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There There Questions

 One thing that I found interesting while reading There There was the emphasis put on buses and BART trains. I also think it's cool that we're in an area that BART encompasses.

Question:

What is the significance of the BART trains and buses that are mentioned in There There? Why are these forms of transportation important to the characters of the story?

Comments

  1. Monique Cov.November 19, 2022 at 1:46 PM

    Hey James, I don’t know too much about BART trains or buses but I will give your prompt a try. I think part of the significance for these modes of transportation is part of their actual function of transporting people away or to people. From what I remember these modes of transportation are mentioned in Opal’s chapter whenever her mother and her sister would move and in Dene’s chapter when he is using them to get to the grant interview. For Opal, the buses always seemed to represent leaving; whenever they got evicted her mother would take the bus someplace else. I think for Opal as well, it represents a sense of anonymity because her sister Jacquie would sit away from them as if she didn’t know them and her mother would never really like for them to talk on the bus. Thus they were essentially acting like strangers in a bus going to an unknown destination unnoticed by everyone else there who don’t see them. In Dene’s chapter he uses it to go towards his grant meeting and there too it seems to represent a little bit of anonymity because he writes his tag lens in different corners of the place. The trains and buses are a place of anonymity but Dene wants to make people see in a sense with his tag almost like every place he wrote lens has its own camera documenting that person and telling their story.

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  2. AnonymousNovember 19, 2022 at 3:36 PM

    Hi James. I have to admit, although I'm from the Bay Area, I have only been on the BART once or twice. The modes of transportation in the novel, which seems to have an emphasis on public transportations like the BART or the bus, reminds me of how people have to learn the area that they live in order to get around. In nearly every civilization, people learn where things are, how to get to places, and just what their home is. The characters in this book seem to know their city and the public transportation system. For example, Tony Loneman talks about how much he knows the BART system. I think that the BART, buses, and transportation emphasize the fact Oakland is their home. They know this place like it's the back of their hand. Despite the fact that they have their own struggles, they find a sense of security and comfort in their city, their home.

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  3. HeatherLNovember 19, 2022 at 10:32 PM

    Hey James! When I think about being on a form of public transportation like a bus, I think about the way the world moves rapidly around me while I remain silent and still. Maybe in some ways this experience mirrors the reality of Native Americans being pressured to remain silent about their culture and past as the world moves on around them. It's frowned upon to make a scene on a bus, so it could be fitting that many of the characters in There There have to quietly endure difficult emotions while on the BART.

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  4. Catalina DegnanNovember 20, 2022 at 8:11 PM

    Hey James, I think the different forms of transportation offered show a great contrast between new technology and the technological innovations of the "colonizers" and the Native American past. When the colonizers first came, they arrived on horses and wagons and later created the train system to get around, cutting through indigenous land. Therefore, I think the BART system is a great modern take on the colonizer's mode of transportation.

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  5. Gema Sanchez GamezNovember 20, 2022 at 11:10 PM

    Hi James! I think that public transportation is significant in this book because it represents being reliant on the structures already put in place to get around. While public transportation might be better for traffic and for the environment, having a car gives people so much freedom because they can move around in whatever way they decide.

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    Replies
    1. Critical Thinkers and WritersNovember 27, 2022 at 10:56 AM

      This is a great observation. These characters do not have cars, except for Harvey.

      Delete
  6. Andrew BautistaNovember 21, 2022 at 12:39 AM

    I believe someone else already mentioned the first part of this in class, but it's worth bringing up. BART can be seen as these American structures moving Natives away from place to place. Something interesting is that the train moves them faster than people can comprehend, showcasing the jarring nature of Native relocation and forced diasporas.

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