Genre
Biography
Setting and Context
The action begins in 1970 and lasts until 1950, and it is set in South Dakota and in various European countries such as England, Germany, France and Italy.
Narrator and Point of View
The action is told from the perspective of a third-person objective point of view.
Tone and Mood
The tone and mood are neutral.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Black Elk, and the antagonists are the white people he fights against all his life.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between the Indian tribes and the American governments trying to eliminate them.
Climax
The biography reaches its climax when Black Elk return back to South Dakota from Europe and realizes what his true calling in life is.
Foreshadowing
The vision described at the beginning of the autobiography foreshadows the later role of a leader he will adopt later in life.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The main allusion we find in the biography is the idea that everyone living on this earth is equal and that they all have an important part to play.
Imagery
In one of his visions, Black Elk was an enormous tree placed in the center of the earth and surrounded by animals and people from all tribes and nations. For Black Elk, this image was an extremely important one because it made him realize that for the Creator, all beings are equal and people should thus try to promote equality as well.
Paradox
Black Elk describes himself as a peace-loving person, who would never harm anyone. Paradoxically, however, Black Elk was personally involved in many brutal battles against the white settlers and cause the death of many soldiers.
Parallelism
Black Elk draws a parallel between the members of the Indian tribes and the white society trying to eliminate them. The parallel is used here to transmit the idea that even though the white society likes to think of itself as being educated and superior, in reality, that is not the case and in fact, the two societies are more similar than they would like to think.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The hatchet is used here as a general term through which the narrator makes reference to the idea of violence.
Personification
We have a personification in the sentence "the dirt swallowed the blood completely, raising every evidence that something violent ever took place."
