El etnógrafo

Question

Hey guys-- Has anyone read this story?

I am having trouble understanding the meaning of this story. I've translated it.. but trying to find the meaning to it. There HAS to be some kind of deeper meaning to this.. Still thinking. Can anyone help me?

The Ethnographer I heard this story in Texas, but it took place in another state. It has only one protagonist, although in every story the protagonists are thousands, visible and invisible, living and dead. His name was, I believe, Fred Murdock. He was tall, in the American way, his hair was neither blond nor black, he had a profile like an axe, and he was a man of few words. There was nothing strange about him, not even the fictitious strangeness that is typical of young people. Naturally respectful, he did not have doubts about books or the people that write the books. His was the age when man still doesn’t know who he is, and he is ready to deliver himself to what change proposes: Persian mysticism, the unknown origin of the Hungarian language, the adventures of war or algebra, puritanism or the orgy. In the university they advised him to study Native American languages. There exist exoteric rites that are still practiced in certain tribes of the West; his professor, a man of a certain age, proposed that he go to live in a ranch, where he would observe the rites and discover the secret that the shamans reveal to the initiate. When he came back, he would write a thesis that the Institute’s authorities would print. Murdock accepted with enthusiasm. One of his ancestors had died in the Indian Wars; that ancient enmity between their two lineages turned into a link. Doubtlessly, he foresaw the difficulties that were waiting for him: he had to make the red men accept him like one of them. He started the long adventure. He lived in the prairie for more than two years, under a leather roof, or under the stars. He woke up before dawn, he went to sleep at dusk, he even dreamed in a language that was not the language of his fathers. He inured his palate to sharp tastes, he covered himself with strange clothes, he forgot his friends and the city, and he actually started to think in a way that his own logic refused. During the first months as an apprentice he took careful notes that later on he would destroy, maybe in order not to awaken suspicion in the tribe, maybe because he did not need them any more. When a certain time, dedicated to moral and physical exercises, had elapsed the priest ordered him to remember his dreams, and to relate them to him at daybreak. He determined that on full moon nights he dreamed about bisons. He told his teacher about these repeated dreams; the shaman ended up revealing his secret doctrine. One morning, without saying goodbye to anyone, Murdock left. In the city he felt homesick for those first evenings in the prairie in which he had felt, time before, homesick for the city. He went to the professor’s office, and he said that he knew the secret, and that he was resolved not to publish it. "Are you bound by the oath you took", the professor asked. "That is not the reason", Murdock said, "in those faraway places I learned something that I cannot say." "Perhaps the English language is not a sufficient means by which to communicate the secret?", the other one observed. "Not at all, sir. Now that I have the secret, I could enounce it in a hundred different, and possibly contradictory, ways. I don’t know how to tell you that the secret is precious, and that now science, our science, seems to me mere frivolity." After a pause he said: "The secret, besides, is worth less than the ways that led me to it. These roads you must have walked." The professor said coldly: "I will inform the Commitee of your decision. Do you think you are going to live among the Indians ?" Murdock answered: "No. Maybe I will not go back to the prairie. What its men taught me is valid for every place and every circumstance" Such was, in essence, the dialogue. Fred got married, got divorced and he is now a librarian at Yale.

Answer 1

The instructions were for us to write a short essay explaining the irony in this short story. This is something I wrote about an hour ago. I'm sure there are more meanings, but this is how I looked at it. Your input would be awesome =D O yea, and I have to translate it into Spanish so that's what I'm working on now =P

This short story is about a curious American man who decides to embark on a journey to learn more about the life he lives. The university he attends encourages him to live a Native American life with the shahmans. He dedicates 2 years to learn their culture and to discover what they call to be the secret of life. The irony of this story shows that this American man, knowing nothing of this culture and language, becomes a whole new person. He completely forgets his past, his thinking pattern changes and he dreams dreams where he does not understand the language. In my opinion, it would be unexpected for someone to completely change who they are just because fo the influence of a culture. It is also ironic that he did not share the secret he came upon with the university since that was the reason why he went on this journey. . This story shows the heavy influence demonic spirits can have on a person's soul. A shahman is one that dabbles into magic and magic is of the devil (Leviticus 19:31). Satan, known as the angel of light and Father of Lies decieves the shahman and the young man by conviciing them that it is harmless to deal with unclean spirits. It is ironic that the young man has a delightful experience when it is in reality this is an experience that could potentially be very detremental to his eternal life.