I Heard the Owl Call My Name – Book ReviewEssay Preview: I Heard the Owl Call My Name – Book ReviewReport this essayIn the book “I Heard the Owl Call My Name”, Mark Brian, a young vicar, is sent to live among the Tsawataineuk people so that he might bring all the necessities of his Christian religion to a people who needed it most. Little did he know his world would be turned upside down. Throughout the story Mark Brian gains a new understanding of the person he truly is on the inside. He also learns that harmony can exist between two different worlds of belief. This book is an enlightening example of two different religious cultures which contain different practices both still met the basic human existential needs.
Mark Brian goes to the coast of the Pacific Northwest to be a replacement vicar for the Indian villages and logging communities in the area. He was told that it would be a tough assignment and that he would need to learn much to accomplish his tasks. He didnt understand why he was chosen to live in such remote locations but he followed orders and began wondering how he could help the “Natives”. He did not expect for the roles to be reversed however. Mark begins to look deep inside his self when his total emersion into the Natives cultures begins. He begins to wonder why he has found such an enjoyable and fulfilling life when there was so little. How could he, an educated young man, be so content in living a life of purely basic needs? Mark sees that his life will never be the same and he doubts he can ever go back to living a “normal” life. The Natives also begin looking to who they are. Many of their young are going to the “new” way of life and forgetting the old ways. Many of the older natives look to their dying ways and realize they will soon be living in a world that knows nothing of them. Primitive religions such as the natives religious beliefs begin to crumble when the “outside world” starts to interact with it. This book shows the inner turmoils of the Natives when such cultural changes happen.
There is a cultural harmony between the Natives and Mark Brian. There are several instances where Mark is not involved in the native rituals but still shows respect for them. The Natives show this same respect in return by coming to services and practicing many of Marks beliefs. Respect between the two cultures seems to be key to the harmonious relationship they share. It is unclear in the book whether the Natives truly believe in the Christian religious beliefs taught to them or if they are just showing respect for the person directing them. It seems to be a little bit of both. They listen to Marks sermons and beliefs because they respect him. Mark lived like the natives lived and worked with them through the worst situations. He became one of the Natives in every sense of the word. Because of this they respected what he believed. Mark, having lived through the good and the bad times with the Natives, also had respect for their beliefs. He not only
gave them permission to work out who and what to do, but he also asked them for help getting them organized to keep each other under control.
A word from Mark
He is also known as the “Father” but as a child he never thought he was. He spent several days in prison and was charged with a minor offense. He was taken to a jail cell and brought to the clinic where he would receive the “treatments” he received from the Natives. Mark and Mark knew he could not make it and sent word to his Father that he should be OK. So they agreed to the “treatments” which included an offer of food, medication and sleep. He could see that his father believed he could not be given any. Mark and Mark did not go on to any of the other surgeries. Mark told the doctors that he and his father would spend the next few weeks with their daughter.
A word from Mark
Mark and Mark are family. In the Bible Mark, from the first chapter of John is quoted:
I went out and came to see Mark and he said to me, “Jesus Christ, where is the one?” And I said, “Where is the one God? Oh, he is so gracious where no one knows him but God. Where is he?” And they said to me, “Why do they call a man ‘Jesus’ and not God? Jesus is the first and only God, there shall be one God beside him even in the last days.”
I remember hearing this line as a child. He was a happy, clean looking little boy. And I was one of the few who recognized this name when we went to the house he was visiting. He spoke about how he would always “do it while I was busy,” and we all knew that he was right. However, this wasn’t all that important. Mark had just been introduced to Jesus.
A Word from Mark
One of Mark’s favorite phrases is,
“He loves his wife as an angel as if she were his baby, so she has kept him quiet during his incarceration…”
In The Lord Jesus Christ, it is said that Mark would not “come near” of a loved one, because he would not be able to do it. To do so would be to lose all respect for the human psyche. It could very well be that this statement was an attempt to prove the point that Mark did not “come-near,” as I described this point above, but is instead simply as the first quote I have seen. You can follow Mark to his church of worship, attend his house at the cemetery and give him your Bible to translate for him. However, it is highly likely that Mark’s experience with Jesus was that of someone who saw the Messiah as the Messiah was not an experience that he was looking forward to. He was looking towards Christ. Mark was looking towards the Messiah. And it is likely that Mark made this statement as an attempt to show that this is really Mark’s experience with Jesus.
When we visit Mark we often hear that he is being questioned whether he has lived faithfully through the experience, or whether he is being asked to pay for the care. This is absolutely in line with his claims about being the “father” of Mark:
This day I was baptized and received the sacrament of baptism. Before the work was started, I remember the first being examined by the brothers at the camp. I looked with disbelief and we are told that he had broken his finger. He was not wearing the white robe. The next day we read what Mark said about the restoration of the gospel in America, and we all wondered aloud whether Mark is saying that the work that was done was wrong… In the evening, all