Write a blog that hyper-links your research on the characters in GGRW according to the pages assigned to you. Be sure to make use of Jane Flick’s reference guide on your reading list. (Paterson)

Summary of my section

(In my edition, pp.217-229)

This is the part of the novel when all the characters are relaxing at night and watching westerns (in the case of Eli, reading one). Charlie recognizes his father as one of the actors in one of the westerns. The four old Indians also make an appearance in the western, as this is the one they “fixed” (King 223). The section ends with the ending of another creation story, where Changing Woman—who introduces herself to her arrestors as Ishmael—leaves the whale (Moby-Jane) she’s been riding on and gets arrested by soldiers and dragged to Fort Marion again.

Allusions

Cowboy vs. Indians western with John Wayne

John Wayne is an actor of many anti-Indian westerns and his films have been picked by Indians (Flick 147). According to Snopes.com, Wayne has been quoted by Playboy magazine saying that he feels the colonial takeover of land from Indians by whites was justified, and that current generations of white Americans don’t owe current generations of Indians anything. In another biographical summary of John Wayne, the actor is an insecure version of his on-stage persona who had his own personal, financial, and career problems; while a chaser of women, a Republican supporter, and a macho-man, Wayne was also pre-occupied with showering his family with gifts and even showed an interest in collecting “native American kachina dolls.”

In this way, Wayne echoes aspects of Charlie’s and Lionel’s personalities: a struggle with women (according to the biography, Wayne had several failed relationships), struggles with career, and clashes between career and belief. Wayne adamantly held to roles that were in line with his beliefs until his Oscar-winning performance in the 1969 version of True Grit.

Flick also suggests that Lionel’s desire for Wayne’s jacket suggests Lionel’s “denial of ‘Indianness'” (147). Flick also points out that Morningstar also wears a parallel wardrobe, Custer’s wardrobe (147).

Portland’s nose also makes an appearance, and his need to wear makeup is because he doesn’t fit the stereotype of an Indian’s nose (Flick 153). Ironically, he is an Indian himself.

Moby-Jane and Ishmael/Changing Woman creation story

Changing Woman is a character from Navajo lore that brings humanity into the current “fifth world” from the previous four worlds (Flick 152). Flick also asks us to consider one of these “changes” of Changing Woman as a hinted lesbian relationship with the female character Moby Jane. Moby Jane is also King’s contrasting challenge to Melville’s patriarchal world (Flick 158).

Changing Woman is of particular interest to our story of transformation and change as she is closely related to the Medicine Wheel in Native American legends: “[s]he represents the cyclical path of the Seasons, Birth (Spring), Maturing (Summer), Growing old (Fall), and Dying (Winter), only to be reborn again in the Spring (“Native American Legends”). An academic article cites Gary Witherspoon as calling male characters in Navajo legends “static reality” while female characters are “active reality” (Rissetto).

Ishmael is also of particular interest. In addition to being a character of famous lines in Moby Dick (Flick 143), Ishmael is an interesting Biblical character of the Judeo-Christian faiths. He is the first—though illegitimate—son of Abraham and, despite his bastard status, becomes an important and influential Biblical figure that is blessed by God (Zavada). A rise from lowliness to importance is another theme in King’s novel: Eli and Charlie beat Native stereotypes of unemployment by becoming hotshot lawyers, same as Alberta, despite her abusive childhood, and Portland has an interesting journey becoming successful, failing, and getting back in the scene again.

What parallels can you find based on these allusions?

Work cited

Flick Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” Canadian Literature 161/162 (1999). Web. 4 Apr. 2013. (original citation off Paterson’s website—I think this version has been stored in our blogosphere?)

King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Toronto: Harper Perennial, 2007. Print.

“Native American Legends: Changing Woman—A Navajo Legend.” First People of America and Canada—Turtle Island. First People, n.d. Web. 7 July 2015.

Paterson, Erika. “Lesson 3:3.” ENGL 470A Canadian Studies Canadian Literary Genres May 2015. University of British Columbia Department of English, n.d. Web. 7 July 2015.

Rissetto, Adriana C. “Changing Woman: Myth, Metaphor, and Pragmatics.” Between Four Sacred Mountains. University of Virginia, n.d. Web. 7 July 2015.

Sheridan, Peter. “The Mn behind the Tough-talking Persona: New Biography Reveals the Real John Wayne.” Express [London] 11 Apr. 2014: 38-39. Northern and Shell Media Publication, 11 Apr. 2014. Web. 7 July 2015.

“Wayne’s World.” Urban Legends Reference Pages. Snopes.com, 2 May 2015. Web. 7 July 2015.

