Dawn Dumont’s Life as a Reservation in a Comical Tone

Dawn Dumont’s Life as a Reservation in a Comical Tone

Drawing from a series of episodes, the life experiences of Dawn Dumont presents an immersive and self-explanatory story of the few indigenous women in the globe that lived a comic and quite ironic life. In The Way of the Sword, she starts by narrating how she grew up in a comical society in the Okanese First Nation found in the southern part of the Saskatchewan. Her life experiences demonstrate the strange experiences faced by large families from minority communities. She undergoes various experiences in the course of her childhood days. Love, hate, and forgiveness are some of the critical issues that can be seen at a glance to surround and define her life.

As a stand-up comic and an author, Dawn Dumont explains her life experiences to have been surrounded by love (Muecke 14). However, this love could not be observed from a glance.  This results from a deeper reflection on the unfolding of events and how the experiences of her life were handled by the members of her family and the society in entirety. For example, she talks about having a nomadic mother that showed love to her father despite the father’s alcoholic behavior. Dumont says that life was good amidst the confusion. There was racism in the society in which she lived, and the school she attended, but that did not deter her from seeing the sense of love that allowed for the progress of her freedom and offered forgiveness that never faded away.  The demonstration of the life of her mother and how she handled every situation she encountered had long-lasting life lessons to Dumont.  It is ironic and comical that despite the environment and the society where she grew to have challenges in terms of racism and poverty, she remained focused and optimistic about life. She never lost her sense of direction, and this is a unique character that stands out distinctly from her.

Dumont is a woman who knows and understands what she wants in life. As a result, she is not disturbed by the disgusting life experiences she undergoes. What stands out is her perception of the experiences she suffers and the comical way in which she convinces herself. At one point, she explains how laughter provides a more straightforward way to navigate through various challenges in life as one awaits their possible and potential solutions.  The impact of the experiences of the intergenerational effects in her residential school besides the racist education policies were some of the most challenging experiences she underwent(Muecke 18). Besides, the economic situation was not friendly at home. She was brought in a family where poverty was the order of the day.

The political administration embraced colonial discrimination, and several privileges were denied to them. Some of these experiences are quite disgusting and can ruin the life of a person who is weak at heart. Interestingly, Dumont encourages how laughter is the best medicine to navigate through such challenges. She ironically explains how laughter can be essential in keeping survival on course, especially during low moments of a person. This is an exciting personality who never gives up when things got tough. She never complains to anyone for the misfortunes of their life. Most importantly, she draws inspiration from such challenges and finds the reason even to turn the tables round.

As a person driven by positivity and optimism in life, Dumont, alongside other indigenous women like Nellie and Rose, demonstrates what people should do when faced with the reality of disappointments. She narrates how she could avoid reading the stories of many serial killers because that would help her by preventing her from perceiving or seeing many people in her surroundings as serial killers. This is quite comical and ironic yet accurate in presenting the realities of life. Perceptions define human destiny, and the more a person becomes negative about other people and their surroundings, the more life becomes meaningless and directionless to them. She tries to keep herself happy and positive most of the time, and she does not victimize anybody for her evil friends. She understands the need to navigate through her challenges responsibly and maintain everyone attached to her like before, even in adversity.

The sense of humor and irony in the story is unmatched. The humorous technique plays a crucial role in enforcing essential life lessons. The fact that Dumont treats every opportunity that life presents to her with laughter and smile is quite comical. In the context of contemporary society, where experience is more personalized, everyone wants the best for themselves. People are immersed in acts of selfishness, and no one would ever tolerate such issues as poverty and discrimination (Muecke 32). However, Dumont demonstrates a crucial life-long lesson that in everything we do, patience and love for achievement should come first before any thought of negativity and impossibility. Everyone is a custodian of their own life. The difference lies in how one treats the opportunities and the adversities that life presents to them.

The main of Dumont in the story to demonstrate how people need to approach life challenges and opportunities they get exposed to daily. Despite the cruel, harsh, and seemingly dangerous environment in which she was brought up, life does not stop for her. Her zeal to continue with life and make something meaningful out of it remains. Ideally, she approaches life with a sense of humor and self-deprecation, and this makes her navigate the challenges that life brings to her successfully. In her distress and agony lies an inner sense of love and beauty. Her hope, dreams, as well as the brave humor she applies to approach life issues,  are all focused on strengthening the devotion to her family members despite the poverty at home.