I read “Green Grass, Running Water” for a previous English course at UBC. In fact, I read it twice, and I felt like I had thoroughly absorbed many of the allusions the book offered. In some ways, I probably did. And then I went on a road trip to Saskatchewan, and decided to read the book out loud to my friends for this course. I realized then how adamant King truly is about the power of oral storytelling, and the way he challenged readers to understand through listening, rather than simply reading, as mentioned in lesson 3:2. Blanca Chester discusses this in her article “Green Grass, Running Water: Theorizing the World of the Novel”, when she explores the influence of Harry Robinson’s form of storytelling in King’s novel. She claims Robinson’s storytelling “ultimately moves beyond either written or spoken word” (Chester 44), to ensure a dialogue is created between oral and written traditions in Native culture as well as Western literary work (Chester 45). Similarly, King draws from these oral traditions in order to push the reader to confront previous knowledge of Western allusions, with Native culture, and historically important occurrences in Canada. According to Chester, King’s oral storytelling strategy reveals “a dialogue with the past that moves into the present, a history of Native tradition that now includes European elements within it” (47)

While reading in the car, the first name that I spoke aloud which triggered an allusion was Dr. Joseph Hovaugh. Admittedly, going through lesson 3:1, I understood the connection of this character to Northrop Frye, but I could not understand why he was described as Jehovah, rather than the more popularly used term, God. King’s brilliant pun is only understood when said aloud, and as an even further reach of the power of spoken word, I was able to pick up on King’s juxtaposition of Dr. Joseph Hovaugh, and his interaction with the four natives, to Buffalo Bill Bursam, and his interaction with the four natives. At the beginning of the novel, Dr. Hovaugh is introduced as sitting behind his desk at the hospital. “It was a way to collect his thoughts, a way to get ready for the week. Every day, he sat a little longer. There was no harm in it” (King 16). Bursam, later on, is described as having recently cultivated “the habit of sitting behind his desk and watching the early morning costumers come into the store. It was a way to collect his thoughts, a way to get ready for the day. Each day he sat a little longer. There was no harm in it” (King 268). This deliberate repetition is King’s way of continuously reintroducing the cyclical idea of storytelling presented in the (by now) familiar Medicine Wheel (lesson 3:2). But what is he trying to allude to about these two characters in particular?

The aurality that King demands is necessary for King’s puns to be understood, offering “connections to yet another narrative” (Chester 54). The characters Louis, Ray, and Al, when read aloud, form the name Louis Riel, a key figure in Canadian Native history. Similarly, the Nissan, Pinto, and Karmann-Ghia allude to Columbus’ historic—and highly recognized Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Why does King choose to infuse Western Colonial allusions into Native narratives in this way? According to Chester, the oral resonance forces the stories to be read aloud in a Native oral tradition, as mentioned previously. Yet, it also suggests an assumed audience, and aspects of a storytelling performance (Chester 55). Reading aloud to my friends in the car, my sister would interrupt me suddenly and ask why certain characters had certain names, and inquire about literary allusions that she didn’t understand, because she didn’t have literary background knowledge. Only then did I understand the importance of Chester’s observation, when she claims “In creating a dialogue, or conversation, with the text the speaker/reader/listen enters into a highly contexted discourse where every name suggests a story and every story suggests yet another story” (55).

Throughout King’s novel, just as with the Medicine Wheel, he is challenging his readers to question everything, and look for the story within the story. His manipulation of oral puns and allusions is just another way he is allowing his readers a chance to probe beyond previous knowledge of Western allusions, toward a greater understanding of new narratives, such as the Native narratives he presents.

Works Cited

Chester Blanca. “Green Grass Running Water: Theorizing the World of the Novel.”Canadian Literature 161-162. (1999). Web. April 04/2013

King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Toronto: Harper Collins, 1993. Print.