Green Grass, Running Water: Reader Response Journal

Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King is a satirical novel. Coming from his perspective as a Native American Cherokee, he satirizes a variety of predominately white customs, traditions, and beliefs. His story is very post-modern in the sense that it jumps around; there are at least eight story lines going on simultaneously all at different locations and times, with some characters overlapping, and some staying in their own story. I found this to be very confusing when just as I'm getting interested in a specific story it jumps away and I don't get to hear what happens next for at least another 30 pages sometimes. Sometimes each page will jump back and forth between two stories. It is all very hard to follow, so I used many, many post-it notes to try to keep the stories straight. The book is split into four main sections, each with some writing in Cherokee on a page that separates the different sections. Why does he write that part in Cherokee if it's meant to be read by Americans?

The main characters in the first story are Coyote, a backwards dog; G O D, as well as the character who is telling the story. I thought it was kind of weird how King portrays God as little and annoying, and in response God says "I don't want to be a little god, says that god. I want to be a big god!...'Okay, okay,' says Coyote. ' Just stop shouting.' There, says that G O D. That's better"(3). I didn't like how Coyote and this "I" character, whom I'm assuming is meant to be Thomas King both have quotes, but G O D doesn't. Later in the stories there is an Old Coyote as well as Coyote, and who's who and if they are the same or not is very confusing. I'm still not sure: Are Coyote and Old Coyote the same creature?

The next storyline introduced deals predominately with Lionel, a 40-year-old salesman at a local television store. Norma, Lionel's Aunt, also is in many of his stories, as well as his love interest, Alberta. His stories talk about how, "Lionel had made only three mistakes in his entire life, the kind of mistakes that seem small enough at the time, but somehow get out of hand" (28). He explains these mistakes throughout his stories. The first was getting his tonsils removed, which ended up with a accidental fight to a hospital and a heart condition he never had always haunting his resumes the rest of his life. "The second mistake Lionel made was going to Salt Lake City"(57). He went there for business, but ended up getting caught with the "American Indian Movement"(63), and ended up with a scar on his criminal record for the rest of his life. His third mistake was "taking the job at Bill Bursum's Home Entertainment Barn" (85). This mistake prevented him from furthering his education and got him stuck in a minimum-wage paying job for a good portion of his life. His stories deal with those mistakes, and how he needs to get his life back in order, starting with his birthday, a day when many of the story lines interact. I thought it was kind of funny how all of the mistakes he made ended up so bad because of accidents or being mistakenly associated with a group.

The next storyline in order from the beginning is probably my favorite storyline in the book. It deals with four very old Indians: The Lone Ranger, Ishmeal, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye. Why do none of them have very "Indian" sounding names? It's ironic how they have names of characters from other stories that are all white and main characters, but in this book they are old Indians. Other stories mention that they may be hundreds of years old. But that's not humanly possible. Are they supposed to be like "fore-fathers" of Indian culture? Through each main section of the story, one of the four great Indians tells a story that somehow relates to the Bible.

The Lone Ranger is the first narrator, and he tells the story of First women. This is a satire of the creation story in the Bible, and to prove that the first man is "Ahdamn"(40). It is supposed to be Adam in the Bible. Was it intention for his name to sound like "Ah, Damn"? Then as the story continues they are "First women's garden"(40). There are many satires in the garden, from "all sorts of good things to eat fell out of that Tree. Apples fall out. Melons fall out. Bananas fall out. Hot dogs. Fry bread, corn, potatoes. Pizza. Extra-crispy fried chicken"(41); to G O D running around and yelling "Bad business!...You got to put all that stuff back, that G O D tells First Women" (72). Why does he make weird things fall out of the tree like fried chicken? And why does First Women purposefully leave the garden? In the Bible it's supposed to be a safe haven. Is Thomas King showing his perspective of white culture here? When Ahdamn and First Woman leave the garden there are some rangers that appear. The rangers are trying to take them, but then "[First Woman] takes some black cloth out of her purse. She cuts some holes in that black cloth. She puts that black cloth around her head. Look, look, all the live rangers says, and they point their fingers at First Woman. It's the Lone Ranger. Yes, they says, it is the Lone Ranger"(75). Why do they fall for that trick? Is King hinting that whites are stupid or easily fooled? Anyways, they are able to escape because she says that Ahdamn is her Indian side-kick, Tonto. After the rangers leave, she takes her mask of. But then a group of soldiers capture them before she can put her mask on and they take them to Florida. Once in the prison with many other Indians, First Woman puts on her mas again. "It's the Lone Ranger, the guards short. It's the Lone Ranger, they shout again, and they open the gate. So the Lone Ranger walks out of the prison, and the Lone Ranger and Ishmael and Robinson Crusoe and Hawkeye head west" (106). This ends the Lone Ranger (as narrator) and First Woman's part of the novel.

