GGRW Blog

Green Grass Running Water is clever book that is written with many references to pop culture and the bible in a light hearted manner. There are five allusions that greatly influence the story. The first is the reference to Macbeth when the Dr Hovaugh is planning the trip at the motel repeatedly saying, tomorrow, a famous line in the play. This adds to the story because it reinforces the constant allusions made to different things that make you think about how out there this story truly is, due to the fact that it truly touches on everything. The second allusion is made to the star of Bethlehem when Dr Hovaugh and Babo are crossing the border. This adds to the story because there are constant references to the Christian creation story and this keeps the reader thinking about the native perception of the bible according to the four Indians. Overall this greatly increases the underling fun that is being poked at Christianity. The third allusion is to great men of justice who have killed when Old Woman is named Hawkeye, after declining Daniel Boone and Harry Truman. This reinforces the story’s constant need to make light of history and culture and preserves the humor in the mix. The forth allusion is to the Kennedy assassination that it’s a conspiracy theory.  It makes light to the fact that there is always something happening in government yet natives seem to get sorely overlooked. Greatly adding to the plot which seems to put natives on the winning side as they did with the western that they “fixed” The fifth and final relevant allusion is the Maxwell coffee commercial in which the line “it’s going to be a good day” is said after coffee. This adds to the story because it shows how redundant our culture is and how natives have been assimilated into it, but also because it adds to the humor in this book which greatly pokes fun at modern culture.

            Much is revealed about the characters Eli Stand Alone, Lionel Red Dog, and Coyote in the last two sections of the book. There are three main passages that   greatly contribute to your understanding of the characters. The first is for Eli Stand Alone, he remembers his struggles, how he couldn’t go home and he avoided the Sundance because he wanted to make a life for himself in Toronto. How it was hard and it got easier the more distance he put between who he is and who he had been. This shows us his conflicted emotions about his life and heritage. It also explains his need to stay in his mother’s cabin. The second is about Lionel Red Dog The passage about his 40^th birthday and how he was embarrassed with who he was but more importantly how he was going to change. This shows us that although Lionel had been an under achieving character, he has the will to change and he is finally doing something about it. Also it highlights the ability within Lionel to become a stronger man. The last has to do with Coyote, when Robinson Crusoe tells the story of Thought Women it begins the same with Thought Women falling out of the sky, Coyote cries out in protest because the story is to begin again it shows us that not only is coyote a trickster but he is also very impatient almost like a child. In addition it leads on to the fact that made coyote will do something mischievous again.

Blog Assignment Three Day Road

The scene from Three Day Road where Xavier kills Elijah is a crucial one. It shows the progression of the two friends and how the war has changed them.  Elijah has grown wild with killing and has even turned to removing the scalps of his victims for “proof”, that he has killed them. The blood he spilled has wrought madness within him and he has turned Windigo, hungry for the meat of German flesh. Xavier has gone down a different path, one far from morphine. He has matured to hate killing, and has realized that this war is not worth the cost. When Xavier kills Elijah he brings closure to the book because he has now taken on the important role of Windigo killer thus bringing Elijah’s madness to an end.  This is important to the book because it was the final test placed upon Xavier who stayed true to his values learned in the bush. Elijah however was turned into a war mongering British soldier and in the end it destroyed him.

“You have gone mad. There is no coming back from where you’ve travelled.” I press down harder. Elijah’s eyes shine with tears. His face grows a dark red. He tries to whisper words to me but I know I cannot allow Elijah to speak them. I must finish this. I have become what you are Niska.

I lean all of my weight down across the rifle. Elijah begs with his eyes. I desperately want to stop what I’ve started but something else controls me now. My tears fall heavier on his face. His mouth opens and closes, gasping for air. Veins bulge from his forehead.

Just when I think he is made of something unbreakable, the rifle in my hands sink down and I feel through the stock the collapse of his windpipe under the rifles pressure. He goes still his eyes still watching me. (370)

This scene in the book shows Xavier’s maturity and that he has grown up and followed in his aunt’s foot steps. Connecting the fact that his aunt was taught by her father about killing Windigos as well as doing it herself years later; to Xavier killing Elijah after being taught by his aunt when he was younger.  Even though Xavier doesn’t want to kill Elijah, he does it because he realizes what Elijah has become, and knows that he has to. This shows Xavier’s strength as a person, that he and Niska both have. This ends the cycle and shows that Xavier has inherited the gift and talent of Windigo killing that his family has passed down through the generations. Thus bringing the story to and end while tying up all loose ends.