3:5 – Implications of a Name
Find three examples of names that need to be spoken aloud in order to catch the allusion. Discuss the examples as well as the reading technique that requires you to read aloud in order to make connections. Why does King want us to read aloud?
The process that goes behind the details selected for integration into a story have always intrigued me; for example, what messages does the author want to convey with “small” details, such as colours or names? To what extent are such details meant to carry messages or connotations? This debate has always made me think of the trope that readers will often seek out meaning in every small thing, such as creating the notion that the author incorporated blue curtains into their work of literature, as opposed to the author superficially wanting blue curtains without any real ulterior meaning. However, when reading through King’s work and bearing in mind the emphasis he had on orality and bridging the gap between the oral and written spheres, it became clear that King undoubtedly had purpose in choosing the names that he did for his characters, primarily Dr. Joseph Hovaugh, Polly Hantos, and Sally Jo Weyha.
The most notable one for me was the introduction of Dr. Joseph Hovaugh, which I took to be King’s manifestation of a religious figure. At first, I didn’t think too much of the doctor’s name, until we were then also met with several other Biblical references (i.e Mary and John). This made me go back and read the whole passage again, slowly sounding out Dr. Hovaugh’s name. When I still couldn’t quite figure out what King was getting at, I read Joseph Hovaugh at regular speed, and then quickly aloud several times. While reading aloud, it became apparent that this name in particular was supposed to sound like Jehovah, the Hebrew name for God. It’s fascinating how King repeatedly pulls orthodox European-associated religious figures into his work about Indigenous communities, as it allows for a juxtaposition and clash of the two cultures, and also allows for King to poke some fun at institutionalized religion, such as when he tells Mary to find a “pair of peacocks” (17), drawing from the Biblical story of Noah’s Ark.
Additionally, King includes Polly Hantos and Sally Jo Weyha, all of which are names whose allusions are easier to place when read aloud the first couple of times. Polly Hantos is, forgive me for assuming, supposed to stand in for Pocahontas. Although the original Pocahontas was a key player in settling hostile relations between the Indigenous community and white colonizers, the Pocahontas that is widely recognized today among the general public is Disney’s rendition of Pocahontas (which, like many of Disney’s movies pre-2000, would have miserably failed the Bechdel test). Similarly, the actual Sacajawea (which Sally Jo Weyha is meant to sound like) aided Meriwether Lewis and William Clark greatly in terms of translating and guidance during their expedition, yet instead of being portrayed properly, these women are reduced to simply being a white man’s love interest and movie icon, paralleling Polly Hantos and Sally Jo Weyha’s occupations as actresses who are stuck playing the role of a stereotypical “Indian” woman. By giving his characters these “White” sounding names in lieu of blatantly Indigenous names, King strips them of the depth of their culture, much like how cinematic mediums are distorted public consensuses have.
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Works Cited
Bodenner, Chris. “Does Disney’s Pocahontas Do More Harm Than Good?” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 30 June 2015, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/pocahontas-feminism/397190/.
King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Toronto: Harper Collins, 1993. Print.
Pearson Waugaman , Elisabeth. “Names and Identity: The Native American Naming Tradition.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 2011, www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/whats-in-name/201107/names-and-identity-the-native-american-naming-tradition.