In Joy Harjo's life she has come across many difficult experiences. Through her book, Joy shows us the struggles in her life that we, as readers, couldn't imagine. In her life, Joy was witness to an abusive home. Though an abusive home is a place that not all people can imagine, Joy gives us insight in her life growing up through stories and poems. Not all of the stories throughout the book are true, but they still help us understand and imagine what her life would be like, or how Joy wants to portray her own life. The book is not only about the struggles that Joy endures in her life, but also includes the good memories from her childhood. The stories Joy uses demon straights how much she loves and cares for her family's culture and her ancestors. Joy's other outlet is when she does art at school. The art Joy creates is a way for her to step away from the abuse at home and let her mind focus on something else. As Joy speaks through her life stories she refers to myths and the legends of her ancestor, which gave her insight during the hardest times in her life. Using these stories Joy finds the strength to pull through her hard childhood, which helped sculpt her into the strong woman she is today.
I like the title that you had gave for this post. Really good phrase for Joy Harjo. Her family and ethnic identity of Joy's life really impact who she is. Even as the arts and poems she does. I think these things had made her seems strong, but I'm not sure myself.
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