Part one: A reviewer of The Trap suggests that, "the most dangerous traps need not be made of steel". Explain what other traps (besides the animal traps) you think are present in this story.
Part Two: Think back on a time you felt "trapped" in some way. Did you "escape"? Are you still trapped? How? Why?
Ask one good question and copy and paste one good reading section in support of book discussions with young adults.
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RESPONSE – PART ONE:
Johnny Least-Weasel is an intelligent young man who is completing his education via correspondence classes. He would like to go away to college, yet feels compelled to stay in the village. I found it especially poignant when Johnny thinks about the advantages of college, and yet views the helplessness of his uncle and friends as they get drunk each evening. This quandary is basic to so many: does one stay put in the safety and identity of the predictable, or does one explore new realms with the possibility of losing one’s identity in the unknown?
RESPONSE – PART TWO:
I came from a good family with loving parents. Despite this, my parents had a narrow frame of ‘what was good for me’. I was discouraged from becoming a librarian in my undergraduate days, and went into international marketing. Their expectations were for me to ‘make something of myself’ and get my MBA and become an accountant. I wanted to travel and explore the world, and so I was very discouraged and wound up moving 4000 miles from Florida to Washington to start my own life. I found jobs, hiked and biked the Pacific Northwest, married, and restored a house. I realized that I was quite self-sufficient, but it was in the total renovation of the house that I felt a restoration of my spirit.
QUESTION:
Describe a situation in which you felt that you had the skills and/or tools, but that the goal was just out of reach. If you had the chance to ‘do over’, what would you do differently?
READING:
Johnny saw the trap and the chain bolted to the tree. Instantly, he understood why the old man had not returned to the village. (p.166)
Johnny seems to be ‘trapped’ by the amount of education that can be had in his town. He wants to eventually leave so that he is able to attend the university, but until that day he has to be content with the used books he is able to order and the correspondence courses. There is mention of other young people taking their lives because they feel as though they cannot fit in to the other larger world, but neither can they handle the North. Johnny is trying to combat that with the education. The village as a whole is also ‘trapped’ in the North during such cold months, and must yield to the weather in how their daily lives are carried out. Their lives, food supplies, and well-being all balance on whether they can cope with and adjust to the cold.
One time that vividly stands out where I was trapped, even only for a matter of a few minutes, was at a fair. I am deathly afraid of heights, and yet I still attempt to overcome the fear by agreeing to go on rides, including the Ferris Wheel. With no explanation, the car I was traveling in stopped close to the top and just stayed there for several minutes. No one was getting on or off and the technicians were looking at one of the mechanical parts. Needless to say I was terrified, and was not only trapped inside the car carrying me; but also trapped by my fear of heights. I obviously got free of that particular trap, but heights is still something that terrifies me to this day.
Question: Assess whether if Johnny had taken the correct trail if the outcome of the story may have changed.
Reading: “The old woman smiled, and finished her last spoonful, but there was something in her voice and the way she looked at the outside thermometer and the clearing sky that bothered him. It was as if she, too, was concerned, but respected her husband’s pride enough not to send the boy after him when he was not yet gone too long.”
Part One: Johnny faces the trap of the culture of his own people. All his life, he has been taught the tools for survival that his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and so on have learned. The traditions and stories of his people have been passed down onto him so that he too knows how to survive and live on the land that so few could handle. However, Johnny is very intelligent and has the urge to move onto college away from his village. He continues to take online correspondence classes, but after he has taken so many, he will have to decide between staying in his village and carrying on his family name or moving to college to finish his education.
Part Two: My first year of college, I took on a part-time management position at a retail store. At first, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to grow professionally, but I soon became “trapped” in the position. What I thought was going to be a 25 hour a week position, soon turned into a 35 hour a week position. Although I enjoyed the work I was doing and all of the people I was working with, the workload soon become too much to balance along with 17 credit hours at school. However, I stayed in the position an entire year because I felt trapped. I became close with the other management staff, my peers, and felt that my leaving would be abandoning them. I also knew that my father was proud of my success both at school and at work, and I didn’t want to disappoint him. I was also trapped by the pay. I had gone from being a broke college student, to having a steady pay flow.
After a year, I finally decided, with the help of family and friends, that the best option for me was to give up my position and focus on school. Although I did develop a great skill set, I was spending too much time at work and not enough time on schoolwork. I still work at the same place and am able to use the skills I developed, but I work drastically less hours. I was able to “escape” my trap after the encouragement and understanding of the friends and family around me. Had I not had their help, I may still be stuck in my trap today.
Question: Throughout the story we learn that Johnny is taking college courses and wishes someday to go to the college to finish his education. Assess whether you think Johnny will leave his village and go to college.
Reading: Pages 98-99. He yelled and waved the sharp-pointed spear while the wolves growled and bared their fangs and took quick snapping bites out of the cold air, making terrible clicking sounds with their teeth. Their ears were pulled back flat against their dark shaggy heads, and their eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight.
The most obvious trap in this story is the village and the culture. They learn to depend on themselves; everyone is related or knows everything about you and your family. You can not escape who the percieve you to be. They are trapped within the village unable to succeed outside the village.
The people who venture to the village are considered outsiders, isolated; they are trapped by the wilderness, the weather and the locals. The cold is so cold that people do not even venture out for groceries on some days, Johnny works without seeing anyone.
The culture traps Johnny, he is taught to respect and cherish his elders and therefore he is unable to leave them. It is his responsibility to care for them when they need him. If he leaves, will his alcoholic uncle step up and care for them.
I live in a house with three men, my husband and two sons. There are days I very much feel trapped. Football season would be one, and yes that may be stereotypical but I have to tell you I go to my room and close the door on the weekend because I will not have any company when certain teams are playing. Be careful not to walk in front of the television unless it is a commercial, just a survival tip I learned. I could choose to get involved but I would rather stay on the outside of that. Several hours of watching people I do not know play a game that can seriously injure the players, causes me to say “no, thank you.” Give me a game one of my kids is playing and then I am there.
Quote:
“For the moment, and perhaps for this moment only, he was content to enjoy the meal and the radiant warmth of the crackling and popping fire. In a different circumstance, he would have enjoyed the quiet solitude, the comforting smell of wood burning, and his small, tasty roasted supper.” Pg 127
Question:
Johnny suffers two losses in this story, his dog Tik and his grandfather. Compare the descriptions of those two deaths and how you know Johnny is changed by them. Use the wording, the isolation, and the actual physical loss to help with the comparison.
Part 1:
The isolated way of life is a trap – the younger people in the town find they are unfit for both the small, distant town and for the more populated centers such as the college from which Johnny receives his correspondences courses. There is no work and no future for them at home, but they cannot handle the sense of loneliness which comes from leaving home.
Additionally, the old man’s pride was as much of a trap as the steel claws that held his leg. Most of the village’s elderly gave up hunting long before his age. Albert did not, instead choosing to continue his long trips on a trap line that he had long held and that other trappers would avoid, thus rendering any accident he might have unnoticeable to others. He knew his mind was getting less sharp, but his pride refused to let him retire. Had he taken on a younger partner or shared his trap line in some way, or given up trapping altogether, he would not have been ensnared in this trap of pride.
Part Two:
When I was younger, I dated a guy that was not good for me but that I was pretty sure I loved. Just as I was starting to think otherwise, his mother died (very tragically) and I couldn’t bring myself to break up with him. I did indeed feel trapped; I didn’t want to date him any longer, but I didn’t want to cause him more pain or abandonment by leaving when he was so vulnerable. We dated for almost two more years, with me basically taking care of him, rather than being a girlfriend. Finally, I convinced myself that he would be OK on his own, and that I had to be on my own or I would not be OK, and I left. I am no longer trapped and now when I see others in similar situations, I remind them (and myself) think of their own needs as well as those of the other person.
Question: Predict how the story would have been different if Johnny had been “Julie” (a girl)? Would the grandmother have encouraged her to have to same experiences as a boy, and would the story have remained the same?
Reading: (P. 29) “When the men returned after dark – hungry, tired, cold, and empty-handed – they were surprised to see that the women had done what they had not. They were shamed. At first they were silent but they couldn’t hold back their tongues. Halfway through their supper of moose stew, each man in turn began to praise the woman hunter. Morrie was embarrassed and said nothing for a while. But as the men continued to praise her, she eventually began to laugh. Soon, everyone was laughing and joking about the day. Someone even said she would make a “good man.”
Part One:
The village could be viewed as a trap simply because of its location and the type of environment it is located in. Even though there are several people in or close to the village, because of the severe environmental factors, for several months out of the year, it is completely isolated from the rest of the world.
