Yellow Raft In Blue Waters Essay, Research Paper
Paradigm Shift
In Yellow Raft In Blue Waters by Michael Dorris, the daughters Rayona, Christine and Ida do not have paradigm shifts so they blame each other on solvable problems. The real problem is the lack of communication, erratic behavior, and the avoidance of confrontational situations.
Rayona having a paradigm shift would make her see everything more lucidly. When Christine and Rayona arrive at Ida s house after their long trip, Christine abandons Rayona. When this happens, Rayona thinks that her mom wants to get away from her. If Rayona had known that Christine was thinking, That Ida s dream had come true and I had come crawling back, failed and without pride, she probably Rayona probably would not have been furious and would have understood why Christine left.
If Christine had had a paradigm shift as a child, she might have encountered fewer problems with Ida. If Christine had had a paradigm shift, she would have known that she is not really Aunt Ida s daughter and Aunt Ida is doing a favor for Christine. Also she would not have minded Ida treating Lee better and she would probably have stoppped fearing the development of a intimate attachment that might be taken away from her if Clara returned. Also Ida did not treat Christine as well because Ida did not want to get too close to Christine because she was afraid that Clara would come back and take her. Another example is that Christine made a big fuss with Ida about going to see Clara. I don t even know Clara. I hated to waste my day off with a trip downtown to that depressing place. However, again, if she had had a paradigm shift, she would have known that Clara is her mom and she would have been there in a second.
Because of a paradigm shift, I came to a deeper understanding the characters behavior. I was also able to comprehend their emotions more fully. Before being aware of what was really happening, I viewed the characters action and attitudes with an outlook that was much less charitable.
As a result of having read this book, I have learned to with hold judgement of others when I am not in possession of all the facts relating to the incident. I am also aware that I probably do not know all the information if I have not talked to others about the situation. In summary, up I am much more aware of the need to find out all of the details about a given situation before judging the people involved.
I once encountered a situation were I did not have a paradigm shift. It happened three years ago when my cousins were going to move to New York. I thought they were moving because my aunt s husband just wanted to leave us and go to New York with his family. However, this was not the case. They moved because my aunt s husband did not have a good business in Los Angeles but when they moved to New York his business started booming. Having questioned my aunt would have helped me reveal the real answer. Had Rayona and Christine also probed deeper they might have had better lives.