"grace" analysis

The short story “Grace” represents the stereotypes and challenges that many Native Americans have faced. Native Americans are seen to be lesser then the White American. Some thought that all Native Americans were alcoholics. In the story, and young girl describes her experience with this stereotype. The woman in charge of the orphanage that she live in would take her to a tavern to, “show me where all the Indian women was and what kind of people they are, always getting drunk and laying up with men.”(169). although it is true that there is an overall problem with alcoholism in the Native American population, this does not mean that every Native American is an alcoholic. This problem started when alcohol was introduced to the Native American culture by the White Europeans. Now alcohol is being abused by some Indians, and Native Americans are given the stereotype as being drunks.
This story also shows the conflict in culture between Native Americans and White Americans. The predominate religion in American is Christianity, whereas most Native Americans do not follow Christianity. This story shows how some Americans are not as accepting of the Indian culture. The main character, Jodi Ann explains that the woman running the orphanage said that the totem poles that Native Americans made were “a pretend God and that was wrong because God was up in heaven and the Indian people was bad to make the pole.” (169). Americans were not always accepting of the Indian’s beliefs. This made life harder on the Native Americans because their lifestyle and beliefs were not accepted into the society that the Americans had created.
Over the years Native Americans have had to deal with discrimination because of their race, and intolerance of their culture from the white Americans. The short story “Grace” shows this through the lives of two children facing the challenges that many Native Americans face every day.