Drinking could also be viewed as a trap in this story. When Johnny first tried to explain to his uncle the concerns he was having about his grandfather being out in the elements for such a long time, the uncle responded very nonchalantly to Johnny in part because he had been drinking at the party all night.
Education or the trouble of “getting” an education could also be viewed as a trap. Because of the harsh environment, very few teachers ever stayed in the village for a long period of time. In fact, the only reason Johnny was getting an education was because he was taking correspondence courses because as soon as the weather started turning bad, his high school teacher had left the village.
Part Two:
One time I felt “trapped” was when I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I had just graduated from high school and was not married. I felt as if my life was over before it even had a chance to begin and there was nothing I could do about it. Shortly after I discovered I was pregnant, I met my then, future husband. At the time, he was probably the most “annoying” man I could have ever met. I mean, he did all these goofy things like holding the car doors open for me, spending time with my crazy family, showing an interest in things I liked. This was madness to me, especially since I had previously told him that I was pregnant, and yet, he continued to be nice. He continued to be nice to me throughout my entire pregnancy and as a result of his kindness, I began to feel like my life was not coming to an end, but rather, it would be different from the one I had envisioned for myself. He helped me to escape the trap of myself then, and he has helped me to steer clear of other traps I attempted to set for myself throughout our marriage. He is always there to remind me that when I do begin to feel trapped I need to remember that I always have a choice. I can choose to do nothing and remain trapped, or I can choose to do something about it. With his support and encouragement, I generally choose the latter.
QUESTION:
If Johnny had chosen not to listen to his uncle about going to find his grandfather, do you think the outcome may have been different? Explain your answer.
READING:
Somewhere nearby, in a tree across the field, an owl was calling to him. Some Indians thought that the hoot of an owl outside your window at night was a harbinger of death. (99-100)
He would not speak or sing again. Somewhere, high up in the branches above, Johnny heard an owl. (168)
Part One: Johnny lives in an isolated community where people who try and live a "normal" life at the College fail and come back to the village. Johnny has the intelligence and ambition to succeed, but he is surrounded by people who drink all the time, and have never left the village. Johnny is going to need support and help from the people around him if he is going to succeed in going to College and breaking away from the same life that everyone in the village has.
Part two: This story made me think about a time when I was literally trapped by something. Around four years ago I went on a church trip to Colorado for a retreat. One of the activities that we had planned was white water rafting. I had done this before and so was confident and completely ready to go. We were rafting for awhile when we came across some very turbulent water and we were all very alert to make sure we weren't flipped. Even with being as alert as we were, we managed to get stuck sliding up a giant rock in the middle of the river. The water kept on pushing us until the raft flipped over. The raft fell on top of me and then someone else who was trying to escape pushed me down and pinned me between the raft and the bottom of the river. It was frightening to be so helpless but luckily people came back and pushed the raft off of me in time.I like to be very self-reliant but this helped me understand that there are times where I really do need to rely on others help.
Question: Johnny does not drink or party like his friends and relatives and instead focuses on school, work, and his family. What qualities does Johnny have that help him stay out of his friends' situation?
"On a crisp fall morning, Johnny Least-Weasel, then but a twelve-year-old boy, buried his best friend just above the timberline and marked the shallow, knife-hewn grave with a pile of stones."(145)
Response-Part 1:In an internal dialogue, Johnny Least-Weasel talks about his village and how those who leave for college always find themselves isolated from the outside and return home (Smelcer, 2006, p. 88). He talks of escaping the village to see what lies beyond the village and surrounding landscape. So, obviously the town can be viewed as a trap.
However, he also mentions that the teachers who come to teach in the village always leave to return home to the places from which they came. So either the village acts as a repellant for those not already ensnared or the homes of the visitors are just as much traps to their inhabitants as the village is to those who were raised there.
Response-Part 2:I had the privilege to spend a year and a half doing a job that I loved. The people with whom I worked came to depend on me and really liked the way I supported them. Unfortunately, I had to make a choice between the job and family obligations. At that point, I felt that I’d trapped myself. I didn’t feel trapped by the job or by my family, but by the fact that I didn’t want to let my co-workers down.
They were disappointed and did try many things to convince me to stay. In the end, however, I released myself from my “trap” by helping my boss to find a very satisfactory replacement.
Question:Talk about the legend excerpts that are found at the beginning of each chapter. What parallels do you see between the legends and the stories of Johnny Least-Weasel and his grandfather Albert Least-Weasel?
Reading:One day, a terrible hunting accident happened. The men had been hunting sea lions when a large bull killed the chief. After his potlatch and funeral, the villagers decided to avenge the great chief’s death. All the men trained hard. One night, after standing in the sea and beating himself with branches, Blackskin returned to the village, and by the light of the moon, he lifted the great tree right out of the ground! Then, so that no one would know what he had done, he carefully placed it back into the earth (Smelcer, 2006, p. 78).
Smelcer, J. (2006). The trap. New York: Square Fish; An imprint of Holtzbrinck Publishers.
#1-In my opinion the alcohol was a trap for some of the people in the community. The people in the community kept drinking. I felt like they had just decided that was all they could do outside of work. The weather was also a trap. It got colder and colder until it was capable of trapping you in your house.
#2-(continued from impossible post)…I thought it would be impossible to escape from my living situation. In the midst of all the drama I was going through someone came into my life that would change my future plans for the better. When I “ran away” from home it had been with my boyfriend. (That sounds so funny now!) We met in August of 1995. We just went to my “aunt’s”. She was actually a relative of my mom’s third husband had assured me I could come to her if I ever decided I needed to. I wasn’t actually trying to run away and never be found. I felt trapped and leaving suddenly was more of a declaration…I am done, I am moving on. Fortunately in one brief moment of desperation (prompted by selfish motives) my mother wrote a letter giving me permission to get married.
I went back home to try and work out my impossible living situation but had no success. I called the court house and scheduled a time to get married, then I called Andrew :’) and told him we were getting married….On Monday November 6,1995 I walked into Douglas County courthouse. I was 17. Judge Swartz officiated the ceremony. I don’t remember a lot of what he said…I was worried my mom would show and stop the ceremony. But she didn’t and that is how I escaped my trap. (And yes we are still married.)
In The Trap Jonny is described as becoming a good man because he took care of his elders and did not drink (p.53). But his “polite kindness” (p.53) was seen as a weakness by his peers. Although his kindness and focus on going to school was admirable evaluate his indecision to go get his grandfather when his grandmother told him to. Does this show some weakness?
“Jonny Least Weasel, warm in his soft bed, a candle glowing on the small table by the frosted window, dreamed all night of his grandfather. They were bad dreams, and he tossed like the icey river tossing in its silty bed(p. 92).”
Part one: One of the traps that Johnny Least-Weasel falls into is doubting his instinct. Johnny had the gut feeling that he should go find his grandfather, but reasoned with himself and allowed himself to be talked out of it by his uncle. A lot of times, a person’s gut feeling turns out to be correct. If Johnny would have just followed his initial instinct instead of hesitating and trying to reason things out in his head, he may have made it to his grandfather in time.
Part Two: Once I was on medication for a disease I have. I was having the side effect of depression and could not think clearly. I was trapped with my own thoughts and no matter how much other people tried to reassure me, I could not think beyond the negative thoughts I was having. Once the dosage of my medication was decreased, the side effects went away and looking back it was extremely hard for me to imagine how I could have let such seemingly trivial matters control my thoughts so much.
Question: Imagine that you got stuck as the old man did. Would you do anything differently from what he did in order to survive? If so, what would you do?
Reading: It was getting colder. Johnny pulled the fur-lined hood of his parka over his head and walked toward his own cabin with the sound of snow crunching beneath his boots.
“He should be back tomorrow,” he thought, as a star raced across the sky just below the North Star.
“He should be back tomorrow for sure.” (p. 57-58)
Part 1:
I think being trapped in the village is one of the trap themes in the book. The villagers are trapped in their homes because of the weather, unless they take the necessary precautions to go out in such frigid temperatures. Johnny’s uncle, like some of the other villagers are trapped by alcohol addiction. . As an Indian people, I think the villagers may be feeling trapped by their loss of tradition and language. I feel that if they were able to reconnect to the land and their traditions they may not feel tapped by their location. I’m guessing the younger generations may also feel trapped by their isolation from the rest of the world, when they watch their televisions and know that they will not experience some of the things they see on the screen due to the fact that their environment is so different which living in the far northern part of Alaska. Failing to continue further education can also be a trap. The lack of good jobs in the villages is a trap for the Indian people as all the good government jobs go to the white people. Isolation and being unable to communicate can be a trap (I couldn’t help wondering how a CB radio or cell phone could have changed the ending of the story.) Also there is a lot of pride in the people of this book, but pride can also be a trap, as we see when Johnny’s grandmother and uncle don’t worry about his grandfather because of their confidence in his capabilities. Which also leads me to consider that, sometimes independence can be a trap, if a person is not willing to ask for help. Johnny doubts his intuition that something is wrong and fails to leave earlier to search for his grandfather. This too turns out to be a trap.
