In Laguna culture, stories are as central as the language that tells them. Stories weave the world together and are constantly reinvented and recreated over time. In Storyteller, Leslie Marmon Silko layers stories, images, and poems to portray the stories' common theme, and having a narrator remember them creates a world where no one truly dies, but lives in memories. While all of his works convey this idea, Silko's short stories, “Storyteller” and “The Storyteller's Escape,” use characterization to illustrate the cyclical immortality of stories and the ever-present need for someone to remember and act out this story. “Storyteller” uses characterization and plot to exemplify the timeless aspect of stories as well as the usual continuation of a storyteller. Within “Storyteller” there are three main stories: the grandfather's story, the story of the death of the woman's parents and the woman's story. While each of these stories takes place in its own time, with its own characters, they become one intertwined story. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Grandfather's story is told through the women's story and unfolds like his own. Alternatively, the story of her parents' death shapes the woman's story, shaping what she will do and say. From the beginning of the story it is explained that the grandfather "always continues with the stories" (18) and "tells a story even while he dreams" (19). Silko presents a modernized version of an ancient figure in lagoon culture: the narrator. The grandfather tells a story that the reader does not know at first. His story takes the form of a “giant bear” (21) which he describes in detail, painting the beginning of his lingering drama. Although little is known about the story at this point, it will develop alongside the women's story. Interrupting the grandfather's story, Silko soon moves on to the story of the death of the woman's parents. The memory ends with the grandmother overwhelmed by sadness and anger at the lies told by the shopkeeper to avoid being guilty of the deaths (24). Truth is an important ingredient within the stories, and the shopkeeper's lies shine as a desecrating twist on the sacred aspect of the stories. Following the story of his parents, a hunter joins his grandfather's story. The hunter is trying to lure the bear to its death, and this part of the story ends with the old man muttering in his sleep that “the story must be told. There must be no lies” (25). This statement contrasts with the shopkeeper's previous story and foreshadows the woman's story. Silko begins to weave together each element of the story creating a unified moment. As the bear approaches the hunter, so the woman approaches the shopkeeper. The woman creates her own story as she leads the shopkeeper to his death in the frozen river (28). The end of the grandfather's story has not yet been revealed, but it looms as the women's stories unfold. Silko introduces two stories, apparently different, but with the exact same content. It's updating an old story into a new story, showing the way they grow and continue to live. The story of the parents is also linked to the story of the woman. When asked why she refuses to say that the death was an accident, she connects her story to that of her parents by explaining that "He lied to them... But I won't lie" (28). The woman juxtaposes the shopkeeper's murder of her parents with the shopkeeper's murder. Both were premeditated, both may have seemed like accidents, but the woman took responsibility for her story while the shopkeeper ruined her story withlies. The woman uses almost the same words as her grandfather when she finishes her story. He explains that “the story must be told as it is” (30), echoing his grandfather “there must be no lies” (25). Silko highlights the importance of stories in Lagunacultura as well as the pride associated with the truth in them and their maintenance over time. The woman's story ends with the recitation of the beginning of her own story; continually repeating his story just as his grandfather had done with his (30). This represents the need for a storyteller and shows that the position of the storyteller will live on just as the stories live on. The grandfather concludes his story by explaining that while the hunter was waiting to kill the bear, his plans were shattered because he dropped a knife and it shattered against the ice. The man was defenseless and in the end the bear won (30). The bear represents the woman and shows the repetitive and ever-changing nature of Laguna's stories. As time passes, stories change shape, they never die, but adapt to the era. Likewise, the narrator never dies but is passed down like stories. Once the grandfather's time is over, the task of telling the stories passes to the young woman. The woman becomes the narrator and will tell her version of the same story. As people and their lives fade away, the stories continue. The task of telling the story passes to another, creating an eternal life for the stories they tell. Although a very different story, “The Storyteller’s Escape” focuses on the same themes as “Storyteller.” Through characterization and content, Silko constructs another world of timeless truth and tradition. This time we will focus more on the importance of having a narrator who remembers each story and keeps the memories of the lost alive. The beginning of “The Storyteller's Escape” vividly portrays the everlasting importance of stories. The narrator explains that "with these stories of ours / we can escape almost everything / with these stories we can survive" (239). Silko presents multiple meanings in these lines. The narrator has heard all the stories; he knows every circumstance and how it ended. For this reason he can literally “escape almost anything” (239). There is no new problem, nothing that someone else hasn't already done. For the narrator, she can escape by calling on stories from the past to guide her. The stories transform into each other, repeating history and guiding the lives of the living. The other part of this quote states that through stories “we can survive” (239). The connotation here changes from surviving alive to surviving eternally. Stories help them navigate through their lives, and in death their lives become part of the stories. Rather than dying, they survive by being remembered. This same idea can be seen more distinctly at the beginning of the old narrator's story. The narrator has aged and is approaching death. As she stumbles toward the end of her life, she states that she “could die peacefully / if there were only someone to tell / how I finally stopped / and where” (241). This ties back to the initial idea that even in death, stories create survival. Silko illustrates how desperately important stories are through the woman's plea for someone to be there to remember her. Instead of dying with no one to witness, the narrator creates his own story to chronicle his death. She creates a child who “turned to look at her for the last time” (242). This fictitious child will be able to remember that narrator and tell her life and how it ended. This not only conveys the narrator's story to someone else, but also the narrator's position. Similarly to “Storyteller,” “The Storyteller's, 2012.