Tommy Orange’s novel There There centers around the lives of Native Americans living in 21st century Oakland as they struggle to come to terms with their identities as urban Indians and what it means for them. In the book, the character Tony Loneman’s struggle to understand his identity as an Indian in the 21st century is better understood by comparing his experiences to those of other characters, allowing for a better understanding of his struggles to understand his Indian identity and why his story ended the way it did. 

Orange emphasizes the uniqueness of Loneman’s personality with specific moments from the life of Dene Oxendene. Oxendene works towards discovering his identity through a video documentary about Indians in Oakland. When pitching his project for funding, he describes it by saying “I want to put a camera in front of them… let them tell their stories with no one else there” (Orange 40). He finds his identity by seeking out others like him and attempting to understand their stories in person. On the other hand, Loneman achieves the same goal by reading his grandmother Indian stories. He explains that he likes the stories because, “I get it way down at that place where it hurts but feels better because you feel it, something you couldn’t feel before reading it, that makes you feel less alone” (20). Here, Loneman connects with his culture by reading Indian stories in a way that he isn’t able to find by reading books. Contrasting this with Oxendene’s method of finding his identity, Oxendene takes the extroverted path of living life and seeking out stories himself, while Loneman prefers an introverted path and searches for his identity in the pages of a book. Loneman could not get life experiences second-hand; he had to experience them in person to truly understand and process them. This also gives reasoning as to why Loneman is disconnected from his Indian identity for so long; he doesn’t begin to embrace it until he is on the train to the powwow in his regalia. He says that “He’s used to being stared at, but this is different. He wants to laugh at them staring at him… Everyone has been staring at him his whole life” (Orange 234). It wasn’t until Loneman pushed himself out of his comfort zone and started living life in person and not just through the pages of a book that he saw himself as an Indian and began feeling comfortable in his skin. This time, he is comfortable being stared at even in full regalia and finds it something to laugh about because he is more confident in who he is. Unfortunately, by then it is too late and the powwow still gets shot up.

When viewed through different lenses, a layer of complexity and importance is added to the life of Tony Loneman.  He begins and concludes Orange’s novel and, out of all the main characters, it is only his story that ends in bittersweet tragedy. By considering the lives of Dene Oxendene and Tony Loneman together, it is evident that Loneman could have changed his life or come to the realization that shooting up the powwow was the wrong thing to do sooner if he had pushed himself out of his comfort zone before. Perhaps then, his story would not have ended in sacrifice, and he could have explored life with new and slowly-building confidence.

Works Cited

Cowan, Mel. Personal Interview, 10 September 2020.

Renaker, Thalia. Personal Interview, 14 September 2020.

Willrich, Sarah. Personal Interview, 13 September 2020.

Orange, Tommy. There There. Emblem Editions, 2020.