Writing Flashbacks

For this discussion, I am going to choose Dances with Wolves to illustrate and explain how Michael Blake’s flashback techniques influenced me to form a stronger character in my own novel called Captured. Furthermore, I am going to show how Blake, unknowingly, encouraged my historical fiction writing, and how his success of his novel and motion picture, inspired me to become the best writer that I can be. In Dances with Wolves Blake writes, “Lieutenant Dunbar sighed at the official paper. It didn’t look like an army order. It looked like trash” (Blake 3). In this one simple sentence readers understand that Dunbar was not only an officer, but he wanted and expected everything to be in order and done right. Thus, readers know that not only does Dunbar expect this kind of behavior from his own men, but he mentally demands it from his superiors too.

Next, Blake introduces Dunbar’s flashback. “Looking at the order reminded him of how it came to be, and that troubled him even more. That weird interview with the liquor-breathed major” (3). Thus, I learned that a flashback, no matter the location in a story, must be introduced. Furthermore, to add more life or dimension to a character, a flashback tends to be the best option for writers. For instance, after Blake introduces the flashback, he writes, “In his eagerness to be posted he’d gone straight from the train depot to headquarters. The major was the first and only person he’d spoken to between the time he’d arrived and the time later that afternoon when he’d clambered up on the wagon to take his seat next to the stinking Timmons” (4). Blake then shows what happened between Dunbar and the drunk major. Like the introduction of the flashback. A flashback must have a beginning, middle, and end. At the end of the flashback, a writer must reintroduce the reader to the present scene. Slowly taking the reader from the character’s past and back to his or her present. Applying this technique to one of my scenes, my readers can come to understand Temple and her family even more.

Introduction to my flashback: Lifting her head, toward the window, she caught herself looking at the family plot. Only one grave marker stood on a lonesome ridge. As she looked at her brother’s marker the dreaded winter of 1630 penetrated her mind, making tears form in her eyes (Lee 5-6).
 
Flashback: It was their first winter in the New World. Julius, her eldest brother had gone outside to feed the livestock. She was at the basin washing the dinner dishes, when she heard the musket fire, a yelp, and snarls. Ezekiel, her father, rushed to the door, to stop her mother, Carnelia, from dashing out. There was only one musket and Julius had it (6). Her father shoved, Carnelia onto the bench with a terse command, “Stay there!” Mary and Temple crowded next to their mother and began to pray. “Our Father who Art in Heaven, hollowed be thy name” (6). Ignoring the women, Ezekiel grabbed his saber, threw open the cabin door, and with a mighty yell, charged his four-legged foe. Desperately he tried to protect his son. The wolf pack seemed to be stronger than Ezekiel’s sword. They rushed at him, so many. Once he killed one, another was at him, sometimes two or three lunged toward him simultaneously. Their sharp fangs breaking skin. The smell of a kill and easy prey drove the starving pack to attack with grave and dangerous viciousness (6). As the alpha female leaped, Ezekiel swung his sword, slicing her middle. Blood poured out on the hard-packed snow, spilling her intestines (6). The silence outside was numbing. The wolves scattered and vanished, but Ezekiel didn’t pay any heed. About to gather his unconscious son, he noticed Julius’ leg had been chewed and part of it eaten, only a couple of ligaments kept it attached. “Carnelia! For God sakes, woman, stop the damn praying and get out here with the blankets! Carnelia!” (6). Temple’s mother, with frantic haste, gathered all the blankets off the bed while she and Mary quickly cleared the table from dinner, piling them next to the basin. As Ezekiel carried her brother into the cabin, the thick quilt that her grandmother made before they left Holland was soaked in blood. It dripped down on the floor in tiny splatters. Little Mary handed their mother her sewing basket which she did not take. Carnelia slumped to the floor and sobbed, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, God help us” (6-7). The next day, they buried Julius, her only brother, on the ridge.

The end of the flashback: Turning from the window, she grabbed Miles’ britches and began to sew a patch on the knee. Losing Julius caused her strict father to change. He taught Carnelia and Temple arithmetic and everything about the farm with the promise to teach Mary when Carnelia and Temple mastered their studies. This was simply not done in Holland, yet among the dangers, he felt it was important for them to take care of themselves. He even encouraged Temple’s sewing, washing, and ironing business. Oddly, she thought, as she pushed the needle through the cloth, marriage was no longer spoken in the cabin (7).

Even though, these flashback scenes are useful. They cannot be overly used. Blake himself only used six throughout the whole novel. But the success of the book was not just based on his writing style. It was the way he created his novel. Back in the late 1980s and 90s, the general American public rarely heard the Native American side of things. Dances with Wolves brought a huge awareness, not just for white people but for the Native tribes as well. Here Blake helped Native American culture and history by giving them a voice. Thus, white America saw a different side of the “savage.” They saw them as a People who loved their land and tribe. But most importantly, they learned that that Indians had a human heart and a deeper understanding of community and humanity. In addition, Blake’s historical fiction placed Native and white Americans directly out West, and they finally saw the realism behind Western Expansion. Through his talents of making history come to life, Blake’s novel and movie impacted America and her culture. This is what makes historical fiction successful.

Thanks,



Lynette Lee

Works Cited

Blake, Michael. Dances with Wolves. Ballantine Books, 1988. Print. Lee, Lynette. Captured.


Southern New Hampshire University, 2017. Print.