The next story is narrated by Ishmael. His story using Changing Woman, instead of First woman. Does this mean there will be four women; one for each male Indian? Is there some connection between the Indians and the women they tell the story of? Changing Woman starts in the sky world, but she keeps looking at her reflection in the water below. Why does he have the two worlds separate, is it supposed to represent heaven and earth? Once she looks over a little too far and falls out of the sky. She lands on a canoe, on top of Old Coyote. So is Old Coyote in the story, and Coyote is just watching? This section is now a satire of Noah's Arc, another Biblical reference. Why does he keep insulting the Bible? Maybe he finds our stories ridiculous, just like many people would probably find the stories about the Native American Gods? This story has many words and descriptions that are very crude. She see that, "there is poop all around the canoe. That canoe isn't all white, either, I can tell you that" (159). The animals on board the canoe make crude jokes about farting as well. Worst of all is when she meets Noah, he is a crude horny pervert, one of the first things he says is "Lemme see your breasts, says Noah. I like women with big breasts. I hope God remembered that" (160). Does Tom King write all these crude things to depict white men as dirty and crude? Noah constantly chases Changing Woman, trying to get her; "Time for procreating, shouts Noah" (161). They wind up on an island, and Changing Woman talks with Old Coyote. He tells Changing Woman about rules that Noah has, "Rules, says Changing Woman. What rules? Well, says that Old Coyote, Noah has these rules. The first rule is Thou Shalt Have Big Breasts. And Noah's wife had small breasts? says Changing Woman. No, says Old Coyote, she had great big breasts. Ah, says Changing Woman. It makes sense when you think about it, says Old Coyote" (162). Why does he insult the ten commandments? I noticed how the great big breasts didn't follow Noah's rules: both too much and/or too little of something are considered bad things. Is that another one of King's views on Christianity? After that he shouts to Changing Woman as he leaves he behind on the island, "this is a Christian ship, he shouts. I am a Christian man. This is a Christian journey. And if you can't follow our Christian rules, then you're not wanted on the voyage" (163). Yet another insult towards Christianity from King? She's stranded on the island for awhile, until Ahab runs into her. Why does he use Ahab from Moby Dick in his story? He lets Changing Woman on his ship, and tells her about his hunt for Moby Dick, the great white whale. She talks to one of the men on the ship, who says his name is Ishmael. He tries to give Changing Woman the name Queequeg. Is that the name of a Native American in Moby Dick? Changing Woman asks Ahab why he is hunting this whale and his response is; "this is a Christian world, you know. We only kill things that are useful or things that we don't like" (219). Then Coyote says that Ahab kind of looks like G O D around the eyes. Is Tom saying that he thinks that's how God views people on Earth? The crew sees a black whale, and they all shout, "Blackwhaleblackwhateblackwhalesbianblackwhalesbianblackwhalesbianblackwhale" (220). Why do they say blackwhaLESBIAN? And why is it hidden inside the jumble of words, is Tom King trying to make it a hidden message? So Changing Woman goes to this great black whale she has called Moby-Jane, and the two of them swim away from Ahab's ship, after she punches a hole in it. The two of them go to Florida. On the way Tom makes erotic suggestions in his writing. Is that why he says lesbian before? Is there something between Changing Woman and Moby-Jane? I tried to find a meaning in there, but it just confused me. When she gets to Florida and Moby-Jane leaves, a bunch of soldiers show up to take her to prison. What do these soldiers signify? She says her name is Ishmael, and don't believe her and take her to Fort Marion. Isn't that the same place they took the Lone Ranger too? I bet all the Indians meet up there at the ends of their stories.

