Chee

’s Daughter Essay, Research Paper

A characters environment reveals a great deal about his

personality. In Chee’s Daughter by Juanita Platero and

Siyowin Miller this theory is displayed. In this story a young

Navajo Indian girl is taken from her home by her deceased

mother’s parents. Two different environments which reflect

values and personalities are conflicting. A young traditional

Navajo,Chee , and a non-traditional Navajo businessman,

Old Man Fat , fight over Chee’s daughter, Little One. The two

distinctly different settings in this story reflect the

personalities of the protagonist,Chee , and the antagonist

Old Man Fat.

Chee’s setting reflects his caring nature. He shows this

by caring for the land he lives on like a father would do for

his son. He shows that he cares for the land by thinking that

“if he sang the proper songs, if he cared for the land

faithfully, it would not forsake him now…”(82) Chee is trying

to grow food and he thinks that if he cares for the land and

respects it that the earth would in turn make the food grow

well. Another way to show this is how Chee thought that if he

“Take care of the land and it will take care of you.”(81) Chee

cared and respected the land and in turn the land gave him

food for which he would to barter back Little One from Old

Man Fat. Chee treats the land as an equal. “he felt so

strongly that just now this was something between himself

and the land.”(82) Chee treats the land as an equal, respects

it and it respects him by giving him the food he needs.

Where he lives is pure and real, like the earth.

The setting Old Man Fat chooses to live in reflects his

personality and values. Old Man Fat owns a small store one

the side of the highway that disregards some Navaho

customs and beliefs. He does this by flaunting “…pseudo-

Navajo designs on the roof.”(78) This is very disrespectful to

his tribe. He does not even try to find some real Navajo

symbols with real meaning. Another way Old Man Fat’s

values are portrayed in his setting is how he has a “garish

blue door which faced north to the highway.”(78) Navajo

Indians face their hogans, homes, to the east so that they

awake with the sun which symbolizes a new beginning. Lastly

Old Man Fat’s setting reflects his personality is when he has

his grand-daughter, Little One, stand in a hogan so that

tourists could “see inside a real Navajo home 25 c.” This

depicts his personality because it shows that he would rather

make money than to have his grand-daughter shown-off like

an exhibit.

In the story two contrasting settings display opposite

personalities. Old Man Fat’s disrespectful, greedy nature

clashes with Chee’s respectful and unselfish ways. This world

would be a whole lot better if it was filled with more people

like Chee instead of those profiteering gluttons like Old Man

Fat.