Part 2:
I felt trapped one time in collage when serving as an ambassador at a holiday function. We would be the servers at dinners or ushers for events in the auditorium. Every year the president holds a holiday banquet during the Christmas season for board members, business sponsors, professors, and staff.
Before the banquet started everyone gathered in a smaller side meeting room for appetizers and drinks. The ambassadors were to serve drinks and such. I had no problem with this, but then we were told that we were just supposed to mingle with the guests until it was time to have them go into the dining hall for the start of the banquet. This directive should not have bothered me so much since I went to a small college where I probably knew a fourth of the people there and recognized at least half. Maybe because the room was crowded with important people, or because I was dressed in a suit and getting warm . . . but for whatever reason, I experienced what I could only describe as a small panic attack. I’ve never quite experienced anything like that since, but I remember standing there, unable to move and then the room seriously started to spin. I felt like I was in the middle of the room, with a deer in the headlights look and that everyone was staring at me. I doubt anyone really noticed anything going on, and I probably only felt like that for a minute, but at that moment I felt trapped. And I can still remember how that felt. Somehow I snapped out of it. I think one of my fellow ambassadors had caught my attention and they were beckoning me to come out into the hall with them, because they needed someone to help carry something from the kitchen. Once I left the room, I was able to regain my composure. I no longer felt trapped, and later was able to help serve at the meal part.
Question: Using a Venn diagram, compare the relationship between Johnny and his grandfather to that of Johnny’s uncle’s relationship to his father.
Quote:
“The man wondered what story they would tell about him. Would it be a tale of courage and strength or one of foolishness in old age?” p. 160
Response to Question:
An obvious, but not as pertinent to the story, is the trap of alcohol. Johnny’s uncle and many of the Indians he knew were trapped by alcohol and it’s misleading alleviation of pain. Another trap I feel was present in this story was that of pride. Albert Least-Weasel was a proud man. In one way, he was proud and strong and worked hard to keep himself alive, but in another way, some one may have come for him sooner had he not been so proud as to have set forth the notion that he could take care of himself and needed no help.
Did you know that when you sleep, your body releases a hormone that paralyzes you? This is why most people do not walk and talk in their sleep. Those who do, do not release enough of the hormone during sleep. I walk and talk in my sleep, which should mean that I lack the proper hormone. I recently found myself amidst this hormone in over production. I was completely exhausted from working 34 out of 54 hours and I decided to lie down on the couch and rest my eyes. I was at that place in between sleep and awake where you know what is going on around you, but you are still sleeping. I heard my mother fall in the kitchen. I tried to get up and couldn’t. I just plain couldn’t move. I tried to move my feet, my arms, my eyes. Nothing. I screamed and screamed and felt like I was inside myself, ramming my shoulder up against my chest, trying to wake myself up. I remember feeling my heart race and sweat breaking throughout my entire body. That was the most frightening moment of my entire life. I thought I was going to be trapped like that forever. I wonder if that is what it is like to be in a coma…
Written Question:
After Albert falls into his own trap, the author writes, “For the first time in his life, Albert understood what an animal must feel, what every animal he had ever trapped must have felt.” Relate a moment in your life where you realized - ironically as Albert did - the full weight of a decision you made or an action you took.
Quote:
Page 68 – “But such thoughts did nothing to remove the chain, so the old man brushed them away from his mind.”
Knight-Trap Blog
It is very refreshing to read quality, supportive literature about Native Americans. "The Trap" is one such novel. A grandfather is caught in one of his own traps and his grandson makes the trek to find him. Survival is key but difficult in the cold and snow. Survival is a theme for many students, for some it is a daily trial. I sometimes wonder how they manage from month to month. This novel might offer some hope, some advice; and though it is set in the harsh wilderness of Alaska, it speaks about using your wits, relying on those around you and needing to be strong. A wonderful addition is the tale told at the beginning of each chapter-reading it altogether or separately, it gives us a comparison of old ways and new. I observe that many students are not connected with their grandparents; many have no knowledge of them at all. I find this a sad situation; there is much to learn cross-generationally. The young readers have much to learn about life, friendships, love, parents, etc. from their grandparents. Each generation tries to pry open the jaws of wisdom so as to navigate life's trials. Why not learn from the oldsters? Why repeat the same mistakes when there is a teacher who is your blood relative? Getting caught in a bad marriage, having financial problems, having difficulty keeping food on the table has the same underlying needs whether it is in 1940 or in 1990. However, I have heard some students feel caught in the trap of their misinformed thinking: they know it all, they don't need anyone's advice, especially from some old person and they don't want anyone in their family to know their business! Rather than use the wisdom usually present, some young people run away into the forest of troubles and don't survive.
It's difficult to sit and listen to complaints, gripes, whining about work, students, administrators at every lunch, during each shopping trip and when going to movies. I felt trapped by this negativity in a friendship with someone at work 5 years ago. I began to think of ways to get out of hearing all the negativity (especially since there is only one staff lounge). I thought up topics to start but this person would take it off track by saying "Not to change the subject but did you hear..." Too bad I'm such a good listener. After a couple of years, I had my fill of this; I even told a story of how two Buddhist monks were out walking (one was very negative, the other very uplifting) and is a tale about how someone can constantly be looking at the glass half empty. This, it turns out, didn't make any difference either! So, after another year, I was usually too busy to go to a movie, had my lunch in my room to grade papers, etc. Now, we don't talk much. The friendship activity has dissolved and that's OK with me.
Question: Evaluate what the relationship between Johnny Least-Weasel and his grandfather is based upon. Have at least 5 criteria and use an appropriate graphic organizer to show this.
Reading:
"But then the sound dropped to a lower, more consistent level. It was so low that the wind blew it away like a brittle leaf barely hanging from a limb. He could still hear it when the wind let up, but it didn't seem to be moving. He knew where it was. It was at the fork less than two miles away. He imagined the driver trying to decide which trail to take. Left or right. One valley or the other."
The most significant trap in this story is the difference between the traditional ways of the Indian people and those of the current time. The character most affected by this trap would be Johnny Least-Weasel. As a 17-year-old, he is fully aware of the change in the Indian culture, this is made apparent by his decision to take college courses. Johnny is aware that things have changed in his village and he appears to be swayed by this throughout the book. Being raised primarily by his grandparents though, Johnny still holds onto some of the traditional beliefs.
There are many ways one can feel trapped. In all honesty, I currently feel trapped. Since completely relocating and starting over a few years ago I have found myself in a rut. Starting something new can be frightening. Once I grew comfortable, I stayed there, which is where I am today. I feel as though I am trapping myself. I know what I am capable of and the drive in me is pushing me to use what I have and pursue many different things, but yet I still stand back.
Johnny Least-Weasel’s uncle appeared to be unconcerned about Johnny’s grandfather’s failure to come home. Infer the significance behind this in the story.
Page 16, “This was a sensation he had never felt before. He had always wondered about a moment like this. A moment he had assigned to the suffering of others but never to himself. The steel of his own trap now gripped his right leg-”
Part 1. The most compelling 'trap' that i found in the story was the isolation of the village that Johnny Least-Weasel explained. Not only the isolation due to the distance and roughness of the land, but also from people of other cultures and areas. It was interesting how even though most people seemed to grow up with dreams of getting away from the village, most did not make it in the outside world. They ended up returning to what they knew or in some extreme cases, committing suicide.
P2. I've often felt trapped as i have navigated my post-high school career. Trapped in majors that seemed great at first, and while i thoroughly enjoyed the several subject areas i've studied, each time i began to feel i was shutting myself off from all of the other things i am interested in. I feared getting a degree and being trapped in a job field that i liked, but didn't quite love. I feel i'm making my 'escape' through library science. I never imagined i would be in library science until a friend turned me on to a "really easy" job as a computer page at the library. After awhile it dawned on me.. I actually enjoy getting up and going to work each day. After awhile longer i came to realize that i just wasn't going to truly find that doing something else.
Question. In the story Johnny Least-Weasel ignores is own urges to go search for his grandfather and heeds the advice of his uncle, which left him unable to save his grandfather. How do you think this will effect Johnny's relationship with his uncle? Will he still be the same kind attending nephew that was always looking out for his uncle?
