3.3: The Stories We Live (Hyper-texting Green Grass, Running Water)

I’m writing this blog on a mountain. The Lazy Z Resort proudly calls itself “a mountain hideaway.” It certainly is secluded, judging by the winding, motion-sickness inducing road and the spotty wifi that fulfills my barest online needs. Not that I’m complaining. The stars here are gorgeous.

And I do mean the fiery balls of gas in space, not the apparently well-known folk who have stayed here before. The photo wall does make a decent gallery of sexy white women, cowboy hats, and fringed leather jackets.

I have to say, the further I am from major cities, the less I feel I belong in North America. Isn’t that funny? Moving through a predominantly white population is jarring, considering I spent most of my life surrounded by the Asian diaspora of the Lower Mainland. It’s not that I experience unpleasant encounters here in places such as Twain Harte or Sonora—far from it—but the sensation that I’ve crossed into “Otherness” does tend to creep under my skin from time to time.

I suppose with that, I’ll dive right into my assigned pages (page 169-181) for Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water. (But first, I’d like to apologize for the lack of proper GGRW in-text citation because I’m currently working off an ebook that has no page numbers. Curse you, Amazon.)

There is so much to talk about even in these few pages; it’s a little overwhelming.

 

“Woman Inherits the Earth,” or Alberta Frank:

As Jane Flick notes in “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water,” Alberta’s name might be a reference to the Frank Slide disaster in 1903 (144). Flick also mentions speculation that this is one of the disasters that Dr. Hovaugh connects to the four old Indians (144). I could talk about the seeming irony in Alberta’s desire for a child when she is named after a disaster that killed about 90 people, but instead I want to turn to the myth of Frankie Slide.

In this article, Monica Field, the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre’s area manager, says:

“Anyone who has heard of the Frank Slide thinks they know that the whole town was buried except for one little baby girl and they didn’t know who she was so they named her Frankie Slide,” Field added with a chuckle.

“That is the story that has been told and it is what people are still saying.”

So maybe Alberta isn’t just a reference to the disaster, but an incarnation of the legendary Frankie Slide. It seems to fit in with GGRW’s concerns with storytelling and cycles and the intertwining of past stories with the present. Even better, there is a folk song written about Frankie Slide. I tried to look for a recording of “Ballad of Frankie Slide” but was only able to find the lyrics here.

 

“Gloria” or Alberta and Artificial Insemination:

Alberta is independent. We see this in her relationships with Lionel and Charlie and her interaction with the desk clerk. Alberta’s independence is arguably most prominent in her desire for a child without a husband.

There’s a funny clashing of morals that happens around artificial insemination. First within Alberta, with her trepidation towards the process, calling it “mechanical” (King). It also sounds like a matter of pride / degradation as she says there’s “nothing wrong with it…for cows” and becomes “furious” while imagining herself being inseminated like one. Then she gets stuck on cows and horses when flipping through the Yellow Pages.

“Nothing wrong with it” immediately reminds me of the discussion Coyote has with the narrator about bestiality:

“What’s wrong with that?” says Coyote.

“It’s against the rules,” I says.

“But he doesn’t mean Coyotes,” says Coyote. (King)

Which brings me to…

 

“It’s Against the Rules,” or Alberta and Artificial Insemination Part II, The Bennett Clinic:

According to Flick’s notes, The Bennett Clinic is “ironically named for R.B. Bennett” (156). But maybe the clinic isn’t as ironically named as Flick says. There might be some parallels between the Bennett Clinic and Bennett’s run as Prime Minister. Just as the clinic ultimately fails Alberta, Bennett had failed Canada during the Great Depression. There is also the employment of what could be called a “switcheroo.” During his campaign, Bennett promised to “end unemployment,” and yet, once elected:

“Bennett had few concrete visions for drawing Canadians out of the crisis. Basically, he believed governments should interfere as little as possible in the free enterprise system. His few efforts to regulate the economy involved traditional policies…these efforts did not stop the economic hemorrhage.” (“Blaming the Prime Minister”)

Similarly, Alberta is told the Bennett Clinic will “take single women” (King), but is then denied the procedure because she has no husband—the very reason she went to the Bennett Clinic in the first place. Here is the second funny clashing of morals, where a clinic offering untraditional conception sets up traditional rules as its gatekeeper.

 

Lionel Red Dog and the Amazing Fringed Leather Dream Jacket

It’s clear that Lionel, for all his reality as a forty-year-old salesman, wants to be a main hero. A main white hero. (After all, the Mysterious Warrior dies.) His childhood hero is John Wayne, and even though he says Alberta is “an independent woman” (King), he assumes the traditional route of marriage and children (with a ring, no less) is a direction Alberta wants to go.

Sadly, unlike the fringed leather jackets of John Wayne, General Custer, and Bumppo, Lionel’s signature jacket is a “horrible gold thing.” (King) I know there is a significance to the jacket, but I’ve yet to place my finger on it. Everyone wants to get him a new one. As Ismael says, “The jacket is a real good start.”

