Linda Hogan Power Analysis

The book Power, by Linda Hogan is full of the circular connection between God, Animals, and Power, and the character that actively demonstrates all these ideas is Ama Eaton. Ama shows her powerful side to only Omishto and the reader, she shows her animal side to the judgemental people on the outside as well as to the people she is closest to, and she shows her godly side through her spiritual connection with the panther.
Ama is not always portrayed as being powerful in the eyes of society, but in the eyes of Omishto and the reader, Ama is likely the most powerful character. Ama is also associated with being powerful, which is an obvious theme in the book. Ama is feared by the local westernized boys, because while they may not respect her culture, she demands a kind of attention. People listen when she speaks, she is impactful. “Everything about her says she doesn’t want to do this thing, but

She is known to be great at tracking, and she knows the ways of all the animals. “She knows where an animal has walked. I used to call her bloodhound.” (Hogan 53). Her deep connection with the animals has led people to believe that she is a panther reincarnated to spy on the Taiga people and make sure they are still following the laws of her people. The boys from western culture are afraid of her, the panther woman. The crazy woman who lives like an animal in the middle of the woods. “Some people said that [...] she’d met and married a panther, and now she was an animal” (Hogan 22). The Taiga elders view her as what all young women should be, until the day she kills the panther. Her animal like qualities lead her to the panther that she kills out of what she believes to be destiny, which ends up sealing her fate. Which again brings in this theme of foundations being broken, destroyed even. The Taiga world is in shambles, and Omishto’s world is