6. 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?
During my reading of Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water, I came across multiple names that gave me pause initially. Some looked familiar, while others needed to be repeated in my head and out loud before taking on a greater meaning. Here is a list of three such examples:
1. Dr. Joe Hovaugh – We are first introduced to Joe by his full name, Dr. Joseph Hovaugh. The allusion did not immediately strike me, and I processed his first and last name as two separate entities. It wasn’t until page 38 that I noticed the connection within his name. Here he is in conversation with Dr. John Elliot:
“Yellowstone,” said Dr. Hovaugh.
“Joe…Joe we’ve talked about this.” (38)
Seeing the abbreviated version of the first name visually in front of the latter half of his name helped me catch the allusion. Paying attention to the oral dialogue between characters was also an important part of the puzzle, and this helped me notice that the doctor’s name was a reference to “Jehovah,” the English translation of the Hebrew word for God. In the novel Dr. Joe is an authority figure running the hospital. While he has a title of authority, he seems out of touch with the realities of the hospital and comes across as a sad and slightly neurotic man in his quest to track down the four escaped Indians.
2. Sally Jo Weyha and Polly Hantos – These two names are part of a list of actors who Charlie’s parents are acquainted with in LA. They belong to a group that is “waiting in the shadows of the major studios, working as extras, fighting for bit parts in Westerns, playing Indians again and again and again.” (153) The allusions behind these names was not difficult to catch. Saying them out loud confirmed to me that Sally Jo Weyha is Sacagawea and Polly Hantos is Pocahontas. I found the context in which these characters are presented to be interesting. Both of these women have been pigeonholed into specific roles throughout history, especially Pocahontas. They are both examples of stereotypical portrayals of Indigenous women, and they both have had trouble breaking free of these stereotypes.
3. Eli Stands Alone – While this name is not as phonetically interesting as the other two examples, I found the symbolic significance noteworthy. Eli leaves the reservation to go to university in Toronto, only coming back many years later after the death of his mother (and significant other). Once back on the reservation, he finds that his mother’s home is under threat and that it is going to be torn down for an impending dam project. He decides to fight this decision, moving into the home and literally standing alone against a flood of battles. He alone is standing in the way of the dam project moving forward. Despite appeals from Clifford Sifton, the lead contractor, he refuses to budge. Jane Flick notes that his name is most likely a reference to Elijah Harper, “who blocked the Meech Lake Constitutional Accord in 1990 by being the standout vote in the Manitoba legislature.” (150) At the end of the novel Eli does not survive the destruction of the dam, and his house is broken to pieces. I was surprised that Eli met this fate at the end of the novel, and am still curious about the possible significance behind this event.
After reading GGRW, I believe that King wants his readers to read aloud, as it bridges the gap between written and oral traditions. The novel is concerned with removing barriers between narrative traditions, and this is one of the ways in which King works to achieve this goal. GGRW is a text infused with orality, speaking to its readers in a variety of different voices. The colourful dialogue and personalities practically jump off of the page, engaging readers and inviting them to participate, textually and orally, with the story.
Works Cited
Buesman, Callie. “Combating the Misrepresentation of Native Americans, Through Photos.” Jezebel, 2 March 2014, http://jezebel.com/combating-the-misrepresentation-of-native-americans-th-1527088294. Accessed 8 Nov. 2016.
Flick, Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass Running Water.” Canadian Literature 161-162. (1999). Web. 9 Nov. 2016.
King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Toronto: Harper Collins, 1993. Print.
Morenus, David. “The Real Pocahontas.” http://pocahontas.morenus.org. Accessed 9 Nov. 2016.
Hi Mikayla,
I think that you are spot on in your analysis. I like that you mentioned that King invites his readers to participate in the novel orally, but I’d also like to mention that he invites his readers to participate mentally. King lets his readers think about his characters, and as you point out he adds a lot of personality and meaning to his characters. He allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about names – which works with the one of the points of his novel, because in doing that the reader is telling themselves a series of stories. Thus Green Grass Running Water is full of untold stories within the stories that King tells. I tried to figure out the literary term for that but I could not find an exact one… the closest one that I could find is a French term called “Mise en abyme.”
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your comment and insights! I like your point that GGRW is filled with untold stories within stories. Every time I read the novel, I find myself discovering new details and plot layers that I did not pick up upon on first reading. King’s writing style seems to be suggestive rather than forceful, which enables the reader to interact with the novel on multiple levels.
HI Mikayla,
I found this post to be most enlightening as I didn’t hear any of these allusions, despite reading them out to myself. It isn’t so much that I can’t understand the allusions but rather for myself, hearing words is somewhat difficult for me (likely due to my birth, they figured the language part of my brain was damaged) yet when I read your examples, I realized maybe I made some negative assumptions about my own abilities. I did pick up on the example relating to Eli Standing Alone as that was exactly what he was doing and against very powerful forces such as the corporations and water while the other examples you mentioned, I certainly didn’t pick up on. This makes me wonder, how many stories, regardless of cultural background, do include oral allusions? Do we miss them because Western European cultures place so much weight onto visual cues? Do we perhaps pick them up subconsciously as I feel I did with Eli Standing Alone without realizing it consciously?
— Colleen
Hi Colleen!
Thanks for your comment. I definitely agree that oral allusions can be more difficult to pick up on than textual ones. I think this might have to do with how we learn to read as children, and what we are taught to pay attention to in the books we read. Too often reading can be a silent, individual endeavour. Introducing orality to a text adds a new element of sound and interaction. I believe many stories include oral allusions, but the vast majority may go unnoticed by untrained eyes.