Assignment 3.5 Lesson 3.2
Prompt #2: 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.
Pedagogy is defined quite succinctly on www.dictionary.com as “the function or work of a teacher; teaching”. However, when I first started reading Green Grass Running Water, I have to be completely honest…I didnt feel like Coyote was teaching me anything. As a cultural hero in First Nations mythology, Coyote is known as a trickster, a Creator, mischievous and foolish, a troublemaker, humorous and clever, and always full of energy. But to me…Coyote was a pain in the ass. I was very frustrated with him. “How is it possible that King is going to use him as a teacher throughout this novel?”, I scoffed t0 myself. He was annoying and frustrating and most of all, confusing. His constant interruptions and questions that kept interrupting the flow of the story denied me of a certain predictability and “flow” that I’m used to finding in mainstream “North-American” literature where everything follows a trajectory plot line that all us english literature majors know like the back of our hands. Why was he always interrupting, why was he always making jokes and saying weird things and why was he in two separate storylines throughout the novel? However, as the novel progressed, I found myself opening up and understanding more and more who Coyote was, and what he represented, and embarrassed that it had been so clear and right in front of me the entire time.
In his constant meddling with the creation story, Coyote is a figure of power that King uses to question the truths we hold onto so tightly. Our ideas of how a story is supposed to be told, in what order and by who are core to our identities and understanding of Western society. The reality is that the constant and relentless mischief, confusion and chaos that Coyote causes does one very important thing. It forces us to acknowledge the reality: we are not holding onto anything real. He forces us to question why we have these rules about how stories are supposed to be told, how plotlines are supposed to proceed and how characters cannot hop in and out of multiple woven plots. But our beliefs around storytelling and creation myths are rooted in false preconceptions that provide a sense of comfort and security, and that is all they are. They are not invincible and they are not a universal truth. And it takes a trickster little Coyote frustrating us and forcing us to come to terms with these expectations that teaches us a very valuable lesson in believing “our” story is the “right” one. In fact, it is the very fact that I didn’t expect Coyote to teach me anything valuable that he was able to catch me off guard with a very hard-hitting and important lesson about my own bad habits and the nature and power of storytelling. What did Coyote teach you this week?
Works Cited
King, Thomas. Green Grass, Running Water. Toronto: HarperPerennial Canada, 1999. Print.
“Native American Coyote Mythology”. Native Languages. Web. 1 July, 2015. <http://www.cotef.org/about-us/coyote-teaching>
“Native American Mythology”. God Checker. Web. 2 July, 2015. <http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/native-american-mythology.php?deity=COYOTE>
Hi Freda. I also found Coyote rather . . . energetic. I think that he is ironically representative of non-Native “listening” to the Native narrative–he states that he wants to hear the story but keeps interrupting it, sidetracking it, and changing it, mostly if not always in unhelpful ways. Because Coyote can’t sit still and listen properly to the story, the story has to keep starting all over again.
I’m on the extreme end of believing that nothing is real, so I won’t argue with you there. However, even when the creation story keeps getting changed and convoluted and farcical, it still remains worthwhile–after all, the narrator (King?) bothers to keep going back to its beginning. Perhaps, then, by learning what doesn’t matter in creation stories, we are coming closer to learning what does matter.
Hi Kevin!
Thank you for you thoughtful contribution! And yes, I would have to agree, the creation story keeps us involved and intrigued even with the constant interruptions and start overs. King seems to be showing us the flaws in our ways of thinking and I do think it helps contribute to our journey of discovering what storytelling and creation stories really represent.
Hi Freda!
Awesome! I’m right there with you. I think, had I not read Harry Robinson’s “Coyote Makes a Deal with the King of England”, I wouldn’t have been so receptive to the character of Coyote.
I found this quote of yours, “It forces us to acknowledge the reality: we are not holding onto anything real,” very poignant. It has given me a few things to ponder. I thought of Coyote as a symbol for the duality within humanity. He holds within himself a tension between chaos and order/creation and destruction. Isn’t that what we all hold within ourselves? There is no absolute. Christianity offers a stagnant archetype of good and bad, while Coyote represents a God (and D-O-G) in all contradictions. He is essentially good and bad, which is a lot more relatable for me than Christian symbolism.
Thanks for your work!
-Hannah
Hi Hannah!
Thanks for your comment, I love what you had to say about Coyote’s symbolism for the duality we hold within each of us, I must agree it speaks to me more than Christian symbolism. Have a great day!
Freda
Hi! Really enjoyed this blog post. On your explanation of the character Coyote (which I agree with!), you describe how he stops and starts and changes things constantly in a rather constant fashion. Do you think there could be a way for King to use the ideas that Coyote represents in a different manner that would make it easier for the reader?
Hi Alyssa!
I think that there aren’t many ways available for an author like one in King’s position to get certain messages and ideas across to readers without being too blunt and just feeding them to the reader. It makes more sense he would force the reader to get there themselves, even if its a frustrating process at first 🙂 Thanks for stopping by and reading!
Hi Freda!
I think you have explained Coyote so well – the distractions and digressions really do work to continue flipping things around and destabilizing the narratives. What I always love about this book is the way that characters often talk at cross purposes to one another, and Coyote is a great example of this kind of irony that brings out the multiple meanings and misunderstandings at play in the narratives as they crash together.
There is a point where “I” says that the world is full of Coyotes – and I found myself wondering if that referred to other characters that do similar work of Coyote (like the toddler Elisabeth who Latisha can’t seem to control) or whether that comment refers more broadly to us as the readers: we have Coyotes in our own lives proving to us that, as you have said, we are not holding on to anything real. Curious to hear your thoughts, as your grasp of the Coyote’s role is so well mapped.
Heidi
Hi Heidi!
Thank you for your kind words. I love that you commented on that quote about the world being full of Coyotes. I would have to say I lean more towards the second meaning, where there is a suggestion that Coyote represents something in all of us to prove that we are not holding onto anything real. What do you think?
Best,
Freda
Hi Freda,
Knowing how this book works, it is probably both! But, I do like the idea of accepting Coyotes everywhere, mixin’ it up for people, as I think the more people understand what they can control vs. accepting unexpected change is ultimately more healthy psychologically.
Cheers,
Heidi