Genre 5: Alternate Perspectives Genre
This genre explores the difference of opinion of the Randy Weaver case as it realtes to Tara's dynamic perspective and her father's static perspective. The Randy Weaver event was a government shoot out in Idaho in which Randy Weaver's family was killed by the government. The memoir beings with Tara remembering a memory in which her father is telling them this historical event through the lens of an anti-government narrative. However, years later Tara learns that in actuality Randy Weaver was a white supremecist and the government was trying to quell white-supremacist actions in the US. This story is a pivotal moment where Tara begins to divorce herself from her family's skewed logic and perspective.
This blackout poem reflects Gene Westover’s,Tara’s father, perspective on the Randy Weaver event in which government officials killed Randy Weaver’s wife and child. The language reflects Gene’s perspective that this historical event shows the violent nature of the government, and he spins the story in such a way that it becomes an anti-government narrative. Not only is anti-government spelled out to reflect his perspective, but the words such as “stalemate, burst, radar, fortress of security” exemplify Gene’s perspective that the event was “war-like” and unfair to Randy Weaver and his family.The illustration of the eye represents Gene’s perspective that the government it too big and overstepping their boundaries through interfering with the private lives of citizens.This eye also represents Gene’s paranoia that the government is out to get people who live like him and believe that the government is “watching” them.
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This drawing reflects Tara’s eventual understanding of the truth of the Randy Weaver case. Tara grew up understanding this historical event through the lens and flawed narrative of her father. However, her research about this event shows she grew up believing a lie. She eventually understands that Randy Weaver was a story of white supremacy and the government’s action against a corrupt individual. The language of this poem (preferring to let implications hover enough to eventually become a reality, clouded the crystal reverie) reflects that Tara understands her father’s skewed logic and understanding that she was living her life with a false narrative. This language also shows that Tara is beginning to doubt her family’s “truth” and realize that the truth was actually a series of “lies” to manipulate her family into believing and following their false and skewed beliefs. The Nazi symbol illustrates the truth of the narrative in that this historical event is actually about Randy Weaver and the harmful actions of white supremacists, not the government. Through Tara’s research, she learns this narrative reads as a counternarrative of white supremacy, not an attack on the government. Furthermore, the illustration highlights the discrepancy between her understanding and her father’s understanding in that the historical event isn’t speaking negatively about the government, but really reflects the government’s attempts to quell white supremacy.
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