In the novel Grand Avenue. Greg Sarris uses the theme thread of poison to connect all of his separate stories about the Toms, a Pomo Indian family. He proves that the roots of a family are the basis which gives the family its structure, even if those roots are bad. In the Toms family theyre roots were poisoned from the very founding of the family starting with Sam Toms. His poison was not the fact that he tried to steal a married woman away, but that he was filled with secrets, deceptions, and self hatred. His family was founded on these poisened roots and passes the poisen down generation after gerneration. The only way to stop the poison, or inner self hatred taken out in other forms, was to let go of past and talk about the secrets and lies. Once a person does this they are able to learn from their mistake , in a sense the break free from the poison. If Sam Toms , the founder or root of the family,would have broken free of his poisen by talking about his mistake he made, his whole family perhaps would have turned out completely different. As a result of his secrets and lies his family was rasied to make the same immoral desisions as he made throughout his life. His family, like Sam, didn't take responcilblity for their mistakes, which spread the poison onto the next generation. Tracing the poison throughout the Toms beginning at the roots, shows just how important the roots indeed are. In the first story, entitled The Magic Pony, one learns about the Man Poison. The story is narrated by Jasmine, who lives with her Auntie Faye Faye tells her daughter Ruby and Jasmine that all men are poisoned because of a mistake from her past She stole her cousin Annas boyfriend Joaquin, by lying to him, telling him Anna was cursed. He ended up leaving Anna and marrying Faye. He soon died and she married his brother whom died also. Faye never took responsibly for her wrong actions. She blambed all her faults on outside sources,...
