac

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1975

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

Nature and Humankind

Throughout the poem, Grampa is located outside the car, in nature, while the speaker remains inside the car. Birdfoot is insulated and separated from the world around him while Grampa is literally knee-deep in nature. This juxtaposition of the two individuals provides a concrete image of where they both exist in their relationship to the natural world around them. Birdfoot observes all the elements of nature—the rain, the toads, the grass, the mist—from a position wholly removed from it, which is unnatural and artificial. By remaining in the car, Birdfoot aligns himself with manmade technology, and this position exudes dominance and control over everything outside of the car, as evidenced in the ability of the car’s headlights to blind the toads and Birdfoot’s ambivalence toward the toads. From Grampa’s perspective, however, the car is just one part of a broader landscape in which human beings can work and understand their place in nature. Grampa does not eschew the modern world; rather, he understands how technology can help the world around him (e.g., by using the light from the headlights to spot the toads in the dark) and that humans have a responsibility to temper the negative effects of the modern world whenever and wherever possible. Grampa may not be able to save all the toads, but by being the bigger, more capable human, he is obligated to do his best to save as much of nature as he can.

The Wisdom of Age

The mindsets of Grampa, who is not bothered by the idea of being late, and the speaker Birdfoot, who is impatient, reflect another juxtaposition in the poem that holds a message for the reader. The speaker’s first-person point of view emphasizes Birdfoot’s focus on themselves in the first two stanzas. He reveals Grampa, on the other hand, with a broader, third-person point of view that suggests Grampa has a wider, more developed worldview. Grampa is aware that a loss of a few minutes does not mean much for him and Birdfoot, but it could mean the end of life for the toads.

The youthful and impatient speaker Birdfoot contrasts with the characterization of the older and wiser Grampa, and the speaker ends the poem with a sense of resolution and acceptance. Grampa wades into the grass to release the toads with a sense of peace, and Birdfoot observes that there is a lesson to be learned in the old man’s connection to the toads, the rain, and the grass. Though Birdfoot exhibits all the qualities of an impulsive young person, the speaker has respect for the old man and his wisdom.

The Cycle of Life

Native Americans, like many other Indigenous peoples around the world, tend to think of life in cyclical terms, as opposed to the linear thinking of Europeans and their descendants. To believers in the cyclical nature of life, the passage of time rolls over into itself as the seasons change from summer to winter and back again, and the days rotate from sunrise to moonrise, indicating a world order that depends on the continuation of these cycles. A Eurocentric approach to marking time is more linear in that it uses milestones and goals to mark a life from birth to death. In this linear system, each individual lives life separately, living and dying as a single organism apart from all others.

The speaker of the poem thinks in linear terms throughout the poem, as evidenced by the speaker’s need to complete their journey. The speaker’s goal-oriented thinking contrasts Grampa’s understanding of the journey as an important part of their task. While Grampa is aware of their destination, he believes that what they do along the way will have lasting repercussions; they should not ignore their responsibilities for the sake of achieving a goal. In other words, Grampa and Birdfoot are a part of the life cycle regardless of whether or not they get to their destination on time. Grampa, nearing the end of a cycle of his life, finds that he must help the toads. His cyclical way of thinking reflects his belief in his role as a part of the world that no more and no less important than any other living thing.