Midge and Her Mother

 Joshua Singh

Dr. Ellis

EN 346D

27 February

Bury My Heart At Chuck E. Cheese’s Response

Tiffany Midge shows her humorous outlook on life by giving the reader a chance to see life as a woman of her culture. A lot of her humor is seen alongside her memories of her mother and her relationship with her mother as it relates to a collective, unique-to-her culture narrative. This is expressed through her essays such as “Conversations with My Lakota Mom” and “Eight Types of Native Moms.” Her humor centers around her experiences that she believes are common among those who share her culture but would not be as common among those who are outside it. For example, in her essay “Conversations with My Lakota Mom,” Midge is having a conversation with her mother when Midge explains to her that an actor they saw on the television was “Kevin Costner…He’s not Indian,” and her mother replied with, “Well he played one on T.V.” (Midge 112). Midge was taken aback by her mother’s playful joke on a somewhat serious matter of actors portraying characters that are a different ethnicity than they are. Her mother’s lighthearted approach to the subject contrasted by Midge’s somewhat more serious opinion of the subject is humorous in itself due to the relatability of one having a different opinion of something with their mother while both laughing it off in the end. Her relationship with her mother is unique in that they joke about certain topics that are unique to their culture such as certain holidays or traditions, yet is relatable enough in that their playful mother, strong-opinionated daughter dynamic that the audience of Midge’s accounts find her retelling of her experiences humorous. 

Similarly in “Eight Types of Native Moms,” Midge recounts certain Native-American mothers who would send their children to school “wearing moccasins or ribbon shirts and everyone else wore sports jerseys and Jordans” were the very traditional moms (Midge 117). This is humorous in that she shares a trope unique to her culture, but she does so in a playful manner that contradicts the heavier tone of the subject.


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