 

The World According to Hollywood, or That Western Everyone’s Following:

“Alberta lay on the bed and touched the remote control. An old Western. Alberta changed to the next channel. Nothing. The next channel. Nothing. And the next. Before she knew it, she was back to the Western.” (King)

Within pages 169-181, Charlie watches the same Western on channel twenty-six.

It’s telling that the Western is the only thing available for the characters to watch / read. I see it symbolizing the canonization of the European (colonial) narrative, pushing out all other stories. I suppose this is why the Indians were so concerned with “fixing” it, by putting themselves within the film, and then again later in Bursum’s store.

I found Alberta watching the Western humorous because of the contrast between Alberta and the white female lead. The woman falls “in love with the Indian chief and the soldiers were coming to rescue her” (King). Alberta notes it’s “just the sort of thing Lionel and Charlie would like” which harkens back to Lionel’s desire to be the main hero and his desire for a more or less traditional relationship and marriage despite (partially?) acknowledging Alberta’s untraditional independence.

Indispensable to the discussion of the Western is Charlie’s father, Portland Looking Bear. In Hollywood, the mecca of American stories, Portland (or Iron Eyes Screeching Eagle) helps carry out the Western narrative by becoming a Hollywood Indian. The character of C. B. Cologne, whom Flick notes is a reference to Chrisopher Columbus (153), furthers the idea that Westerns are domineering American/European narratives by literally taking over Native roles, and thus visibility. (It reminds me of the criticisms Jared Leto faced after taking a role as a transgender woman in the film Dallas Buyers Club.)

The years Portland spends working for the band council are called “good” (King), but after Lillian dies, Portland “stop[s] fixing things and beg[ins] to watch television.” What is it about Hollywood that drives Portland back? It’s a place that exploited his Indianness and shunned it at the same time. I also can’t see him going back with the mind to fix things. So what is it?

 

I guess I’d like to touch upon the idea that Lionel, Charlie, and Portland (and Eli!), have all struggled with the tension between white and Native narratives, and have chosen, at least for a while, to immerse themselves in telling white stories. Maybe what they need is the balancing skill Lionel’s mother uses to cook dishes like “Hawaiian Curdle Surprise” with moose for stock instead of octopus.

 

Before ending this entry, there are a few more things I’d like to mention that I haven’t been able to come up with an answer or a good understanding of.

 

Colours:

I feel there’s significance to the colours that come up in the story. Alberta is connected twice to the colour blue: first, with her blue Nissan—a reference to the Niña (Flick 146)—and then as a “blue priority patient.” Lionel is connected to the colour red: his name is Lionel Red Dog and the four Indians make a point to ask about his favourite colour, and Hawkeye says “I like red, myself.”

I’ve read here and there that the colour blue is associated with North and Red with East. According to this article, it seems these colours are widely different in meaning from each other. And if blue means enduring and defeat, and red means birth and childhood, is it just me or does that make the connections both ironic and fitting at the same time?

 

The Number Four:

The number four comes up quite a few times: the four Indians, Lionel turning forty, Alberta’s option number four, the four rounds of the Happy Birthday song.

 

Singing:

Finally, the singing. I want to look specifically at two lines that jumped out at me.

“All the way through town, their voices had twisted and turned, sounding for all the world like cats trying to get out of a tin can.”

“Lionel could still hear their singsong voices in his head. Happy birthday. Happy birthday, as if something was coming apart…”

I like that these two lines imply that the singing is working to free something, free voices from containment. Sounds a lot like the waters being held back by the dam, ultimately being set free.

 

 

References:

“Blaming the Prime Minister.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, n.d. Web. 17 July 2014.

Flick, Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” Canadian Literature161/162 (1999). Web. 16 July 2014.

“The Frank Slide Story.” Frank Slide Interpretive Centre. Alberta Culture, 08 Mar. 2012. Web. 17 July 2014.

King, Thomas. Green Grass, Running Water. N.p.: Harper Perennial, 2012. Kindle.

“LOOK: Canada’s Deadliest Rock Slide.” HuffPost Alberta. The Huffington Post, 05 Nov. 2012. Web. 17 July 2014.

“Richard Bedford Bennett.” Historica Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia, n.d. Web. 17 July 2014.

Sheye. “Lyr Add: Ballad of the Frank Slide (Robert Gard).” The Mudcat Café. The Mudcat Café, 01 Apr. 1998. Web. 19 July 2014.

Sieczkowski, Cavan. “Jared Leto’s Oscar Win For ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ Criticized By Transgender Community.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 03 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 July 2014.

Tiptree, James, Jr. Houston, Houston, Do You Read? N.p.: Fawcett, 1976. Read “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” by Tiptree Jr James Online from Epub File. General EBooks. Web. 19 July 2014.

Tracey, Tom. “Medicine Wheel.” Examiner.com. Examiner, 01 Dec. 2011. Web. 17 July 2014.

Tri985. “God Creates Dinosaurs.” YouTube. YouTube, 12 Jan. 2011. Web. 17 July 2014.