Gussuk (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Mei Mei Evans
- First Published: 1989
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The late twentieth century
- Setting: Kigiak, Alaska
- Principal Characters: Lucy, Robert, Mercy
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Villages, Alienation, Adultery, Multiculturalism, Nursing or nurses, Alaska, Arctic, Inuit
- Locales: Alaska, Kigiak, Alaska
The Story
Lucy, an itinerant nurse, arrives in the Eskimo village of Kigiak, Alaska, by bush plane from Anchorage. She is welcomed by Robert and his relatives, who help her settle into a trailer home and into the rhythms of village life. Lucy's period of alienation is mitigated by two factors: her Chinese American features, which resemble those of her Eskimo hosts, and the warm hospitality of her hosts. Although her status as an outsider, a “gussuk,” may be mitigated by her own Eskimo-like looks, it is not eliminated. Several times she describes the phenomenon of culture...
[The entire page is 1201 words long]
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