Don’t Blame Me
FOR THIS WEEK: We were supposed to retell a story of how evil came into this world drawn from Thomas King’s interpretation of Leslie Silko in his novel The Truth About Stories.
“Sometimes change is simply in the voice of the storyteller” (1).
I have a great story to tell you, and it is about how evil came into this world.
“”Don’t blame me if you make a mistake””, uttered one to another (13). But of course, what would be called a mistake if there was no evil in this world? This was the argument two shiny objects were having as they navigated through the stars above us, so close yet so far. Beaming from star to star, empty space to black hole, the sharper element took charge and decided itself best suited to choose where they should visit. The quieter one was understandably upset and wished to have an input, yet was sullen due to its younger age.
“(Us) guys are going to get along just fine”, said one (20). Well they were wrong. Structures are built by greed, jealousy and desire, all incompatible with the world which was created. It was not created for us, it was created for all.
With a loud bang, the two navigators which are now known to us as “Gold” and “Diamond” collided in order to descend to the water-rich Earth we live on. They wanted to be a part of this Earth, to live within it, not be extracted for what they inadvertently brought in with their optimism to belong. However, before they could realize what had happened and before they could escape, they were torn down and broken apart.
Hearing this loud bang, creatures of the Earth ran from far and wide to bear witness themselves to the passing tale of magnificence for their eyes to behold. Just like that, ‘all that glitters’ … is either gold or diamond, and the creatures, all of them, wanted it. Only a few, staying true to living with the land and not simply on the land hope to preserve a semblance of the original. Then again, who wants to be mastered by another at all?
Once a story is told it can never be taken back, “Once told, it is loose in the world ” (10). Desire creates demand, demand creates supply. As the Earth is stripped over and over again of the innocent two who were simply exploring the stars, greed, jealousy and desire poisons creatures and has created the universal thing called money. And money, as it slowly developed into its forms and variations, is the evil which entered this world.
I was pretty tense getting into this assignment! Although I love the subject of Literature… I don’t think I possess much creativity. Thinking of what evil constitutes in this world, I think that greed is probably the most deadly sin in my books. And the mother of all greed is definitely money and I thought that Gold and Diamonds are probably one of the main ‘superficial’ and perhaps unnecessary form of ‘money’. What really interests me is how creative everyone has gotten on this assignment and how stories can definitely be told in numerous forms and still possess the same meaning and the “world [really] never leaves the turtle’s back” (1)!
Works Cited
Drury, Flora. “Torture, Beatings and Murder: Inside the New Brutal ‘Blood Diamonds’ Scandal Fuelled by Pure Greed in Africa’s Mines”. The Daily Mail Online. 17 April 2015. Web. 28 May 2015.
Hutchinson, Brian. “Supreme Court B.C. Land-Claim Ruling has Staggering Implications for Canadian Resource Projects”. The National Post Online. 26 June 2014. Web. 29 May 2015.
King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Peterbough:Anansi Press. 2003. Print.
What a wonderful story with great symbolism! I love your idea of greed being the prime mover of evil deeds and intentions. Indeed, when one commits murder, one is usually jealous or envious of something owned by the victim.
I’d like to hear if you considered other “deadly sins” as roots of evil when crafting your story, and why you settled on greed? I also find it interesting that those in your story who resisted evil are the ones willing to live “with” the land instead of merely “on” it. Are you saying that the farther we stray from nature and our natural ways, the more likely we will be corrupted?
Hi Charmaine,
Thank you for your response! I like how you brought about the concept of murder, I believe that some would consider gentrification and development as ‘murdering’ the land in some forms, which I believe cannot be conceptually wrong.
I think that going in line with this course as well as the basis of development, that indeed the further we stray from the natural, the more ‘corrupted’ we make the land and therefore become ourselves. In a sense I believe these stories and the art of storytelling in itself serves the purpose of preserving what is natural and should therefore be considered! Apologies if my ideas are not too clearly brought across!
🙂