# Retrospection explained — American Indian Stories > Chapter companion for American Indian Stories by Zitkála-Šá. ## What happens The narrator reflects on her time at the Eastern boarding school, realizing that the white teachers often prioritize self-preservation over genuine Indian education. She recounts instances of corrupt and incompetent teachers, her own disillusionment, and the loss of her connection to nature, her mother, and the Great Spirit. Ultimately, she resigns her teaching position to pursue her own path in an Eastern city, critiquing the superficiality of white visitors who mistake the students' docility for successful assimilation. ## Themes in this chapter ### Education as a Tool of Oppression The narrator exposes how the boarding school system, under the guise of education, serves to strip Native children of their identity and culture, with teachers often being incompetent or self-serving. ### Loss of Identity and Belonging The narrator feels uprooted from her mother, nature, and the Great Spirit, describing herself as a 'cold bare pole' planted in strange earth, highlighting her profound loss of self. ### Colonial Violence and Injustice The chapter critiques the systemic injustice of the Indian school system, where white visitors boast of charity while ignoring the spiritual and cultural death imposed on Native children. ## Character check-ins ### Mother The narrator leaves her mother and later gives her up due to her mother's simple view of life, feeling uprooted from her. ### The Great Spirit The narrator gave up her faith in the Great Spirit for the white man's papers, contributing to her spiritual despair. ## Key lines > I slowly comprehended that the large army of white teachers in Indian schools had a larger missionary creed than I had suspected. It was one which included self-preservation quite as much as Indian education. I gradually realized that the many white teachers in Indian schools were motivated not just by a mission to educate, but also by their own self-interest. _The narrator's critical insight into the hypocrisy of the educational system._ > Like a slender tree, I had been uprooted from my mother, nature, and God. I was shorn of my branches, which had waved in sympathy and love for home and friends. I was completely severed from my mother, the natural world, and my spiritual beliefs, losing all the connections that once gave me life and belonging. _Powerful metaphor for the narrator's loss of identity and cultural roots._ > But few there are who have paused to question whether real life or long-lasting death lies beneath this semblance of civilization. Hardly anyone stops to consider whether this appearance of civilization actually brings true life or a slow, permanent death. _The narrator's concluding critique of the boarding school system's superficial success._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/american_indian_stories_se/chapters/iv-retrospection - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/american_indian_stories_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/american_indian_stories_se/chapters