It's Robinson Crusoe's turn to narrate the story next. His story starts with the new woman Thought Woman. She comes up to a river that persuades her to wade into the middle of it. Coyote seems like he doesn't like the river when he says, "'I don't like the sound of that.' 'Maybe the river reminds you of someone,' I say" (255). Why does he have this 'I' character bring that up? Who is Thomas King trying to have the water represent? I have no idea. Thought Woman falls asleep in the river, and the river brings her all the way to the end, where she then floats in the ocean for a long time. "Three months. Six months. Nine months. You get the idea" (298). Why does she float for so long? She finally floats onto an island, where she meets A.A. Gabriel. Arch Angel Gabriel, another Biblical reference? He gives her a business card that sings "Hosanna da, hosanna da, hosanna da"(298). The 'I' character says "you got the wrong song...this song goes 'Hosanna da, our home on Natives' land'" (299). Our home on Natives' land. Did King put that in here as another stab at the white, Christian, man for landing in the new world and stealing the Natives' land? A.A. Gabriel opens his briefcase and goes through a process with Thought Woman of filing out forms and getting things in order between them. After his questioning, he lays her down and tries to procreate with her. Why does he use this idea again to show the white man's crudeness? King abuses the Hail Mary prayer, sacred to Catholics, when he writes this scene of Gabriel taking advantage of Thought Woman. Why does he do that? Thought Woman escapes Gabriel, and he shouts that, "we can always find another one[Mary], you know" (301). She floats away again until she runs into an island, who tells her that Robinson Crusoe is on the island. He has been alone on the island, making lists of good things and bad things. When he sees Thought Woman, he rejoices, "Thank God! says Robinson Crusoe. It's Friday" (325)! He calls her Friday, yet another Indian sidekick? King has another view of white culture when he writes, "under the bad points, says Robinson Crusoe, as a civilized white man, it has been difficult not having someone of color around whom I could educate and protect" (325). He thinks that all white people believe that they are superior to all peoples of other skin colors. Thought Woman floats away from Robinson Crusoe, making lists of her own and acting like him. Coyote thinks up and creates Soldiers with flowers in their hair. When Thought Woman floats to Florida those soldiers are there and they blame her for putting flowers in their hair, because she's Indian. She claims to be Robinson Crusoe, but they arrest her and send her to Fort Marion, where the other Indians are.

The last story of the four Indians is told by Hawkeye, and it relates to Old Woman. She's looking for good things to eat. She finds a Tender Root to eat, but it crawls back into its hole when she goes to eat it. What significance does that Root and the Tree have? She chases the Root, digging with a stick until her hole is so big she falls into the sky. When Coyote tries to tell the next part of the story, he shouts out other biblical events, including, "a fiery furnace," and "a manger" (386). Is this to relate it to the Bible for another story? After all that she falls into the water, and she sees something. Coyote shouts out more biblical things, "a pillar of salt," and "a burning bush" (387). she actually "sees a man. Young man. A young man walking on water" (387). That's supposed to represent Jesus, son of God. He's looking for a boat, and Old Woman finds it first. He pretends that he doesn't know she saw it, and when he sees it he approaches it. There are strong waves around the boat and the boat is rocking hard. The Young Man Walking On Water explains what he'll do; "I am now going to walk across the water to that vessel. I am going to calm the seas and stop all the agitation. After that, I will rescue my...my...ah..." (388-389). Why can't he remember who his disciples are? He yells at the waves to calm down and the boat to stop rocking, but it doesn't work. So the Old Woman sings to the waves and they boat, and they calm down. The men see that she saved them, but Young Man Walking On Water Tries to take the credit, and eventually they believe him and go away with him, while Old Woman floats away. Why did Tom make this character that's supposed to be Jesus so close-minded? Was that to symbolize Christians in general being very close-minded and accepting of other cultures? Old Woman floats around for a long time, until she winds up in a lake and meets "Nathaniel Bumppo, Post-Colonial Wilderness Guide and Outfitter" (433). He calls Old Woman Chingachgook, his Indian friend. The fourth Indian friend for the fourth Indian story? Nasty (Nathaniel) Bumppo characterizes whites and Indians, and Old Woman fits in both categories. Did King write this to show that whites and Indians have more in common then many close-minded people think? Nasty Bummpo wants to shoot Old Coyote when he walks by, but he leaves, so then he wants to shoot Old Woman. But then he gets shot himself and blames it on Old Woman. He wants to give her a killer name, so he says; "how about Daniel Boone?...How about Harry Truman?...Arthur Watkins?...Here we go...Hawkeye. That's a good name. Hawkeye" (437). She is about to question the name Hawkeye, but then he drops dead. Once he's dead Chingachgook comes looking for him. While they are talking soldiers show up, and see Nasty Bumppo's body. "Who shot Nasty Bumppo" (438)? They all deny it, but they have to cross their names off the list to prove they are innocent. Chingachgook gets his name crossed off, but Old Woman doesn't. She lists off names "Old Woman...Daniel Boone...Harry Truman...Arthur Watkins...Is there a Hawkeye in that book" (439)? They arrest her and when she asks why the soldiers say that its "for trying to impersonate a white man" (439). They send her on a train and she ends up in Fort Marion with all the other Indians. The Soldier In Charge Of The Fort says that there is "no limit on Indians" (457) that the fort can hold. is this representing Indian imprisonment camps that white men forced them into? The Lone Ranger puts on her/his mask so they all can escape. Why does just that mask allow all of them to escape? So when they escape they walk to a Big river that they want to cross. They ask nicely and the river makes an Earthquake for them all to cross the river. This isn't the only Earthquake that they've caused. They are all trying to save the world, and if they have the power to cause earthquakes, then they are very capable indeed. They caused the dam to crack and the water to spill out, putting an end to the fight between the dam company and Eli, the Indian whose house prevented the company from using the dam. So these Indians ended a fight between the whites and the Indians, is that how they plan to save to world? By ending those types of fights? Racism? Prejudice? Once they are all finished they go back to the place where they started and tell Babo Jones about their adventure.

