Thief Of Time Analysis Essay, Research Paper

A Thief of Time, published in 1988 by HarperCollins Publishers, is just one of Tony Hillerman+s many mystery novels. Tony Hillerman is well known for his ability to write great mystery novels. Mike Smith has said, +It is Hillerman+s ability to transcend stereotypical detective fiction, however, which makes his writing so fascinating.+ (1) +Tony Hillerman is best known for his Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn mysteries set in the Southwest+,+ notes Brad Crawford (8). In Hillerman+s novel A Thief of Time, he does an excellent job describing the settings of the story. Hillerman once said in an interview, +I have to go to the reservation, to the spot I+ll be writing about, to get comfortable with it. I like to feel at home in my mind with the spot I have on the page.+ (Crawford, 8) Settings in Hillerman+s novels play a big role in the plot of the stories. Tony Hillerman has always had a great interest in the culture of the Southwestern Indian tribes and he enjoys writing stories based on the knowledge he has acquired.

A Thief of Time is a novel set on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico and Arizona. It tells the story of an anthropologist, Dr. Eleanor Friedman-Bernal, who has been missing for a week after going on a trip to look for Anasazi artifacts, and two tribal policemen, Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, who end up investigating the case. Chee was originally tracking down a thief of a flatbed trailer and backhoe

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from a tribal storage unit, for which he was responsible for. The case soon becomes an investigation of murder when Chee finds the two men suspected of stealing the items murdered near an Anasazi grave site from which they had been stealing artifacts. Joe Leaphorn, who had originally been searching for the missing Dr. Freidman-Bernal, soon runs into Chee and they begin to work together on the case. The two detectives begin an investigation in which they not only search through the ruins of an ancient Indian tribe, but they also seem to find their own Navajo roots. They soon find the missing Dr. Freidman-Bernal and end up solving the case.

Tony Hillerman has done a great job using his knowledge of the Navajo culture, myths and landscape to write A Thief of Time. Ron Querry once stated, +Those who admire the novels of Tony Hillerman won+t be surprised to learn that he has composed a clear and beautiful textual portrait of the country that he knows best–that portion of the Southwestern United States which includes much of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.+ (1) Hillerman is able to use his great ability to describe in detail the landscapes and surroundings of the characters in his novels.

+The life in Tony Hillerman+s Books is the people, landscape, cultures and religions of the dry, wild 25,000 square miles of desert in and around the Navajo reservation+,+ says Michael Parfit (93). In his novel,Hillerman truly does bring to life all the characters and surroundings that he discusses. Hillerman grew up around Native Americans; therefore, he knows a great deal about them. +Through Chee and Leaphorn, Hillerman describes the Navajo landscape and religion.+ (Parfit, 94) Tony Hillerman himself stated in an interview +I feel my first priority as a writer is to entertain the audience. But I+m also fascinated by the cultures we

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have in the Southwest, and I think people ought to know about them.+ (Crawford, 8)

Hillerman is writing a mystery novel and one way he adds mystery to the story is through the settings, which centers on the Anasazi Indians+ cliff dwellings. These Indians, the ancestors of the Navajos, disappeared 300 years ago. Through A Thief of Time, readers learn of the Anasazi tribes and their beliefs. Readers learn about the Anasazi god of fertility, Kokopelli, and how he played a major role in the lives of the people. Through the eyes of Dr. Freidman-Bernal we learn a lot about the particular cave dwelling that she had gone to to look for potsherds. The area she was exploring had recently been demolished by thieves looking for artifacts to make money off of. This is where the title comes from because these people are also know as +thieves of time.+ Hillerman goes on to describe the bones of the people that were buried there and also the paintings on the cave walls.

Landscape plays a big role in Hillerman+s work also. When asked what part does landscape play in his works , Hillerman replied ++in the Navajo tribal-police stories, it+s central. I need the desert for all sorts of reasons. It imposes a sense of isolation on the murder scene, it gives me a way to work in Navajo myths and religion because so much of that is tied to sacred places.+ (Foster, 15) As stated before, Hillerman knows a great deal about the Native American culture through growing up around it. However, before writing his novels, Hillerman likes to visit the places he is going to be basing his stories on. He once stated +Since the anthropologist, the pot hunter and the crime would be pure fiction, it would seem logical that the cliff dwelling could be fictional.+ (Writer, 9)

Through each character in the novel, the reader is able to learn more and more about the culture, religion and surroundings of the Native Americans that lived in

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the Southwest. There are anthropologists, who have learned a great deal about the cultures and there are people who have the Native American blood running through their veins. Hillerman shows how these people live there separate lives trying to blend in with the world they live in, yet keep there traditional values strong. It+s amazing how, through Hillerman+s novel, readers not only get the thrill of a great mystery, but they also are able to learn about the culture of these ancient Indian tribes.

