Language, Identity and Social Acceptance in Hal Borland’s Novel, When the Legends Die :: When Legends Die

Language as the Key to Identity and Social Acceptance in Hal Borland’s Novel, When the Legends Die In the world today, many people are identified by the way they look or act; they are also accepted into society based on this criteria. However, in literature, one cannot be identified or judged on these aspects, these observations must be created solely from the way the character speaks. This shows that James Baldwin was correct in his 1979 essay when he stated that language is a key to identity and social acceptance. This observation can be seen in the novel When the Legends Die by Hal Borland. When the Legends Die is a novel about a boy, Thomas, growing into a man. There are a variety of characters in this novel and without their different styles of speaking, the reader would not be able to tell them apart. One example of identifying a character by what they say is a man named Blue Elk. Blue Elk was an extremely greedy Ute Indian. He would do anything, including sending other Native Americans to live on reservations, where they were miserable, to make easy money. So, in When the Legends Die when a reader sees a character talking about how much money he made, or who he has conned lately he or she knows that the character is Blue Elk. Another example of recognizing a character by their speaking style is a man named Meo. Meo was a bronco rider when he was younger and now he helps in training Thomas to become a champion rider. Meo also grows beans and loves making chili. He is always talking about the old days before his injury that ended his riding career, and how to make the â€Å"perfect† chili. So, once again, it is easy for the reader to recognize who is speaking by what he or she is talking about. Social acceptance is also a large point made in the novel. Thomas grew up as a Ute Indian and eventually became a bronco rider in rodeos. It is obvious that social acceptance is dependent on language because Thomas much change everything about himself to be accepted by the white riders. He was obligated to speak differently and he could not express his feelings in the way he was brought up. Thomas could not express himself freely because he had grown up singing traditional Ute hymns with his mother to show their feeling, and he was not allowed to do that anymore.