Next in the tangle of so many stories is Dr. Joseph Hovaugh and Babo Jones. I noticed right away the symbolism in Dr. Joe Hovaugh's (Johova)name, but I couldn't put much of a connection to that. Dr. Hovaugh is in his office when his secretary tells him that the police are downstairs because of "the Indians" (13). What is that supposed to mean? All we know is that they're gone. Babo Jones is the women who works at the same hospital as Dr. Hovaugh; she cleans up the hospital. In this chapter she is being questioned by Sergeant Cereno about the Indians that disappeared. I don't understand why the Sergeant is questioning a cleaning lady, not a nurse or another specialist. Babo is thinking about her car out the window, a Pinto that is parked in a puddle. This lady is really weird, why did King want Babo portrayed as like a crazy random women. Maybe to show the kind of Indian many racist white people think all Indians are like? Or she could just be psycho? Later Dr. Hovaugh is talking with a Dr. John Eliot about the missing Indians. He says at every time they disappear, things happen. Apparently these Indians have disappeared thirty-seven times throughout the years. How old are these Indians? Babo says they are hundreds of years old. That seems really weird, but it could be true with how much they've done. When they go back to the interrogation of Babo, it is very hard to follow the conversation because of how frequently she jumps around in what she's saying. What's the purpose in showing the Sergeant getting all frustrated. It's a typical reaction for this type of situation, but King may have put this in the book to show the white man's impatience in dealing with Indians? She finally says their names were "Mr. Red, Mr. White, Mr. Black, and Mr. Blue" (55). But those names were never on file, they must have had different names. Does the colors symbolize America? Later the Sergeant and Dr. Hovaugh talk about Babo and the missing Indians. Dr. Hovaugh seems about as random as Babo when he is talking to the Sergeant. Babo and Jimmy Delano talk after the Sergeant is done with her, and they talk a lot about the Indians' stories. Why are these stories in here again, when they had already been said before? Dr. Hovaugh tells Sergeant Cereno about his assumptions in correlation with the disappearing Indians and strange events occurring. He says that they are very old, and when the Sergeant asks him to go back to the beginning of the story Joe says, "in the beginning, there was nothing. There was just the water" (103). Why is this brought up in every story, what is the significance of the water? Babo realizes whatever information she must know must be important if, "even Dr. Joeseph God Almighty Hovaugh himself had come down to the lodge to talk to her" (245). Now Joe and Babo are together in his white Karmann-Ghia driving on a long trip to try to find the Indians. They track them through all the way to the city of Blossom, where most of the other stories take place as well. Dr. Hovaugh's car goes missing, and it was in a puddle too. What is with disaperaing cars in puddles? Why is that important? Dr. Hovaugh has basically gone crazy when Babo tells him she has gotten bus tickets to tour Parliament Lake and the Grand Baleen Dam. They witness the earthquake and the floating cars and the crack in the dam. Then they go back to where they came from and in the end Dr. Hovaugh's secretary calls and tells him that the Indians are back again.

