Alright. So for this assignment I was assigned pages 349 to 360. In the beginning pages, Coyote is really eager to tell the story but does not tell the story the way it is supposed to be told.
A golden calf, a pillar of salt & a burning bush
A golden calf, a pillar of salt, a burning bush are representations of God’s image in the Bible.
The story of the golden calf in essence is condemning the prayer of idols. In the story the people that Moses had brought from Egypt begun to doubt Moses and God. To appease the situation, Aaron had collected all the gold from the people and made a calf-like figure. This was a sin, and as a result, three thousand people were killed.
In the context of the text, this could be also foreshadowing that if the Christian rules are broken, there will be consequences. In our text, the three rules that had to be followed were that 1) no one could help Young Man Walking On Water; 2) no one could tell him anything; 3) no one is allowed to be in 2 places at once, except himself. Since the Old Woman had not followed the Christian rules, she no longer had a place in the story and disappeared away.
A pillar of salt (349) refers to the consequence to the wavering of faith. It is said that God had mercy to spare Lot and his family from the destruction of the city. But as they were on the edge of the city, Lot’s wife looked back in a moment of longing and was hence turned into a pillar of salt.
In the context of the text, this could be foreshadowing for what might happen should one’s faith waver towards the Christian God. As we continue reading on page 352, Young Man Walking on Water is trying to establish his superiority and divinity by saving the men on the rocking Boat. In the end, the Old Woman is the one that calms the waves and stops the Boat from rocking. Despite this, the men dismiss her efforts because she sang to the waves, and chooses to follow Young Man Walking on Water. Perhaps the men did not have a choice in the matter to choose their leader, for if they chose incorrectly, then they would be turned into a pillar of salt.
The story of the burning bush is that God is showing himself through that image. This is an interesting image because the fire is not consuming yet the bush is on fire. Perhaps the contradiction here is an indication that we cannot try to rationalize or derive logic out of Christian rules, because there is no logic – how the story begins and how the story ends cannot change even if some parts do not make sense.
The story of Jesus calming the winds and the water are from Matthew 8:23-27. In the Bible Jesus has no problem calming the winds and water and even points a finger back to the men who doubted his ability. Parallel to this story, is the story where Young Man Walking On Water is yelling to the Boat to “Stop rocking!” but it does not stop rocking. It is Old Woman who calms the Waves and the Boat. Despite this, the men dismiss Old Woman and follows Young Man Walking On Water.
Reflections
I found this assignment a little challenging because I’ve never read the Bible and I am challenged to write what the Bible says in an unbiased academic manner. Moreover, perhaps because I am unfamiliar with it, I tried to simplify the stories so that others who are not familiar with the stories can understand them too.
Personal reservations aside, this exercise really exemplified the difference between Christian and Native storytelling. I think King has brought to light that the rules and structures within Christian stories limit its evolution. Meanwhile, Native stories is not limited to rules and structure and hence the different elements come together to continuously build its narrative.
Hi Qihui,
Thank you for your really insightful blog on pages 349-360. I was responsible for 318-30 and What I found interesting are the common themes between your section and mine – Singing, religion and stereotypes.
My own thoughts on the old woman coming to the aid of the young man walking on water and rescuing the men on the boat is that its a reversal on the common stereotype of all heroes being men. Similarily, the four indians in my section achieve the same result when they, through song, transcend space and time and enter the western movie they are watching to help Portland (indian cheif) defeat the cowboys and earn themselves a rare victory. Once again ceremonial singing plays a deciding role in the outcome of the story and reversal of the hero stereotype.
My assigned readings also included biblical references and reversals of common stereotypes. My story includes Ishmael of the four indians. Ishmael is an allusion to a biblical character from the book of Genesis (Flick 139). Its also an allusion to a popular literary character in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick (Flick 139).
Finally, I would like to suggest that the rigidness of the chirstian rules can be considered an allusion to the rigidness of western literature and the restrictive structural rules associated with it.
Thanks again for your thoughtful and well written blog,
Stuart Fleming
Hi Qihui!
Very interesting post. I would like to offer a critique of your conclusion, however. Certainly King is critiquing what he sees as Christian “rules,” but I don’t think he is saying that Christianity didn’t or doesn’t evolve and Native stories/cultures do. After all, there are hundreds if not thousands of varieties of Christian tradition (which show themselves in the Protestant stream as denominations – Baptist, Mennonite, Vineyard, etc. – and then there is Catholicism), and Christianity has looked very different at different times throughout history. Also, there are certain rules and structures within Native storytelling traditions which keep stories from being changed TOO much. King illuminates that in this passage:
“There is a story I know. It’s about the earth and how it floats in space on the back of a turtle. I’ve heard this story many times, and each time someone tells the story, it changes. Sometimes the change is simply in the voice of the storyteller. Sometimes the change is in the details. Sometimes in the order of events. Other times it’s the dialogue or the response of the audience. But in all the tellings of all the tellers, the world never leaves the turtle’s back. And the turtle never swims away.” (King 1)
With these thoughts in mind, does your reading of what King was trying to point out through the allusions that you referenced change?
Works Cited
King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Toronto: House of Anansi, 2003. Google Books. Web. 12 Mar. 2015