Memory,History, and Community:Ground Orientation in Barbara Kingslover’s Animal Dreams

Abstract

This thesis explores the notion of “ground orientation” in Barbara Kingslover’s novel Animal Dreams. Central to “ground orientation,” is the idea of interrelatedness across the community based on an awareness of the past, of the environment and the ground beneath our feet. The novel’s interwoven theme of “ground orientation” is revealed by Codi and Homer’s different but interdependent narratives. These narratives explore their individual and collective identities, through a combination of memories grounded in the characters’ reality than others. Memories are explored to reveal not only the importance of recollections but also to inform the characters’ personal and political present and to reveal further the limitations of personal memory. Somewhere between Codi and Homer’s narratives lies the history the Nolines and of Grace. It is only by putting theirmemories together; Kingsolver reveals the importance of broader community and history.