Alberta Frank is a woman with a serious problem. She is romantically involved with two men in this story; Charlie Looking Bear and Lionel. That sounds like trouble right from the beginning. She really wants to have a child, but she doesn't want to have to get married and be tied down to one person forever. She is a college professor, and she teaches Indian history, an interesting class with all the ignorant white people King no doubt purposefully put into the story to show white culture's ignorance to the Native American culture. This weekend is Lionel's birthday, and she tells Charlie she is going to go have dinner with him. So does that mean that both sides know that Alberta is sleeping with both of them? Alberta considered her options for getting the child she always wanted. First of all she could marry one of the two and have a family with them. But she rejected that idea right away; "Option one was obscene" (69). I think Alberta is so afraid to get married because she is afraid the man will end up being like her father Amos, who was not very good to her mother. Her other options were to discuss her goals with both men, and see which of them was willing to help without wanting the marriage after the child. Option three for her was probably the most dangerous; to go to clubs and try to find a random person to get her pregnant. She even went so far as to look up artificial insemination, but that plan failed because she needs to have a husband for it to be a legal operation. Why does she want a child so badly? She drove down to Blossom in her Blue Nissan, which was later stolen from her when it was in a puddle. Why do all the cars in puddles get stolen? Charlie's car was also stolen on the way down to Blossom, to talk to Lionel and Alberta. He was driving a Red Pinto. Another important thing about Charie is that his dad was once a famous actor in Hollywood. He starred in Western movies with famous actors like John Wayne for a very long time. Being an Indian, he got many of the parts for movies since he was more real then the Italians or Mexicans trying to be Indians. But then they all moved back to the reservation when his mother died. Later in Charlie's life his dad and him went back to Hollywood, but things had changed and his father was out of luck for a movie career. Charlie went home but his father stayed there to live out his days in sadness.

So this means a Red Pinto, a Blue Nissan, and a White Karmann-Ghia were all stolen while in puddles. Those were the same three cars that floated to the dam when the earthquake happened and the dam broke open. That makes me think that the cars symbolize Christopher Columbus' ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria and that when they go to the dam it's like the ships coming to the new world, to unleash the flood of the white man upon the Native Americans.

Another story in this book is the story of the people who work at the Dead Dog Cafe, or more specificaly Latisha. The resturant sells beef that they claim to be dog as a tourist attraction. Latisha was married once, and had three kids before her husband George up and left one day, went back to his family. Latisha is now a single parent mom working as much as she can at the Dead Dog Cafe. She makes her way to the Sun Dance, where all the other characters in the book are going too. This Sun Dance must be really important if it is bringing all the characters together like this. George randomly shows up at the Sun Dance and harasses Latisha, as well as the fact that he takes pictures at the Sun Dance, a place that is supposed to be sacred where pictures are forbidden. He is shooed away by the other characters and the rest of Latisha's story goes on as normal. I thought Latisha was a likable character because of the fact that she was a single mom, yet worked so hard for her kids to have the best life possible.

Eli was an older man who now lived in his grandmother's home underneath a dam that cannot be fully operational unless he leaves. Cliford Sifton keeps pressuring him to move but Eli does not legally have to move so he says he will always stay where he is. Eli is an Indian who left the reserve for a long time, distancing himself from his tribe, until one day he came back. Now he thinks of himself as "an Indian Thoreau. Except that Thoreau had been at Walden Pond for oly a year and he hadn't been serious, saw it as a social experiment" (315). I like how he brings up that connection, I think it's very interesting how he lives in isolation like that. Back when he lived off of the reservation, he had been in a relationship with a nice girl named Karen. This was the only relationship between a white and an Indian that would have worked without any problems. But King writes the book so that Karen is very sick for a long time, and as soon as she starts to get better, she dies in a car accident. I think Tom wrote this because he feels that one way or another, whites and Indians were not meant to be together. I think that either he feels this way, or he thinks that this is how most white people think. At the end of the novel, when the earthquake breaks the dam, the water flows out and destroys Eli's house, and washes him down the river. No one is sad for Eli, they know that he died happy in his home. Eli was probably happy that he would be able to see Karen again.

The last story they have in the book focuses on Lionel's boss at the television store, Bill Bursum. He basically is a man who loves Westerns, but only when the Indians are killed and the cowboys win. The four Indians changed his favorite movie so that John Wayne dies, and he is distraught. He bought a lot of lakeside property when the dam was built but because of Eli he cannot build on the property. He was at the property daydreaming when the earthquake happened, so he witnesseed the dam break first hand as well.

Thomas King's Green Grass, Running Water is a very bitter satire at times. He has some humor included, but for the most part his writing reflects his hatred at the ignorance and predjudices of most white people. I think he is kind of hypocritical in how his writing shows hatred towards the white man, and yet he talks about how the white men are bad for hating the Indians. I thought this book did a really good job however, at opening my eyes to a lot of Indian culture. I really look at a lot of things about Indians very differently now, and I think that is in part because of the harse way he compares it to white Christian society.