Quote: "Grandpa can take care of himself. He been doin' it for a long time," his uncle said, lowering the front legs of his chair back onto the floor.
Johnny stood up, then looked at his boots while he spoke.
"Maybe I'll go get him today."
"By yourself? You'd just get lost out there. Then we'd have to go look for two people."
Johnny, still looking down, said nothing.
Part One: I found three traps in the story. However, I’m sure there are more. Alcohol abuse is a trap for Johnny’s Uncle. It altered his perception of reality. I believe he needed this release from the reality of poverty, despair and no hope for a future. Johnny was trapped in his own self-doubt. He didn’t believe in his conviction that something was terribly wrong with his missing grandfather until it was too late. He respected his grandfather’s self-reliant character almost too much. Johnny’s grandmother, Morrie, was trapped in her traditional female gender role. Despite the fact that she showed the men she too could shoot a bull moose, work of the men, she fulfilled the role of a woman to raise the children, cook, clean and sew.
Part Two: I felt trapped when there was no answer to my health problem. After coping with the condition for some time, I began to believe that I didn’t even care if I found it was something terminal, I just wanted to know what was wrong. Thankfully ten years after the initial symptoms, a doctor tested my thyroid function with more current testing methods and I am released of that trap. It was a very painful time in my life, for I had to give up many things I loved. My dream to complete my college education, my independence and the smart and vibrant girl I previously knew. It is good to be back to my old self.
Question: When Albert was first caught in the trap, he laughed. He viewed it as being “more irritating than dangerous”. Construct two different theories why you think Albert reacted this way.
Reading: p. 53 “The other young men in the village saw Johnny’s polite kindness as a weakness, and made fun of him – everyone, that is, except his grandfather, who knew that Johnny was becoming a good man, a strong man, the way men used to be back when there were few white people in this country, back when Indians still lived in the old way, close to nature, and closer still to one another. People relied on one another. Their myths were full of stories about the rewards of kindness and giving, about how the strong helped the weak and how the young helped the old.”
Part 1:
Besides the obvious steel traps in the book, there are some other traps that are much more subtle. One of the traps that is notable is the town in which Johnny and his family live. He talks about going to college and reflects on how difficult it is for many of the youth in his town. It seems like many of the Native American youths don’t fit in at college, but their hometown offers little future. As a result, many young people’s hopes and dreams are dashed, leaving them feeling trapped. Sadly, seeing no other way out of their circumstances, they often take their own lives.
Another trap that I see in the book is the prevalence of alcoholism. Many of the Native Americans in the book drink heavily and party each night. Under the guise of this seeming revelry exist a deeper depression, denial, and rejection of the circumstances of the real world. For many, not jut Native Americans, alcoholism can trap people and divert them from achieving their goals and truly being happy.
The last trap I see in the novel is the circumstances by which Johnny is trapped by his uncle. Instead of listening to his head and heart, he takes his uncle’s advice and waits until it is too late before pursuing his grandfather in the wilderness.
Part 2:
One of the scariest times in my life that I felt really trapped happened just last summer. I was on my way home from Adventureland amusement park with my mom and sister, when all of a sudden, we were met with severe weather. Not being native to the Midwest, we were especially scared of the possibility of tornadoes. With more than an hour and a half until Omaha, I had to drive at a snail’s pace before finally pulling off the road in a very rural area. Visibility was very poor, and I could not see anything in front of me. The sky was very dark, large hail was coming down, and tree branches and other debris were flying through the air. The only thing for miles was a single trailer home and wide-open fields. Correspondence with my husband confirmed that we were driving through the path of a severe storm warning. I remember thinking that I was going to die. I couldn’t believe that death could come so quick and so suddenly. I was scared, apprehensive, angry, and felt a little cheated. Surely, I could have anticipated my own death better? We decided to wait out the worst of the storm in the car. It was very difficult being trapped both in that small space of the vehicle and by the larger fury of Mother Nature. It was also very scary to be trapped by our limited vision and knowledge of our surroundings outside of the vehicle. Needless to say, the storm eventually ebbed enough for us to be able to get back on the road. Thankfully, I escaped this trap, and the lurid details of that evening have helped me put my life in greater perspective. Taking nothing for granted, I realize that I am one small being in the universe, and nature can be both a powerful and unforgiving force beyond my control.
Reading:
“He was working his way out from the base of the tree when it happened. There was a soft click as the teeth of the steel closed on his leg. The foot or so of snow covering the trap may have slowed its speed. The snow must have muffled the sound too, because he didn’t recall hearing it when it clamped down on his leg. This was a sensation he had never felt before. He had always wondered about a moment like this. A moment he had assigned to the suffering of others but never to himself” (pp. 15-16).
Question:
Despite his best efforts at staying alive in the frigid, unforgiving wilderness, Albert ironically dies as his grandson actively rescues him. Why do you suppose this happens? If it is a person’s time to die, can any intervention realistically stop fate? Explain your answer.
1. “The Trap” has more than one kind of trap in it. Both Johnny Least-Weasel and Albert Least-Weasel had to struggle with the trap called pride. Pride can be a good thing; however, pride can also be a trap. Albert Least-Weasel was independent; he was proud of his way of life. He had been a trapper for 60 years. He had run his traplines alone most of those 60 years except when he was teaching his sons or grandson. He continued to run his traplines even after others his age had stopped years before. He did not want to stop even as it got physically more difficult for him. It was also getting more difficult to remember everything clearly, yet he kept doing it. His wife struggled with his pride too. At first, she did not want to tell Johnny to go look for his grandfather because she knew it would hurt Albert’s pride. Eventually, her concern for his welfare overcame that reluctance to hurt his pride. Johnny had that same struggle. He respected his grandfather, his independence, his pride, the old ways and nature. However, his concern for his grandfather and his respect of nature overcame his reluctance to embarrass or hurt his grandfather’s pride. Another trap which the characters struggled with which goes along with the idea of pride was the idea of weakness versus strength. This is not just about physical strength, but also mental or emotional strength. Some of the people in town thought Johnny was weak because he was respectful and courteous. Albert did not want to admit any ‘weakness’ so he continued to trap alone until the end. Albert’s wife did not go hunting with the men because she was a woman and ‘weak,’ yet she was the only one who shot something that day she went to the cabin with her husband and his friends. At the end of the book, Johnny “thought about life in the village, how the place was like a trap, its sharp teeth forged from the fire of two worlds colliding” (page 169). “The Trap” was about the struggle between white versus Indian, the old ways versus the new, respect of nature and resources versus disregard and exploitation of it.
2. Throughout life I feel I have been trapped by stereotypes, and I know I’m not alone. I can think of comments people have made to me at different times of my life because I either did something or wanted to do something that they thought did not fit with their stereotype of me. It still happens today. When I was growing up, I felt more trapped by the stereotypes and also more determined to ‘prove’ them wrong. I try not to go to the extremes now, but I can still feel the tug to either limit myself or to do the ‘opposite.’ As a result, I try not to let my first impression of someone keep me from seeing other dimensions of their personality. I try to be an encourager for my children and the other children I come into contact with. I am so much more than any one stereotype as is everyone else.
3. In the book, it states that “in this northland, the connection to nature was not yet fully broken” (page 23). Compare the attitude and behavior of Johnny’s grandparents with Johnny’s generation as well as our own regarding this connection to nature. Are we continuing to move away from nature or are there steps being taken (or that could be taken) to move back toward it? Why would we want to?
4. Johnny is thinking about the Indian teens that have gone away to school. “Most of them stayed for one semester before the sense of isolation and loneliness brought them back to their village, where everyone was somehow related, where ancestors had lived and died, where the land itself still bore names given to it by Indians….It’s hard to fit in where you are not wanted and harder still to return to a place that has little future, only a past as old as the land itself.” (page 88)
Part A:
I think Johnny's culture as it is presented in this book could be considered a type of trap. The author discusses how there were many village stories about how young hopefuls would venture out into more urbanized areas to go to college or find better jobs but still quickly “return to a place that has little future,” their ancestor’s land. Smelcer explains with detail about how many students that go off to college only last a semester because they feel that they don’t fit into their surroundings or aren’t wanted. They began to feel isolated and lonely and head back to their villages. It seems like a double-edged sword, they feel like they belong in the village, but its harsh life washes their dreams “downriver like ice in the spring” (Smelcer, 2006, 89).
