Death of a Jackrabbit and comunity

The death of the jackrabbit represents the disintegration of the Native American reservation by their isolation from each other. The barren home of the Jackrabbit lacking water, other animal life, or movement is reminiscent to that of the reservation where poverty is the norm, a sense of community is minimal, and life on it stagnates into an endless cycle of abuse. The lack of community and sense of tradition ruins the lives of those on the reservation, for instead of reaching out to one another to cope with their painful history they isolate themselves to drink. The symbolism of the jackrabbit can be seen in all of the characters of the reservation by their loneliness but most notably through the actions of Thomas and Victor.

Thomas' outcast from the community stems from his embrace of his culture's history and tradition. The all knowing gift bestowed on him grants him access to stories of the past and visions of the future. However, the reservation fobs Thomas off as a crazy man for the pain the past brings and the fear they hold toward the future. In fact his stories incite rage and further distance the community away from him as seen in their treatment of him. Victor beats him to a bloody pulp, school mates cheer when he stops flying and breaks his arm, and queer looks are placed on any who associate with him. All Thomas tries to do is connect the community but is met with resistance. He explains: “We are all given one thing by which our lives are measured...Mine are the stories which can change or not change the world” (72). Thomas is trying to destroy this side of the reservation and rebirth the tradition that kept his culture strong rather than weak in isolation. Thomas' isolation from the community is similar to that of the lonely jackrabbit.

Victor, on the other hand, is one of many ripping apart the reservation by distancing themselves from the community and each other. Victor's part in Thomas' isolation is evident to him, as he admits to himself that he “knew that he couldn’t really be friends with Thomas, even after all that had happened” (74). Yet time and again Victor questions the reservation's sense of community and tribal ties. Victor's own father runs off, not wishing to be found and his corpse ends up rotting in a trailer for a week before it is found. Victor's father ran away from his family and community, possibly in an attempt to escape the emotional pain of the reservation but in alienating himself he dies alone. However, even the death of his father and the vision Thomas had that told them to stick together did not phase him. The disconnection between these former friends opens into isolation on a larger scale in the community. Victor is the jackrabbit committing suicide, by his refusal to reconnect with Thomas.