Zavada, Jack. “Ishmael—First Son of Abraham.” About: Religion. About.com, n.d. Web. 7 July 2015.

Coyote Pedagogy is a term sometimes used to describe King’s writing strategies (Margery Fee and Jane Flick). Discuss your understanding of the role of Coyote in the novel. (Dr. Erika Paterson)

Coyote is definitely one of my favourite characters in this novel. He’s playful, he’s fresh, and he seems pretty much in charge of everything…or at least very influential in how the world works. By dancing and singing, he is able to incite much trouble, such as this foreshadowing to the novel finale’s earthquake:

“You haven’t been dancing again, Coyote?” said Ishmael.

“Just a little,” says Coyote.

“You haven’t been singing again, Coyote?” said Robinson Crusoe.

“Just a little,” says Coyote.

“Oh, boy,” said Hawkeye. “Here we go again.”

(King 409)

The biggest thing that strikes me about Coyote is his childlike personality. Coyote is always the listener to the narrator’s creation stories, and he always tries to playfully guess what happens next (King 269). Coyote is never serious. His behaviour is on par with the antics of a very outgoing, playful, and imaginative child.

But I wouldn’t call Coyote naive. In fact, he proclaims that he is “very smart” (King 2). He seems to know the power of his singing and dancing, he just does it anyway. “‘But I was helpful, too,’ says Coyote. ‘That woman who wanted a baby. Now, that was helpful'” (King 416). In addition to Coyote’s obvious transformative roles in the story, I personally think Coyote also represents the ideal reader, listener, or consumer of stories. He is an active and enthusiastic participant in the narrator’s storytelling; sometimes, he even questions the events of the stories.

“Nope,” I tell Coyote. “She lands on a canoe.”

“A canoe!” Says Coyote. “Where did a canoe come from?”

“Use your imagination,” I says.

“Was it a green Royalite Old Town single,” says Coyote, with oak gunnels and woven cane seats?”

“No,” I says, “it wasn’t one of those.”

“Was it a red wood-and-canvas Beaver touring canoe with cedar ribs and built-in portage racks?”

“Not one of those either,” I says. “This canoe was big canoe. And it was white. And it was full of animals.”

“Wow!” says Coyote.

(King 105)

Coyote reminds me of the different people questioning the Native creation story Thomas King retells in every chapter of his Massey Lecture.

Another interesting thing about Coyote that challenges Western worldviews is the concept of his being. What is he? Is he a deity? A spirit? A god? A recurring fictional character? Just a regular talking coyote that happens to be invisible? I find it interesting that, despite all his power to change the world, Coyote does not embody the typical traits of a Western-type “god.” Coyote is good-natured, childlike and, despite his power, doesn’t lord it over people. He follows the Old Indians around rather than leading them. He is the listener of the story rather than the teller, who is the mysterious “I” narrator that entertains him throughout the book—”‘And here’s how it happened'” (King 3). And, Coyote would rather be a coyote than a dog/god (King 2).

Coyote as a spirit/god/dog/what-have-you works to challenge the belief that supernatural things are “martial and hierarchical . . . that encourage egotism and self-interest” (The Truth 26), which is a Western belief. Coyote’s childlike personality and the cyclical and repetitive nature of his storytelling/listening arc (the ending of the novel is the same as the beginning) also challenges the idea that a god must be omnipotent, omnipresent, all-powerful, and all-knowing. Coyotes (the animal) are also unique in that they are an adaptive wild species—unlike cougars, bears, and wolves, who move away from human settlement, coyotes have found a way to co-exist with human inhabitants. This helps visualize Coyote as a fluid character and a fluid concept. Moreover, after a little research in coyote lore, I found that in Blackfoot culture he is closely associated with Old Man and Old Woman, “Adam-and-Eve”-type characters who have a large role in creating the world (rather than their creator). Coyote suggests that transformation and creation is collective, made by normal people (like the old Indians) and the other characters of the novel.

King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Toronto: Harper Perennial, 2007. Print.

—The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Peterbough:Anansi Press. 2003. Print.

“Urban Wildlife: Coyotes.” BC SPCA: Speaking for Animals. The British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, n.d. Web. 02 July 2015.

Paterson, Erika. “Lesson 3:2.” ENGL 470A Canadian Studies Canadian Literary Genres May 2015. University of British Columbia Department of English, n.d. Web. 29 June 2015.

Redish, Laura, and Orrin Lewis. “Legendary Native American Figures: Napi (Old-Man).” Native Languages of the Americas. Native Languages of the Americas, n.d. Web. 02 July 2015.