Part B:
I had a hard time coming up with any example of feeling trapped in some sort of way. The only thing I could really think of was my family and I’m reluctant to use it because I don’t feel I have handled the situation positively. My parents divorced when I was 10 years old and one of them remarried pretty quickly. As I have gotten older, that spouse has caused that parent to be alienated by their family. I know I don’t have to like my parent’s spouse or their children but it has affected my interactions with that parent and I feel like I’m stuck in a never-ending cycle. Denial and indifference have been the tools I use to find temporary escape.
Question:
Johnny allows his instincts about his missing Grandfather to be influenced by his Uncle, Grandmother, and a family friend. Their opinions all varied and delayed Johnny’s decision to look for him in a timely manner. What would have happened if none of those characters were present in the story? What would have happened if Johnny waited a few more days to search with his Uncle? How do you think he would have reacted?
Reading:
It was his own trapline, and he knew that no one would be traveling on it—no one would be coming to help. After waiting for much of the day, Martin rolled up his jacket and shirtsleeve to expose his arm, numbing the area around his wrist with snow, and then, when he thought his wrist was ready, he reached for the ax strapped on the back of the snowmobile. With one clean stroke he chopped off his hand and then drove an hour to the nearest cabin for help (Smelcer, 2006, 67-68).
P1: I'm with Ben on this - and I think a few other people have mentioned it as well - in that I think perhaps the biggest 'trap' that Johnny experienced was the actual village itself and how its residents sort of fall victim to it in some ways. When you're so far away from everything else in civilization, not only does geography cut you off from being readily able to experience other cultures and the ideas and ways of thinking that those cultures may be able to offer you, but you also have to worry what's going on in your own proverbial backyard and the problems that come from it. You're likely to grow an emotional attachment to it then, so it's no wonder it doesn't always turn out well for those who make it out into an outside world that can be so foreign to them. You can't blame them for wanting to go back to what they know.
P2: I think we probably all feel trapped by something, or at least we have at some point in our lives and most likely will be again at a later stage. Personally, I've been going through it lately where I've felt entrapped by school and the limitations it's putting on me. I know I'm not the oldest student in the class, but I do feel like I should've been done with my undergrad by now - that I should have had my head screwed on straight long before I finally got around to doing that. I am nearing the end of it, though - I have my summer classes, then five more in the fall, and then student teaching in January - so hopefully being done with that will not only allow me to tick off one of the more short-term life goals I've set for myself, but also allow me to feel a little less trapped.
Question: In small groups, role-play as townsfolk living in a remote village, cut off from much of the rest of human civilization. As problems arise, do you feel that you as a collective have the skill sets needed to overcome them? Why or why not?
Reading: (P. 86-87) The best jobs were usually held by white folks - people working for the state or federal government or who were schoolteachers. Most of the teachers didn't even come from the region. They were often young men and women with a sense of adventure, or they were older folks who'd decided to come out of retirement and go to the far north.
Eventually, though, it didn't matter why they came or where they came from, only that they all left. This harsh land was very different from anything they'd imagined, and the cold and dark and isolation usually got to them in the first six months.
Response 1:
The cup Johnny’s grandmother used with the words “Indian Pride” printed on it was symbolic of the powerful emotional trap seen in this story. Johnny’s grandfather was a proud man, and this pride became a trap that ultimately became a factor in his death. He was an old man and probably should not still be going out to check his traps, especially alone. Johnny’s pride in his grandfather kept him from going out sooner to search for him. Even when his grandmother became concerned that he was not home yet, she “respected her husband’s pride enough not to send the boy after him when he was not yet gone too long.” The story could have had a very different ending if not for Albert Least-Weasel’s pride.
The isolation and loneliness of the harsh Alaska wilderness also trapped the villagers in this story, both physically and emotionally. In this remote land, where the only means of transportation in or out was by air, physical escape was made almost impossible, especially in the winter. The psychological effects of growing up in such isolation often trapped their young people between a world they would like to be a part of and the world they grew up. The story tells of young people that tried to leave the village to attend college, but found they did not fit in and were not wanted. Ultimately they would return home only to find they no longer belonged in the place they once called home.
Response 2:
My first “real” zookeeper job was the best job I think I have ever had, and was for several years. Then, as often happens, things changed. The really great boss I had left to pursue other opportunities. I didn’t have a lot of respect for the new boss, and unfortunately, he knew that. I was young and idealistic and had my opinion about how things were supposed to be. I had a new co-worker that crossed me every time I turned around. In a very short time, this job that I had loved so much, and had planned my future around, was miserable. Every day I came to work I walked on eggshells and often came home crying. But I didn’t feel like I could leave. I felt trapped. My animals needed me. We needed the paycheck. I wanted to stay, but I wanted to quit. Ultimately the decision of whether or not to leave was made for me. I made my escape by being fired. It wasn’t the way I would have liked to leave, but it was a relief to no longer feel trapped by my indecision.
Question: Johnny’s heart told him early in the story to search for his grandfather, but he did not listen to it and left too late to be able to save him. Can you recall a decision you made where you wish you had followed your heart and not listened to the advice of others? Or maybe there was a time when you did follow your heart and ignored the opinions of others? In either case, do you feel it was the right choice? Why or why not?
Quote:
“The old man also remembered a saying about how Indians build small fires and stay close, while white men build great big fires with gasoline and whole logs but stand very far away so as not to get burned. Surely, he thought, something in that saying spoke truly of the two peoples’ philosophy of nature and its resources.”
PART 1: I think the "traps" of the mind are present as well. Johnny feels trapped by his native culture, yet he wants to get out and get an education.
Part of him thinks he should follow his family and stay and the live the culture. However, the best education for him might be to leave.
Whichever way he goes, he will do so with some trepidation. He will always wonder what the other path held.
Another "trap" might be in the way the leaders view the man as being able to handle whatever comes along in the wilderness, and it will be too late by the time they go to look.
However, Johnny believes his grandfather is tough as they come, but wants to go look sooner than the others.
PART 2: A time I felt trapped was in grade school. My dad was the coach of my basketball team. It sort of seems minor now, but as junior high kid it WAS a big deal.
At the beginning of the year his practices were hard and the team often complained that he didn’t know what he was talking about. Either I said what was obvious--this is what the team needed and alienates myself.
Or I don’t say anything, and they think I was a rat for not sticking up for my dad. Whatever I said somebody was going to find fault.
I said as little as I could and changed the subject.
Luckily it was just preseason and once we got into games, our practices were more scrimmage and skills than running. And the loudmouths got cut anyway.
QUESTION: Imagine that Johnny went much sooner to look for his grandfather and the old man was not in danger, but just taking his time. Speculate in 20-25 words what you think the grandfather's response would have been?
QOUTE: (p. 85):
"It must have been forty above. Maybe a few degrees colder. It was on this trip that he knew he wanted to be like grandfather. It was from this experience that he knew his grandfather was the toughest man in the world."
Part One:
One of the most obvious "traps" in the story is the trap of the traditional culture. The lack of outside influences in their way of life gives the people of this region no significant opportunity to know much other than what they are brought up to know. The example of the intertwining of the traditional culture with our modern culture is the part in the story where Johnny talks about the Beverly Hills television show. This clearly outlines just how remote they are and how different life is for them.
Another example of a trap is Johnny's education. This trap is just a branch from the culture trap. The loyalty many young individuals feel toward their village is a trap from being able to have the opportunity to experience college away from home. Johnny is a young man living the life of a responsible adult because of the way his culture has raised him.
Part Two:
Much like Johnny in the story, I often feel trapped by the responsiblities in my life. Being a full-time student and working close to full-time at 19 causes me to miss out on a lot of the typical "college experience". However, most of the time my drive for success outweighs my feelings of being trapped. I also sometimes feel trapped by my obligations to my family. As the oldest of 8 children, I feel a loyalty to be around and active in family activities which takes a lot of time. Although I love my family and enjoy their company, feeling obligated to be there is an underlying trap.
Question:
Reflect on the story's ending. If you had the opportunity to change the outcome of the book, choose whether you would or not and support your answer by explaining why.
Reading:
The snow must have muffled the sound too, because he didn't recall hearing it when it clamped down on his leg. This was a sensation he had never felt before. He had always wondered about a moment like this. A moment he had assigned to the suffering of others, but never to himself.
Part One:
Several different scenarios in this book suggest traps to me, but the one that stood out dealt with education. On page 88 there was a discussion about how several people in the village had gone off to college. They stayed only one semester and then returned to the village due to a “sense of isolation and loneliness”. Since most college campuses seem to be centers of activity filled with people from all walks of life, this seems very puzzling. The knowledge that education was important – and even the original desire was there, but they evidently were not able to acclimate themselves into this culture. The fact that they returned to the village to assume the roles that they were comfortable with provided the trap. The cycle of not being able to break away from what they knew and obtain higher education seems to have kept them from avoiding some of the other traps in their village such as alcohol and drug use.