Further in the novel readers are introduced to two Navajo Tribal policemen, Lt. Joe Leaphorn and Officer Jim Chee. Both of these men have roots in the Navajo culture. Hillerman adds depth to these characters by showing us how they respond to the white anglo world. Throughout the novel they tend to show more and more of there Indian backgrounds through the way they respond to the different situations they are put in. Lt. Leaphorn is the older and more liberal with the world he lives in. He seems to have turned away from his roots. Chee, on the other hand, still practices a few of the Navajo traditions and is known to be a +medicine man+. Both of these policemen have been seen in some of Hillerman+s other novels, however, A Thief of Time is the first one in which they work together to solve one of Hillerman+s great mysteries.

Officer Jim Chee is a young policeman, who seems to be known for starting trouble, or at least sticking his nose where it doesn+t belong. He was assigned to watch a warehouse in which the tribal policemen had items stored. While on Chee was on duty some of the items were stolen. These items were small things either; one was a semi trailer and the other a backhoe. Chee got in trouble for this and was immediately taken off the case to prevent further trouble from springing up.

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Chee however refused to let it go and he began to search for the missing items himself. This was how he got to be on the case that ended up involving Dr. Friedman-Bernal and the Anasazi grave site.

Lt. Joe Leaphorn, unlike Chee, is a veteran on the force and is on the verge of retiring. His wife had recently died and it seemed that everything he was involved in throughout the novel reminded him of Emma, his love. Leaphorn took the case of the missing anthropologist, hoping it would be a simple one. He learns later on, however, that it wasn+t going to be that easy.

Chee and Leaphorn eventually bumped heads at a tent revival they had went to so that they could speak to the preacher, hoping he would have some information on Dr. Freidman-Bernal+s whereabouts. In this part of the story, Leaphorn+s more liberal side seems to show. He+s is interested in what the preacher has to say and goes on in the tent. He notices Chee, who isn+t interested at all in what the preacher has to say, sitting outside waiting. They speak briefly. They continue to work together on the case throughout the rest of the novel. Chee and Leaphorn eventually find that Dr. Friedman-Bernal is not dead after all. Randall Elliot, who was involved in the robbing of the grave sites and responsible for the two men whom Chee found dead, had attempted to kill her. A hermit, Brigham Houk, had found her. He kept her alive until Leaphorn came to get her. Randall, who at the time was not suspected of killing her, was helping Leaphorn get her to a helicopter so she could get to a hospital. As they made their way to the spot, Elliot, turns on Leaphorn and holds him at gunpoint. Later, however, Brigham Houk was hiding in the woods and he killed Elliot with two arrows. Chee catches up with Leaphorn, after Houk disappears once again, and as they fly to safety, Leaphorn asks Chee to

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sing a song of the Blessing Way to help him feel better.

Throughout A Thief Of Time, readers are able to learn a great deal about the Navajo and Anasazi Indians. Hillerman did a wonderful job using his knowledge of the Indian tribes+ culture and dwellings. He also used his knowledge of the landscape of the area to weave his mystery. Chee and Leaphorn seem to go through a change as they are investigating. By the end of the story both Navajo Policemen have found their roots once again and are ready to live the way they were born to.

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Works Cited

+A Canyon, an Egret, and a Book.+ Writer 104.1 (1991):9-13.

Crawford, Brad. +Tony Hillerman.+ Writer+s Digest Jan 2000: 8-9

Parfit, M. and T. Moore. +Weaving mysteries that tell of life among the

Navajos.+ Smithsonian 21.9 (1990): 92-102.

Querry, Ron. +Hillerman Country.+ Magill Book Reviews.

Smith, Mike. +Tony Hillerman.+ Favorite Detective Story Writers: From Poe to the

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