The Tiger in Bruchko

By: Carly Le Blanc
11/17/07

This section discusses the night the tribe hears the "tiger speak." Olson struggles with this concept because tigers do not speak, they do not communicate with people. The entire village freezes when they hear the tiger has spoke and they anxiously await their chief to speak to them. He reports that spirits will come out of the stones and kill that evening. Olson does not understand be he recognizes the fear he has never seen in their eyes before. BOne of them, Bobby has accepted Jesus into his life and sings about him at night and the next morning, no one has died. Before then he feared that Jesus' Word could be "taken from his mouth." The tribesmen notice that Bobby is different, changing now that he had found Jesus. Even though he has accepted Christian beliefs he is still in an active mentality. He fears the physical act of someone taking Jesus from him, in our society this is impossible because it is a portion of our separated spirit or soul. But for Bobby, the spirit and body are one so Jesus could be physically taken from him. Olson has still not completely shed his modern thinking because he cannot understand why Bobby is not calling meetings and telling others of his faith. When Bobby sings at the festival, Olson is disgusted by it. He realizes that he has been selfish, only considering his interpretation of God's Word. But God has revealed himself to the Motilones in the Motilone way. Even after the Motilone expand their medicinal use they continue to attach it to the sacred. The medication only works because Jesus wills it to do so. In our culture, it is a reaction of chemicals within the physical body--people may pray for recovery but they rely on the physical properties of medicine. Even when they miraculously heal a broken back in a matter of days Olson is surprised but Bobby is not shocked. Olson seems to be more amazed by the work of Jesus even though he has been faithful all his life. Bobby just assumed it would work because that is what God does. Olson is amazed that they were able to communicate with the Yukos when they go to spread the Word because the languages are totally different. Olson is still grounded while the Motilone have whole-heartedly accepted the faith. "To the Motilones everything that God does is a miracle." By the end of Chapter 19 Olson is almost expecting miracles. He goes to his post office box and finds a 500 and 100 hundred dollar check but is not surprised, he merely thanks God.