Those who do mission work often find that education is a key factor in helping people make changes in their lives. I have seen this first-hand with my parents’ work in the non-tourist parts of Jamaica. Although fiction, this story illustrates that you do not have to leave your country to find these situations. They are right where we live! I hope that I will be able to help my students gain some of the skills necessary to help them avoid potential traps that might cause them not to reach their educational potential.
Part Two:
I grew up in a small town, and I felt trapped there until I went to college. My school and community had all of the “regular” activities and sports that most schools have, but if you didn’t excel at those, you really didn’t have much to do. My interests were dancing and competitive swimming. My town had neither. I did get to attend dance classes in another town for a few years, but the teacher retired and that was the end for me. I did the very best I could through my schooling. I participated in everything, but didn’t really enjoy it. I threw myself into academics where I did pretty well, but vowed that as soon as I started college, that would be the end of “the trap”.
True to my words, that’s what I did. I don’t regret those years, but I made the choice that I would raise my children where there were a few more options available to them. My daughter ended up enjoying dance as much as I did and provided both of us with 14 years of pure joy! My sons enjoyed Tae Kwon Do and were high school tennis players. My oldest excelled in drama and music at a school with fantastic programs. I hope these comments do not come off as “sour grapes” because that’s really not what it is. It’s just the way it was and the way I felt at the time. I felt trapped and chose to make a change. It is what worked for me.
Imagine that you are to become the new teacher at Johnny’s school. How will you prepare for your new surroundings and life style? Analyze how the differing hours of sunshine and darkness might affect your mood and emotions.
“There comes a point, an irreversible point, from which the body cannot return. It will fight for its right to survive, but in the absence of reprieve, when there is no warm haven, the body will sacrifice bits and pieces, those inconsequential parts that do not heat heart or mind. The fingers and toes, nose and ears are the first to go.” (page 120)
Part one:
One of the traps in this story is a preconceived notion of an ethnic community. The Indians that are part of Johnny’s family and community do not always show themselves in the best light. It is not necessarily through a fault of their own that the whole community is not fully educated. The weather and pay have chased the teachers away and now there is not a high school teacher. This perpetuates the lack of education in the area and most of the people cannot afford to take classes elsewhere. Johnny’s uncle and friends enjoy drinking alcohol on a regular basis and continually have drunken parties. How the world perceives a group of people based on the actions of a few can become one of the biggest traps of all.
Part Two:
When someone works for a company for a certain length of time whether the job is one fulfilling or not it starts to feel like a trap. I have worked in my current position for the same company for over seven years and it is hard to make that break because of pay, benefits, etc. I do not enjoy my current job and definitely do not want to continue in this position until I retire, but it is harder than it appears to break free because the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.
Question:
If Johnny would have left sooner to look for his grandfather do you think anything would have been different? Why?
Reading:
When he was fourteen, Johnny had witnessed a very strange sight—something no one but his grandfather believed. But it was true nonetheless. He had come upon a small wintry field full of ravens. There must have been more than a hundred. Every tree held a dozen birds, little black-robed priests, staring at the center of the field where a dead raven lay on the snow. (Smelcer, p. 49)
Smelcer, J. (2006). The Trap. New York: Henry Holt and Co.
Part one:
I think that one major trap represented in this trap is the loss of the sense of culture and pride of history that has happened in many Indian cultures. I think this is shown when Johnny’s uncle doesn’t want leave right away to find his grandfather. One would think that he should be more concerned about his father being left out in the cold; it is interesting that Johnny who is also more in touch with the Indian traditions than his uncle. Johnny is also more concerned about how his Grandfather is and his Uncle just thinks he is a silly old man.
Another trap for the people is alcohol which is a major problem among the Indians, and is portrayed in the story.
Part Two:
Right now I am feeling particularly trapped between Omaha and home. This is my first summer away from home and it’s not that I am homesick but that I am going to miss getting back together with friends and spending days at the lake and spending time with my family. I also am glad I am in Omaha because it’s new and different and I get to hang out with my new friends. I can’t have the best of both worlds like Hannah Montana I guess. I haven’t escaped yet either. I suppose it will take something or someone very major in my life to help me remove my fond attachments to my little hometown.
Question: Prepare a Survival Guide and Kit: research what you need and what you can do to survive in the cold like Albert Least-Weasel.
Excerpt:
On a Crisp fall morning, Johnny Least-Weasel, then but a twelve-year-old boy, buried his best friend just above the timberline and marked the shallow, knife-hewn grave with a pile of stones. (144-145)
Response (Part 1):
Other than the literal animal trap, other traps in this story come from the location and cultural relationships of the village that Johnny and his family live in. Living in a remote village in Alaska means the villagers are, in a way, almost always trapped with limited resources and, especially in the harsh winters, limited means of transportation to acquire certain resources they may need.
Another way in which they are trapped is in the relationships held in the village. Smelcer writes about people that Johnny knew who went away to college only to return after a semester "before the sense of isolation and loneliness brought them back to their village. … It’s hard to fit in where you are not wanted and harder still to return to a place that has little future, only a past as old as the land itself" (p. 88).
While it’s not the same sort of village and cultural heritage as Johnny’s home, having grown up in a small town, I can relate to the connection one feels to the other people in your town. You know not only your friends’ siblings and parents, but oftentimes their cousins, grandparents and other relatives. That sense of a bonded community can make it hard to go out on your own, but, in the same way, can also make a person feel as if they are trapped into that commitment of community and can never leave it.
Response (Part 2):
I think the most trapped I ever felt was toward the end of my undergraduate career. Growing up, I had these grand ideas that I was going to get out there and change the world somehow. When I reached my senior year, I realized I was about to get a degree in journalism and I didn’t want to work a typical newspaper or TV job and I had no idea what I would want to do to try to make the world a better place.
I ended up moving back in with my parents, in the small Nebraska town I’d lived my whole life, while I still searched for jobs. Economically speaking it was the right thing to do, emotionally speaking, it was not. Here I was at 22, college educated, having done all these new things and seen all these new places, jobless and sitting right in front of the TV in the same chair I sat in all those years before. It made me feel as if I was forever trapped into being this person from a small town who didn’t take on new challenges or adventures.
Luckily I had already had the aforementioned trip to Europe planned, which meant for two weeks I would not be living back in that small town. And once I got back, a job offer in Colorado came in. It was not in journalism, and it involved working with kids, which was just what I wanted to do and so I took it with very little hesitation. I think a large part of that reason was that I needed to get out of not only my hometown, but also Nebraska in general. I needed more new things and more new people. And now, after three years in Colorado, I’m back in Nebraska for this program and for another change of pace. Sometimes I worry that I’ll start to feel trapped in this state again, but I remind myself that this time, living here was by choice. And since I’ve already gone through the experience of moving to a different state, I know that I have the courage to do it again if I so choose.
Question:
In the book, it’s said that “wild animals –bears and wolves – held in captivity die not from a lack of food or water or from disease, but from a lack of pride” (Smelcer, p. 31). Write down your definition of what pride is and explain how each of the following characters demonstrated their pride – Albert, Johnny, Morrie, Johnny’s uncle.
Reading:
"His face was weathered, and deep lines ran across it like the ever-changing channels of the river in the valley below. It wasn’t a face forged simply by age, but a face that had been exposed too long in a land where time is measured not by the slow ticking hands of clocks, but by the quiet changing of seasons" (Smelcer, p. 9)
Smelcer, J. (2006). The Trap. New York: Square Fish.
Part one: I think that the village itself could be considered a trap. It seems like Johnny has the desire to do well, but he lives in a community that is rather restricting. Not only is the village isolated geographically but it seems as though tradition has had been replaced by drunkenness. Satellite television provides the village with shows filled with American culture, but American culture doesn’t exist in the village. Most people in the village are simply existing and not contributing to the greater good. It is as though the village has trapped its people into becoming non-productive members of society.
Part two: I remember a time when I was young and I felt trapped by dishonesty. I was 12 years old and I was two days away from going to Boy Scout Summer Camp. My brother and I were playing in an area of the house where we shouldn’t have been plating, and we broke a ceramic statue that my father brought back from his tour in Korea. This statue was in a highly visible area and there was no way to hide it. I knew that if my parents found out that I was the one who broke the statue that I would not be going to summer camp. I’m not exactly sure how I pulled it off, but I got my brother to agree to take the blame for me. It seemed okay at the time, and I did go to summer camp, but I was overcome with guilt and I had to set the record straight. When I came home I told my parents the truth. I did get into loads of trouble, but I also felt liberated as I freed myself from the trap that I created.
