Who is "I"?

When I began reading this book I was very confused. I didn’t know what was going on with Coyote and his dream, G O D, nor Ishmael, Hawkeye, the Lone Ranger, and Robinson Crusoe. A question I still have is who is “I”? Is it the character telling the story, so the Lone Ranger in the first chapter? Or is it like The Yellow Wallpaper where the reader is supposed to put herself into the character’s role? Or is it just a character named “I”? I hope to get an answer to that during discussion.

As I read further, I was able to get a somewhat better picture of what was going on, at least as far as the characters who weren’t telling the story. Alberta was one of these people, and a very interesting one. She has some strong views, especially when it comes to the men in her life.

Alberta is dating two men, Lionel and Charlie, at the same time. Both of the men know this and are therefore competing for Alberta’s love, and maybe her hand in marriage. Yet marriage is something Alberta does not want; what she does want is a baby. “And as she saw it, she had several options” (69). Among Alberta’s options are just using Lionel and Charlie to get her pregnant and not pursuing a deeper relationship, having a one-night-stand, and being artificially inseminated. She actually sought out artificial insemination, but since she wasn’t married she wasn’t seen as an acceptable recipient. Therefore Alberta was forced to consider her other options, including marriage.

After Alberta got rejected for insemination, she began thinking about the men in her life, views that were probably the result of watching her drunken father Amos. “Lionel wasn’t pushy and slick like Charlie. He was sincere and dull. And when she thought about it, Alberta wasn’t sure that there was anything in between. Maybe all men were like that, Charlies and Lionels. Or worse. Maybe, in the end, they all turned into Amoses, standing in the dark, angry, their pants down around their ankles” (201). Obviously Alberta has some issues, which don’t seem to be resolved very well in the end. Alberta will get what she really wants, a baby, but she is confused because Coyote impregnated her. She’s also staying at the reservation with Lionel, Norma, and Latisha so I am not sure that her baby is coming without a relationship since Lionel is still around.

Lionel too is a character with some questionable outcomes to his goals. After turning 40 and being sung “Happy Birthday” by a quartet of old Indians quite a few times, Lionel “had divided the remainder of his life into a series of manageable goals” (306). These goals include quitting his job, going back to school, talking to Alberta about children, and spending more time with his parents. Lionel begins his journey to accomplish these ambitions by heading to Bill Bursum’s shop, his workplace, where the four Indians, Coyote, Charlie, and Eli were. After seeing the Indians beat the cowboys in a western “something told [Lionel] that whatever mistakes he had made in the past, his real problems might just be beginning” (359). Lionel leaves the store with Eli, and drives to Lionel’s parents’ home on the reservation. At the Sun Dance, Lionel spends time with all of his relatives and with Alberta. He even sticks around after the dam is destroyed to help rebuild Eli’s cabin for Norma to live in.

Lionel’s story ends indecisively, which makes his premonition from Bursum’s shop have some value. It is hard to tell if Lionel really achieved anything. He did see his parents and spend more time with his family so I suppose that is an accomplishment. Yet he didn’t talk to Alberta, although he does know of her pregnancy, nor did he officially quit his job. His last line of the book is “I should probably go back to school…Maybe that’s what I’ll do” (464). That definitely leaves me with some unanswered questions, and with the conclusion that Lionel is a pathetic man who can’t solve his own problems.

Some people who seem to know and accomplish what they want are the four Indian narrators: Hawkeye, Ishmael, the Lone Ranger, and Robinson Crusoe. They tell Lionel and Norma that they are “trying to fix up the world” (133). To make this a more endurable task they will “start small” then “move on to bigger jobs” (137). The Indians decide that they will help Lionel and they give him a new jacket, which is actually George’s, for his birthday. On that same day they change the western that everyone was watching so that the Indians beat the cowboys. Then they join up with Coyote and meet Lionel and his family at the reservation right after George arrives. George was taking pictures, which is strictly forbidden, and the four Indians make sure his camera is taken, though they do give him his jacket back. After this the Indians tell Lionel “that’s about as much as [they] can do for [him]” (428). It’s hard to say that they actually made a difference since Lionel replies with “This is how you help me fix up my life” (428)?

Done with Lionel, the Indians and Coyote visit Eli on his lake. There they all witness three cars floating towards the dam during an earthquake. Finally “the dam gave way, and the water and the cars tumbled over the edge of the world” (454). The Indians then wind up in Fort Marion and soon end up back at the hospital with Babo. Here Coyote apologizes “In case [they] hurt anyone’s feelings” (468). Then Coyote and “I” bring the story in a circle by telling how the world began, which was what they were doing in the beginning.

Throughout the book Coyote and “I” tell a number of stories with a large number of allusions, especially Biblical ones. These stories and references demonstrate Thomas king’s satirical style. I think that King is mad at Christianity because of his numerous biblical insinuations including Adam and Eve, Noah, Mary, and Jesus. King's constant mentions of Christian rules convince me the most that he is angry with Christian beliefs. First Woman and Ahdamn are eating fried chicken when G O D reminds them that “There are rules…Christian rules” (73). Changing Woman meets Noah who tells her “The first rule is Thou Shalt Have Big Breasts;” when Changing Woman won’t obey he says “if you can’t follow our Christian rules, then you’re not wanted on this ship” (162-163). Old Woman bumps into Young Man Walking on Water who explains his “Christian rules” (388). The women in all of these stories have a hard time accepting these rules, and the ones making the rules have a hard time accepting the women.

Thomas King uses light satire to make his point about Christianity, which I believe is that there are many foolish rules. King’s exaggerations and sarcasm make the stories light-hearted, and work to expose his opinion as well. I am a Christian and I think the stories based off the Bible are funny, especially when Thought Woman/Mary has to sign a “Virgin verification form” for “A.A. Gabriel” (299). I think I can laugh at this because I am very familiar with these stories and I am confident in my Christian faith.

Christians are not the only group Thomas King has a problem with. I conclude that he is upset with the white race as well. It was white people who wanted to build the dam, white people who ruined Amos’s dancing outfits, and white people who beat Indians in westerns.

After Nasty Bumppo explains the differences between white and Indian gifts to Old Woman, she realizes that “Whites are superior, and Indians are inferior” (435). Nasty then renames Old Woman as Hawkeye which, according to “I”, “sounds like a name for a white person who wants to be an Indian” (437). Both Coyote and “I” agree that no one would want to be an Indian. With the name of Hawkeye, Old Woman is sent to Fort Marion, an Indian prison, “For trying to impersonate a white man” (439). Actually each of the women in the different stories are arrested and taken there.

This reoccurring situation makes me believe that Thomas King has had a bad experience with Fort Marion. Even if that isn’t so, he is evidently upset with what went on there. Unlike the satire associated with the biblical allusions, King uses a more serious tone when discussing the problems with whites and Indians. King uses understatements to exemplify what a big problem there is. I did not laugh at this satire, but rather I felt sad to be part of the white race that treated Indians unfairly throughout history.