The Tightening Noose in The Surrounded

In chapter twenty-three of The Surrounded, Modeste speaks to the absence of moral justice that occurs once old Indian laws are replaced. He says, “…since that time we have not used the whip. Yes, I think it is bad. In the old days it was a good thing because it kept the people straight…Well, they gave us new laws and now nobody is straight” (207). White laws smother the people’s urge to confess, thus making them act in sneakier and secretive ways in order to avoid white imposed punishment and justice. The tension between old traditional justice forms and new justice forms is palpable in this section as Modeste contrasts the past willingness to confess and accept punishment with the present neglect to adhere to the law.

This tension is further developed when Catherine speaks of why she wishes to be punished with the whip. “I prayed for [my sons] and tried to keep them from going to hell,” she says. “It would have been better if they had been given the whip” (210). In this section the failure of justice sparks disillusionment within Catherine towards other areas of belief: specifically religion. Catherine’s abandonment of the Christian priets’ teachings mirrors Archilde’s own feelings of religious dissention.

Overall there is an ever-building tension between the traditional Indian way of life and the ever-imposing white culture. Portrayed through the contrasts in the ways justice was and is administered, as well as attitudes towards those justice types, old Indian beliefs are shown to be increasingly smothered by white culture. McNickle therefore develops the idea of a surrounded West: one that is being strangled by the suppression of old cultures and traditions. The only way in which to escape the sense of surroundedness is to embrace one’s Indian side, just as Catherine does.