Reading: Finally warm enough, he stood up and studied his situation. It was obvious what he had to do. Either the trap had to come off his foot, or he had to pull the long bolt out of the tree so that the chain would fall free. He had set the bolt with a hammer and a ratchet wrench, so he knew that it was buried at least six inches into the wood. (pg 64-65)
Question: By the time Johnny got to his grandfather it was too late. Make a prediction of how the village would have responded if everything happened the way it did, EXCEPT Johnny reaches his grandfather in time and Albert gets medical attention before tragedy becomes reality. Do you think the overall disposition of the village would be different? Why or why not?
Part One
The one big trap that I see in this story is that of Mother Nature. The extreme climate of the setting in the story traps the grandfather into death, and the other characters in their homes when it is cold. The extremely cold weather also traps the village into isolation from the rest of the world.
Another trap that is evident in the story is the addiction to alcohol that Johnny's uncle has. Alcohol has trapped his uncle into not always seeing clearly or making the right decisions (plus he is spending his money on beer). Johnny's uncle tells him to wait a few more days before going to get his grandfather despite the extremely low temperatures and warnings from his grandfather's friend.
Part Two
I used to feel like I was trapped in a small town with no real future. I moved out of my house before I graduated high school - therefore holding a full-time job and continuing to go to school. I then graduated and got into a really bad relationship that I felt trapped in because I thought that I had no where else to go. I was young, had a baby, and thought that I had no means for moving or going back to school. When I met my current husband, and my mom and I made up, I then took my son, got out of the bad relationship, and started a new life.
Question
Which character do you identify with most and why? Johnny for his intuition? Albert for his courage? or somebody else?
Reading (This line made me laugh and I will remember it forever.)
They say that if your feet don't hurt after dancing, you aren't doing it right.
Part 1
Age, education, weather, location, heritage, and money are all “traps” present in The Trap.
Albert is not only physically trapped by the steel and the tree; he is also trapped by old age. Had he been a younger, stronger man, he may have been able to pull the bolt out of the trunk, or fought harder against the wolves. He also blames his forgetfulness for stepping in the trap at all. Everyone but he and his wife agreed that he was much too old to be checking traplines all alone, but no one wanted to hurt his pride by looking for him when they started to get worried.
Johnny is trapped by many circumstances. Because of his young age, he is forced to take a low-paying job. Instead of normal high school, he takes correspondence classes as teachers are hard to keep in their village due to the remote location and hostile weather. Both of these situations may work to keep him in the village instead of allowing him to attend college as he would like, creating yet another trap. Johnny also mentions that only the elders know the old Indian ways, songs and language. In this way his age traps him from learning his culture.
Both men are trapped by the weather. Johnny is told to wait to search for his grandfather until the weather warmed. Obviously the weather contributed greatly to Albert’s demise.
Part 2
Like many throughout the country right now, I have begun to feel trapped by money. And the economy. My husband lost his job three and a half months ago and still hasn’t found a replacement. Although the media says that Sioux Falls hasn’t carried near the burden the rest of the country is facing, the hardship can definitely be felt. Good jobs are scarce and employers are scared to hire. So far, my family has been fine, but as our savings dwindles I watch gas prices jump forty cents in a week and prices rise at the grocery store. Soon my teenage step-daughter will be coming to live with us for the summer, which although wonderful, will add to our expenses. I try to live my life as optimistically as possible and believe that if you let yourself get bogged down in problems, you’ve already lost. But, sometimes as I sit and look at the stack of bills that still need to be paid and a bank account that may not support them much longer, I begin to feel that I am the one chained to a tree with the wolves closing in…
Had Albert not died on the mountain, do you believe he would have continued to check his traplines alone? Why or why not?
“Most men have become deaf. They can barely hear each other anymore, much less nature’s whisperings. Nature is not tailored to man. It exists for itself” (Smelcer, 2006, p. 8).
Smelcer, J. (2006). The trap. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Part 1:
Although in the story it is Albert Least-Weasel that is physically trapped, I feel that Johnny is also fighting for his life. A bright boy, Johnny is trapped by the expectations of failure that his community associates with education. He desires to go away to college, yet he realizes that many other Indian men and women seek this same path only to return within a year. These young people find it hard to survive without their tribe, yet they often resort to suicide to escape upon return. Similarly, Johnny must fight against the entrapment brought forth by alcoholism. With his father, mother, uncle and friends suffering from addiction, Johnny must fight against alcohol’s crippling effects. He wants more for himself than the bottle offers and often struggles when asked to enable others. Finally, Johnny is also trapped by stereotypes within his village. Because he is seen as having a “polite kindness” he is assumed to be weak and is often made fun of by his peers. However, like Blackskin and the man who helped the mouse in the old legends, Johnny’s ability to help others should be seen as a great strength.
Part 2:
Currently, one situation in which I feel trapped is with my job. I have worked for a grocery store for six years and I often feel that it is time to move on. The job itself is tolerable, but when you ad a full time school load, baton practices, and coaching two different dance teams to the picture it often feels unbearable. I envy my friends that chose to go away to college and rack up thousands of dollars of debt because they do not have the pressure of forty hours a week in which they are responsible for groceries and customer relations and employee happiness. I may graduate without student loans, but was it worth it? I think not. On those days that I am knee deep in stress and cannot imagine dealing with all the pressure for another year and a half I just feel like saying “I quit”. However, due to the necessity of money I have to act rationally, whether it is good for me or not. I know in the long run I will be happy that I was a dedicated employee throughout my entire college career, but every once in awhile it would be nice to kick back and relax instead of working another nine hour shift. I feel like a forty-five-year-old trapped in a twenty-two-year-old’s body.
Question:
In the story it is Johnny who tries to rescue his grandfather. If you were in the same situation, who do you think would come to your rescue? What traits make them your choice? How would they ensure success?
Reading:
“The trap was a stupid thing. It didn’t care what it caught, just so that it caught something. It just sat there, grinning without lips. Only teeth.”
The people of the village are trapped between old ways ad the new. Progress is trapping the hunters, as most of the big game has left the area, so if they want to hunt bear, they have to travel deeper into the wilderness than in the past. Albert Least-Weasel, with his foot caught in his own trap, is trapped by his own reputation. Because he is a respected member of the community, the other hunters stay clear of his hunting grounds. This leaves him all alone when he is in need of help.
Sometimes we can be trapped by our pride, not wanting to admit when we are wrong. That’s the corner that our two main political parties have backed themselves into. Because of pride, to admit that the other side’s ideas have any amount of merit would be akin to saying that their own side is wrong if the two sides are diametrically opposed, which the Republicans and Democrats tend to be. They are trapped into denouncing the other side’s stand on issues, regardless of what that stand is, or what they would independently believe. We, as a country, are trapped in rhetoric.
Reading: [The wind] always talked to him, telling him when to put on his jacket or take his boat out of the water. It told him to push his fish trap into the silty river and when to put his snowmobile away for the winter (38).
Question: Describe four ways that the old ways and modern technology combine in The Trap.
Part one: Environment is another type of trap found in the book. Johnny feels trapped by the environment he is living in. He has a sense of obligation to his family that may keep him from furthering his education until – well until his grandmother passes away. Pride is another trap. Even though the book states that pride endures, it was also ultimately the reason Albert spent 4 days in a steel trap. Even though he was old and he knew he was slowing down and his memory was fading, Albert still ran his trap lines alone. It was also others’ respect for that pride that sealed his fate.
Part two: I don’t have to think too far back on feeling trapped. Right now I feel rather trapped in my parents’ house. There’s no way I can afford to move out – not that it’s terribly unpleasant living there. My parents are very supportive but I’d really prefer to have my own place where the majority of my stuff doesn’t have to sit in storage and I don’t have to be a financial obligation for them. Both of them have arthritis and my mother has had 2 hip surgeries – my father needs surgery on his knees – and so it really is great for them to have me there to do things around the house. I don’t mind it at all – though since my father is retired and my mother will likely retire in the next few years I’d really like to let them have their house to themselves (finally!).
Question: Knowing what you do about Johnny based on the reading, list several reasons (at least three) why you think he shot his rifle into the air when his grandfather was being attacked instead of shooting at the wolves.
