Write a blog that hyper-links your research on the characters in GGRW according to the pages assigned to you. Be sure to make use of Jane Flick’s reference guide on your reading list.

———————————————————————————————-

I was assigned pages 325-333. In the Harper Perennial edition these pages are 390-400. I seek to investigate all the allusions, and investigate deeper into what they could mean.

——————————————————————————————-

“There are no truths, Coyote”, I says. “Only stories.” (391)

-Connected to Thomas King’s idea that stories are created by people and cultures, and are altered. It furthers the idea that what we think of as truth may be irrelevant in the future, like the ‘stories’ of the past (the Earth being flat, or being the center of the universe).

“You remember that big hole and Young Man Walking On Water?” (391)

-The big hole may refer to a possible state of the universe before the Big Bang. Related to the scientific rendition of their creation story. The Young Man is Jesus, but King chooses not to name him. I wonder if it’s because King thinks the tales of Christ walking on water are popular enough that the act alone suffices as a reference? If so, this would be the same matter-of-fact style he used to discuss Genesis within The Truth About Stories.

Glimmerglass (391) is a lake in James Fenimore Cooper’s The Deer Slayer. This novel is the last in a series (Leatherstocking Tales). The main character in these novels is Nathaniel Bumppo, a child to white parents brought up by Indians. He learns how to use weapons, and hunts to survive. Bumppo is referenced as Nasty Bumppo (King, 392, 395). Perhaps King named him Nasty because he promotes racial stereotypes? Much like he does in GGRW(392-393), Nathaniel believes that the races should stick to their inborn “gifts”. This idea promotes stereotypes, and in The Deerslayer it is used as justification to prevent European settlers from scalping others (he claims it to be a Native gift). The character was nicknamed “Hawkeye” (the nickname he gives Old Woman, 395).

“Is that you, Chingachgook says a voice. Is that you, my Indian friend?” (392)

-Chingachgook is Nathaniel Bumppo’s Mohican companion. Nathaniel Bumppo like many other characters (Peterson, Dr. Joe Hovaugh. etc.) is blinded by racism: he doesn’t realize that Old Woman is not his companion, and when she identifies herself he says “I can tell an Indian when I see one. Chingachgook is an Indian. You’re an Indian. Case closed” (392).

-Natty Bumppo (392, 393), and Chingachgook (395) hiding behind trees references the cliché of Indians appearing behind the stealth cover of forest foliage.

“Now I’m going to have to kill something else”…”then I should go ahead and shoot you and get it out of my system” (394).

-This line contrasts Nathaniel’s nature: he only kills to survive. King satirizes his character by implementing beliefs of colonial Americans/cowboys who are seen as being more aggressive, and trigger-happy.

“We have to get you a better killer name than that. How about Daniel Boone?” “How about Harry Truman?”….”Arthur Watkins?” (395).

-Daniel Boone was an American frontiersman, and served in the militia during the Revolutionary War. He fought in Kentucky against the Indians, and repelled an attack by the Indians on Boonesborough, Kentucky (Wikipedia).

-Harry Truman was the president of the United States during World War 2, he succeeded Roosevelt. He is listed as a killer because he served in World War 1 as an artillery-man, and because in WWII he allowed the use of the Atomic Bombs against the Japanese in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

-Arthur Watkins was senator of Utah in 1947-1959, he was a lead figure in trying to terminate recognition of Native tribes. He was a member of the Senate Interior Committee on Indian Affairs, and pushed the Indian Termination policy (an act that sought to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream culture).

“Hawkeye?” Says Coyote. “Is that a good Indian name?”

“No,” I says. “It sounds like a name for a white person who wants to be an Indian.” (395).

-These lines mock the nickname given to Natty, and patronize his heritage (born to white parents, raised by Indians). This joke is furthered when the guards arrest Old Woman when she says she is Hawkeye: the guards arrest her for “trying to impersonate a white man” (396).

“Maybe there was more than one gunman”, says Coyote…”Maybe,” says Coyote, “It was a conspiracy”

-This line references the Kennedy conspiracy theories surrounding the trajectory of “the magic bullet”.

Names? says those soldiers, & they all take out a book from their packs (396).

-The book is The Deerslayer, this is the reason why only Chingachgook’s and Hawkeye’s name are listed.

—————————————————————————————

*I understand Wikipedia isn’t a proper source, but I used it and felt that it should be included for citation purposes.*

Works Cited:

“Arthur Watkins.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 10 July 2015.

“Chingachgook.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 10 July 2015.

“Daniel Boone.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 10 July 2015.

Flick, Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” Canadian Literature 161/162 (1999). Web. June 24, 2015.

“Harry Truman.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 10 July 2015.

“Indian Termination Policy.” The American Indian Movement. Web. 10 July 2015.

“Indian termination policy.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 10 July 2015.

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

“Natty Bumppo.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 10 July 2015.

“The Deerslayer.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 10 July 2015.

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?

I was drawn to this question due to the tied-in nature of popular figures in culture and their combination with Native story-telling methods. After reading Harry Robinson’s story aloud for a previous question I had the mindset that internalized reading would not be sufficient to grasp the content of this novel. Based on Thomas King’s motivation from Robinson’s oral story method I can see similar aspects for why the stories should be spoken. Green Grass Running Water reads at times like a traditional Western book, it appeases to a silent audience. The difference lies in the interruptions of stories via dialogue, and the inability for stories to reach an end (they combine into the next). King wants us to read aloud because it creates a dialogue; whether or not someone is present to participate as an audience member, the person reading must simultaneously think about what’s being said. In a similar way to Robinson’s style of story-telling, the words are unimportant (the derived message is what is significant). Reading something out loud also makes us more connected to the material; we become a reader, and a presenter.

The first name to strike me was included in Chester Blanca’s report (Blanca, 50): Dr. Joseph Hovaugh (King, 16). I hadn’t understood the nature of the allusion at first, trying to evaluate the last name separately from the first (Joe). Finding out that it was related to Jehovah made me cringe at how oblivious I was (Hoe-voh was how I pronounced it aloud, Joe Hoe-voh). After realizing the name clearly referenced the Israeli god, I connected the employees with biblical figures as well: Mary (Jesus’ mother) and John (one of Jesus’ disciples) work for Dr. Hovaugh (King, 17). Their employment makes sense because from a biblical standpoint Mary served as the vessel for a form of God, and John served as an apostle to learn from Jesus and carry on his teachings.

While not as entertaining from a phonetically comprehended standpoint, Polly Johnson and Sue Moodie (King, 156) were interesting to note because I knew of Pauline Johnson through her poetry (which I read in high school), and Susanna Moodie, whose book we read recently. These didn’t require any special vocalization. Another humorous allusion is that of N. Bates (desk clerk of Blossom Lodge) [King, 153], which I instantly recognized and cringed that he would be assigned that job. His name is related to Norman Bates, the desk clerk/owner of the Bates Motel in the movie Psycho (spoiler: he’s a murderer).

Another interesting name mentioned was Sally Jo Weyha (King, 182), which I knew from “Night at the Museum” (unfortunately). The name alludes to Sacajawea, a Shoshone guide for Lewis and Clark’s expedition in Missouri (served more as a translator). This allusion is noted when the name is read quickly, but requires prior knowledge of her name. Louis, Ray, and Al (Louis Riel) [334] just required knowledge of his name, and was identifiable when read quickly.

—————————————————————————————-

Works cited:

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

Flick, Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass Running Water.” Canadian Literature 161-162. (1999). Web. 3 July 2015.

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

Night at the Museum. Dir. Shawn Levy. Perf. Ben Stiller and Robin Williams. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2007. DVD.