Bad Magic in The Grass Dancer
In Susan Power’s novel, The Grass Dancer, one of the central themes is the use and effect of magic on the Native American culture. By examining the stories told in The Grass Dancer, one can see the harmful effects of bad magic. It is almost impossible to discuss the effects of bad magic in The Grass Dancer without mentioning the character Mercury Thunder. It is to her that almost all instances of bad magic in this novel should be attributed. She is the person that no one on the reservation would dare cross, in fear that the “reservation witch” would retaliate with her black magic (13), however she is not the only spokesperson of bad magic found in The Grass Dancer. Her granddaughter Charlene Thunder also experiments somewhat with the bad magic her grandmother has come used for so long. An example of this bad magic is the boys that these two characters hypnotize with their magic, use and throw out. Also there are some accounts of actual physical injury, which were a direct result of their bad magic. Furthermore, The Grass Dancer discusses the psychological effects of their bad magic on people on the reservation. The immoral flow of dazed boys and the injuries caused by bad magic, physical and psychological, prove bad magic has harmful results for Native Americans in The Grass Dancer.