3.2 – 5

All my life I’ve been a huge fan of comic books and the games and movies that accompany them. While all of the explosions and super powers and majorly cool outfits are all things I enjoy, one of my absolute favourite things is finding references hidden between the lines. Some of the most obvious of these hidden gems are in the names of well-known characters.

For example, in the Batman comics, the villain Joker’s trusted villainess companion is named Harley Quinn. When read aloud, it is clear that the name is a reference to a harlequin – something which is also terribly obvious with her checkered getup.

Another great example also lies within the Batman comics. Edward Nygma, also known as the Riddler. When his first initial (E) and his last name (Nygma) are said aloud, it sounds like the word enigma. Obviously, as the Riddler very much is an enigma, this is an excellent name.

In Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water, there are also several names in the story which have hidden meanings. The first of these (and my favourite), Dr. Joseph “Joe” Hovaugh, when read aloud sounds like Jehovah. This is my favourite of King’s name references as I felt it was not super obvious. Not often in the story is Dr. Hovaugh referred to as “Joe Hovaugh”. Many times he is just Joe, or Joseph Hovaugh, or Dr. Hovaugh. Another great reference is Ahdamn, who is clearly supposed to sound like Adam, the male counterpart in the story of Genesis. Finally, three of the patrons at the Dead Dog Café are name Joseph, Ray, and Al, which, when read together, sound like Louis Riel, leader of the Metis at the Red River settlement in Manitoba. Much of the time when I read I like to mumble the words to myself, and these references were only picked up in doing so. Had I not been reading aloud, I think I may have missed them entirely.

I think that, in forcing us to read aloud in order to discover these hidden meanings, King is ultimately trying to promote the continuation of oral culture. Already Green Grass, Running Water is an incredible mixture between oral and written traditions. By encouraging the reader to read the story aloud to himself or others, King is not only giving a nod to his culture’s oral roots, but also perpetuating the need for an oral culture, even in a world of printed literature.

Works Cited

Batman DC Comics. Web.

Louis Riel. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Web.

King, Thomas. Green Grass, Running Water. 1993. Toronto: Harper Perennial, 2007. Print.

3.1-1

Canada’s history with its Indigenous peoples, particularly the Métis, is far from pretty.

With Louis Riel, a youthful, educated Métis man at the helm of the Métis National Committee, the Métis people resisted simply having their land taken over by Canada. Instead, they proposed a treaty between themselves and the government of Canada in order to reach an agreement that satisfied both sides. However, Canada refused to have the Métis (along with the French and the English) as a third founding nation.

The reason for Canada’s refusal to negotiate is very much tied to a term Daniel Coleman has called White Civility. As explained in the CanLit Guide, White Civility is very much tied to the idea of loyalism to Britain. At this time, many of the settlers arriving in Canada are so-called civilized white people with English (or French) backgrounds; in fact, the Canadian government is almost certainly made up of just this type of persons. It was important for these British loyalists to make certain Canada was viewed as white and civil – something the Métis were not considered to be. Because of this, Canada was unwilling to partner with the Métis. As stated in the CanLit Guide, the Indigenous people “were seen primarily as obstacles to settlement who needed to be civilized before they could be assimilated into the population and become citizens.”

Ultimately, it is obvious that the Canadian Government was wrong in their failure to recognize the Métis as their own nation. The Métis Committee were being perfectly reasonable when the negotiations began. Working with the Canadians, they created the Provisional Government of Assiniboia and wrote up several reasonable terms that Canada would have to meet in order for them to join Confederation.

When a small group of armed Canadians aiming at disintegrating the provisional government were caught and put to trial by the provisional government, one of its men was sentenced to death. This action thoroughly upset much of the white population of Ontario and, while the government of Canada did fulfill enough terms for Manitoba to join Confederation, there was a call for restitution from Riel for the armed Canadian’s death – whether it had been justified or not. In order to satisfy these calls, Canada sent a force to the Red River that was ultimately aimed at killing Riel.

While Riel fled to the safety of the United States, it is still incredible to think that so much of the struggle between the Métis National Committee and Canada could have been avoided if the Métis were treated with respect rather than marginalized because they failed to fulfill an image of White Civility.

Works Cited

Louis Riel. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Web.

Introduction. CanLit Guides. Web.

Sugars, Cynthia. Civility at the Gates. Canadian Literature. Web.