Prompt: Each student will be assigned a section of the novel Green Grass Running Water (pages will be divided by the number of students). The task at hand is to first discover as many allusions as you can to historical references (people and events), literary references (characters and authors), mythical references (symbols and metaphors).
For this week’s assignment, I have been assigned pages 192-201 from GGRW, which in my text is actually pages 230-238. I will be referencing my own novel so hold on if things get a little confusing, I will try to use quotes where I can to help! To be honest, this particular collection of pages was difficult for me to tackle because it included snippets from each of the multiple storylines that weave throughout the novel. We find ourselves in the middle of the four old Indians discussing whose turn it is to tell the creation story to explain why there is so much water, with Robinson Crusoe beginning his version with the Thought Woman and the story of the River. Then we find ourselves in the middle of the storyline of the escaped elders on their way to Blossom to “change the world”, who have now found their way to the parking lot of the Blossom Lodge. Dr. Hovaugh and his assistant Babo have just arrived at the Canadian border in their quest to track down the escaped elders and bring them back to the mental institution. At first I wasn’t sure even where to start, but I realize the fact that I have the various intersections of plotlines allows me a lot of room in what to explore. With the help of Jane Flick and a little digging around of my own, I present to you some of the allusions I found:
Robinson Crusoe
The use of “Robinson Crusoe” as one of the names of the Old Indians is interesting for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it alludes most obviously to the hero and main character from Daniel Defoe’s novel, “The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”, arguably one of the most popular and well-known travel narratives from the 18th century. Despite the novel’s success as a piece of literature that set a new standard for English novels of Defoe’s time, King makes criticisms on some of the more problematic themes like the novel’s legitimization of colonialism and its degrading and distorted depictions of the savage “Other” in the novel. In fact, the focus on the palm trees on Robinson Crusoe’s shirt early on in the novel on page 9 is an allusion to Daniel Defoe’s literary hero that “signals the desert island connection” and Crusoe’s subsequent christianizing and colonizing mission and interactions with his uneducated and uncivilized cannibal slave “Friday”.
Light
There is an emphasis on the turning on of lights in this segment of the novel, where Coyote the mischief trickster is constantly asking for attention as he “turn[s] on the light[s]” on page 230. This is a clear allusion to role of Coyote as the creator and the biblical reference Gen 1:3 when “God said, Let there be light.” Furthermore, light is a consistent symbol of heaven, enlightenment, hope, and religious guidance in Biblical literary stories and is constantly depicted in opposition to darkness. This light is also a reference to the “beginning”, and the creation of the world, a constant point of conflict between the Genesis story vs First Nation mythology in the search for the “true” creation story of how the world began.
“In the distance, at the edge of the horizon, Babo could see a point of light, a star in the morning sky…”
On page 235, Babo spots a star in the sky as her and Dr. Hovaugh make their way closer and closer to the Canadian border on their trip to find the escaped elders. This emphasis on following this star to their destination has clear allusions to the Biblical Star of Bethlehem that lead the 3 Wise Men to Jesus in the Nativity story. Similar to the biblical reference, Babo and Dr. Hovaugh are being guided by a star to find the four Elders that have escaped to Blossom, Alberta.
What did you think about these allusions? Did you see anything else that I failed to catch in my own analysis? Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!
Works Cited
Flick Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” Canadian Literature 161/162 (1999). Web. 4 Apr. 2013.
King, Thomas. Green Grass, Running Water. Toronto: Perennial Canada, 1993. Print.Saeed, Nourin. “Colonial Representation in Robinson Crusoe, Heart of Darkness and A Passage to India.” Thesis. BRAC University, 2013.
Swendenborg, E. “Spiritual Meaning of Light.” Bible Meanings. Web. 9 July 2015. <http://www.biblemeanings.info/Words/Natural/Light.htm>.
Wilson, Ralph F. “The Wise Men (Magi) and the Christmas Star of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-12) — Christmas Incarnation.” Web. 9 July 2015. <//www.jesuswalk.com/christmas-incarnation/magi-star.htm>.
Hi Freda, I really enjoyed your post! I think the emphasis on the star is particularly interesting because it has both the Biblical allusion you referred to along with, in my mind, that of colonization and exploration. Early sailors navigated by the stars and were ultimately led to the Promise Land of the Americas. However Columbus initially wanted to travel to India, his navigation by the stars was faulty and therefore Western powers were led to the Americas through a poor reading of the stars. Perhaps if the maji had also made mistakes and had not found Jesus Herod would not have decided to murder every male child in Judea and instead would have assumed it was all a mistake. Now that we navigate using different celestial bodies–satellites–some of the romance and destiny of travel is lost. Anyways, do you have any thoughts on this?
Hi Gretta,
Thanks so much for bringing my attention to the other symbolism of stars. You’re so right, the reference to the star is important in the theme of colonization and exploration and is just as relevant to the ideas explored in Green Grass Running Water as the biblical ideas of the Star of Bethlehem. I would have to agree with you that now with the new age of technology, we have definitely lost the mysticism and allure around travel and journey in our navigations of new worlds.
Hi Freda! I really enjoyed your readings, especially how you understood the allusion of “Light” as a biblical reference to Coyote as the creator. Throughout the text, he has been portrayed as a sort of God and trickster, where he is able to control and create (such as the earthquake and breaking of the dam) very much like a superior being. And that’s really how I saw Coyote’s character. And I do agree on that conflicting stories based off on the Genesis vs First Nation mythology. I’m curious to know what you think of the way King incorporates both creations, especially with the allusions of Light and Coyote’s role in the book. There are a lot of First Nations based creation story but then he keeps referencing to the Genesis through Coyote’s “acts” as a “God”. Do you think King is favouring one creation story over the other or did he successfully balance out the telling of the different origin of the world’s creation?
It’s a very interesting theme, especially the way King writes about it. There could be so many way to interpret his way of showcasing the story of creations and I’d like to hear your thoughts on it.
Thanks for your post!
Angela Olivares
Hi Angela,
Wow, thank you for your kind comments and time spent reading my blog for this week! I would argue that King is not necessarily favouring one creation story over the other, but constantly mixing and swirling the two stories together to really blur the lines between the two…lines that are so rigidly held onto in our society. However, thats just my interpretation! I agree with you that there are so many endless possibilities in our understanding of what King does in this novel.
Hi Freda,
Sorry for my late comments!
I also had parts of the three different storylines in my section. You make a great point that it can be challenging to skip back and forth, but it also creates some freedom in the intersections between plotlines. I would be really interested to know what kind of process King followed to mix up these different layers. I wonder if he moved pieces around a lot, or had a good idea of where he wanted the stories to intersect? Sometimes they really flow together, and other times they cut in and out. You also commented on this in your reply to Angela, that King mixes and swirls multiple creation stories together. It’s amazing what we can get out of stories, about stories themselves!
Thanks,
Kaitie
Thanks for your comment Kaitie!
Hi Freda!
Thanks for sharing. The connection with Robinson Crusoe is interesting to me. I read Defoe’s book last year and I remember feeling very uncomfortable about Crusoe’s treatment of Friday, but also with Crusoe’s colonizing of the island. My memory is foggy with the novel but I recall him feeling a lot of ownership of the island despite the fact that there were other “savages” living on it. There was a harsh representation of the savages as the “Other” as you mention. I recall him “naturalizing” Friday by teaching him English and about the bible. Not only does Crusoe give him an english name, but he also takes away his language and tries to convert him. This is quite reminiscent of the Residential School System. Perhaps King was trying to make that connection?
This would be an interesting book to reread using a more critical lens. Thanks for bringing it up!
Thanks for commenting Melissa!