Reading: It was as if she, too, was concerned, but respected her husband’s pride enough not to send the boy after him when he was not yet gone too long. While vision and hearing fades, old bones turn thin and brittle, and once-strong muscles grow weak, pride endures to the very end – resisting change like the great land itself. (31)
Albert Least-Weasel finds himself in his own steel trap, but he probably didn’t realize that his pride is what landed him there. He should have stopped hunting long ago, according to a few characters in the book; however his pride made him continue to set and check his own trap lines. Respect, usually thought of as a good thing, was another trap. Morrie respected her husband Albert and therefore did not object to him trapping, even though she knew he was too old for the vigorous task. Johnny too was trapped by the respect he had for his elders. He knew in his gut that he should have looked for his grandfather way before he set out to do so, but he heeded the word of his grandmother and uncle and put it off to obey them. Johnny was trapped by his culture, and his location. He was unable to attend traditional college and attain gainful employment because, as prescribed in his culture, you stay with the family and care for the elders and because the North’s long, harsh winter months kept people from traveling in or out for several months at a time.
Age can be a trap. I was trapped from kindergarten until fourth grade by a relationship. It was not my own relationship, but my mother’s. For several years during my early childhood she was in a relationship with a man who was mentally and physically abusive toward her. Because I was young and could not stand up for her or myself for that matter, I was trapped in this relationship too. She chose to endure his wrath for five long years, when it was over we had to leave the state, move away from our family, and hideout to gain our freedom. I wrote a short story about my time in this “trap” and have learned that the old adage ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ is not just a saying! Because I went through this with relationship with my mom, it taught me a lot about who I am as a person, what I will and won’t stand for, and ultimately contributed to the person I am today. Two months ago, this man, who was a well-known artist died. Ironically, when I heard this news I felt relieved, like a rabbit that escaped the sharp clenches of a steel trap.
Question: Culture and location play a major role in all of our lives. Describe one thing that you have or have not done in your life that was based solely on your cultural or religious beliefs and one thing that you have or have not done because of the city or state that you live in.
Reading: “It’s hard to fit in where you are not wanted and harder still to return to a place that has little future, only a past as old as the land itself. Up and down the great river, in small villages and large villages alike, there were many stories of young people who took their own lives. That’s what happens when they stop dreaming; their dreams are washed downriver like ice in the spring.” (88-89)
Part one: The book The Trap is filled with many of its namesake. Albert Least-Weasel reminisces throughout his chapters about bear traps and string snares and the other means of hunting in the cold North, but his grandson Johnny describes the one trap that his people have fallen under. The Indians of Johnny's village are trapped by their complacency. Johnny talks about how his friends all watch a show about California teens and how they all wish that life were their life, even though it could never be. He describes the thought of knowing the old Indian language as something reserved for the very old, showing that the next generation was not interested in learning the old ways like their parents had. The younger generation has forgotten the old ways. Johnny even talked about it when he mentions an old story from the elders, “many of the myths the elders told were full of compassion, something the world seemed to be missing nowadays” (Smelcer p. 53). The greatest trap in The Trap is complacency.
Part two: When I was a freshman in high school, my choir teacher told my class that the best thing we could ever do in school is be involved in everything we could possibly try. He said that there was no better place to try things than now, when you are young and energetic and still able to recover from any mistakes we might make. I took his advice, and became very active in a lot of things: A job, marching band, newspaper, choir, another job, honors courses, and an active social life. My feeling of entrapment came many times in high school, and again in college when I found myself in a similar situation, when I overcommitted myself. My academic advisor told my parents on graduation day that I was a pleasure to have as an active member of campus who was involved with so much, but that as a student I was less than desirable at times. My favorite overcommitted trap was in high school, when I had a job, honors English homework, and a lead in the school musical all come in the same week. I always survived, but the stress was almost enough to kill me too.
Question: Consider Johnny with relation to his fellow townspeople, then develop a list of qualities that Johnny has all to himself, a list that the townspeople have to themselves, and a list of qualities that Johnny and the townspeople share. Use textual citations for your answers.
Quote: The Indian knew the secret of wood. He knew that all trees held fire deep in their hearts, somewhere near the core. Great Raven had put it there in the time of long ago to give Indians warmth. And any single tree had only so much heat to give. That was the law of things (p. 25-26).
Johnny’s concern for his grandfather, in the beginning of the story, is not as strong as Johnny’s desire to protect his grandfather’s pride. Both Johnny and his grandmother are concerned that the trapping expedition that Albert (Grandfather) Least-Weasel is on is not like the thousands of others he has taken. Pride becomes a trap for Albert and Johnny. Both men want to believe that Albert’s experience in the frigid wilderness is enough to bring him home safely.
“While vision and hearing fades, old bones turn thin and brittle, and once-strong muscles grow weak, pride endures to the very end—and resisting change like the great land itself.” (31)
Another trap (one that seems ever present in Indian literature) is the adoption of stereotypical roles in Indian culture. Johnny’s uncle, his family, and friends are heavy drinkers. I had difficulty understanding why Smelcer chose to include the drunken parties in the story until I tried to see it from Johnny’s point of view. The stereotype of the “drunken Indian” is difficult to overcome. Over the past decade or so, it seems that there has a movement developing which is aimed at the redefinition of Indian culture. Johnny has already had experience with alcohol. He claims that he doesn’t drink anymore…he’s only seventeen which seems awful young to have developed and overcome a drinking problem. Still, Johnny chooses to reject that lifestyle. He refuses to feed the stereotype and fall into the trap of alcoholism.
(Part 2)
As I mentioned in my earlier post, I have recently (about two years ago) started to overcome some pretty extreme (to me, at least) agoraphobia. At its worst, my fear kept me stuck in my house for days at a time. I was afraid to even step out onto my front porch. When I did attempt to leave the house (I forced myself to attempt it everyday.) I became dizzy and nauseous. Usually I was only able to stand on the mud porch that led to my back door before my palms got very sweaty and my heart pounded in my chest. It was slightly easier to leave the house if I had someone with me. So, my husband had to accompany me everywhere. It was humiliating. I was unable to take my children on outings without another adult with me. You can imagine how boring that was for my children during summer breaks; having to wait all day for their dad to get home and take them swimming or fishing.
Finally, I got so disgusted with myself that I decided to find someone who could help me. At first, I had to have therapy sessions over the phone. My husband had to take me to my appointments for about six months. I met with a psychiatrist who, after much coaxing and pleading, convinced me to take a low dose of an anti-depressant. It was like a miracle for me. Slowly, I learned how to cope with my anxiety on my own through meditation and A LOT of reading about my condition. A few months ago I was able, with the help of my doctor and therapist, to stop taking my medication. I am now able to go wherever I please, on my own or with my children.
Releasing myself from my own trap was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. However, I now appreciate things (like fresh air and sunshine) much more deeply because I know what it is like to live without them. It was a horrible and painful experience, but I’m glad it happened because I wouldn’t be the same person if it hadn’t.
Question: Smelcer’s novel is a re-telling of a traditional Indian story. Imagine that you are Johnny Least-Weasel. Predict how your telling of the story of Albert’s last trapping expedition, perhaps to your future grandchildren, might be different from Smelcer’s. Think about some comparisons that you might make between the loss of Tik and the lost of Grandfather Least-Weasel.
Reading: “But they watched the TV show every week just like they went to church on Sunday, where they learned that Raven was really a skinny white man whom no one had loved enough to save when he was nailed to a totem pole.” (32)
The traps in the story are Johnny’s, his grandmother’s, and his grandfather’s. Johnny is trapped by his culture- which taught him to love and respect the land, his elders, and the Indian way of life. Sounds like a good thing, but it makes it hard for him to find a way to make a productive life, since the larger culture (white culture) values things like financial success, independence, and a “take care of #1” attitude. His grandmother is trapped by her gender- she is not free to go hunting with the men, or to go look for her husband when she fears he is in trouble. Albert is trapped in a body that is betraying him. He has the will to trap, hunt, and at the end, fight, but he doesn’t have the ability anymore.
I felt trapped for a short time after the birth of my first child. I had post-partum depression, but didn’t recognize it at the time. All I “knew” was that I had made a mistake. I loved the baby, but would not be a good mom, would not be able to handle the job of parenting, would never be happy again. The weight of depression is like a physical thing, and I did indeed feel trapped. Luckily for me, my depression passed fairly quickly, and with my other three children I was prepared. My “trap” was actually one of the best things that ever happened to me!
"In the winter, the sun never came up at all in some places, never showed it's face even once for more than a month or two at a time. But in the summer, around late June and most of July, it never went down. No wonder they called this place the Land of the Midnight Sun" (pg 106).
Question: Imagine what it would be like to live in a place where it was daylight for weeks at a time or night for weeks at a time. What would your routine feel like? What would be different? What would be the same?
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