The Role of the Narrator in A Coyote Columbus Story and History Lesson - Coursework Example

The role of the narrator in “A Coyote Columbus Story” and “History Lesson” Throughout history, literature has often been considered the activity of the elite as a means of artistic expression and aesthetic reasoning. Rarely has it been commonly considered as a means of expressing political dissension or support. Despite this perception, though, there are several works that have been written in most of the major time periods that deal in some way with questions of politics. These works that show glimpses at least and directly address politics at most include Thomas King’s short story “A Coyote Columbus Story” and Jeannette Armstrong’s poem “History Lesson.” Each of these works places the reader into a specific perspective through the use of narrative. With this narrative structure, the reader of both the poem and the short story continuously understands the story from the point of view of the American Indian and is thus forced to a new political understanding of the popular American holiday known as Columbus Day. The use of the first person narrative structure in King’s short story brings a sense of immediacy and personal involvement to the experience of the text. Although the reader of the story understands they are hearing it as if over the garden gate, there is a continued repetition of the word ‘I’ sounded in the mind, giving an impression that this is a thing that happened to the reader personally. “I’m going to a party, she says. Yes, I says, I can see that” (King, 293). From the very beginning of the story, the reader has encountered himself three times in succession and is instantly a part of the action. This identification is further brought out as the speaker includes the reader in on the joke: “Boy, the Coyote is one silly Coyote. You got to watch out for her. Some of Coyote’s stories have got Coyote tails and some of Coyote’s stories are covered with scraggy Coyote fur but all of Coyote’s stories are bent” (King, 293). As the story of how Columbus came to America is told, the reader is kept involved in the story through frequent personal interjections. “Big trouble is coming, I can tell you that” (King, 294). At the end of the story, the narrator comforts the sadness of the coyote in the same way that the dominant culture of the Americas has comforted itself regarding the treatment of the people who were on the continent first. As the reader, involved deeply in the first person of the story, begins to feel comforted by the words offered to Coyote – blue jays come to ease Old Coyote’s loneliness, Christopher Columbus becomes rich and famous – they receive a sharp slap in the realization that “Those things were never lost, I says. Those things were always here. Those things are still here today” (King, 297). In contrast, Armstrong’s “History Lesson” is presented from an omniscient point of view, giving the reader a sense of intimate knowledge and detached perspective as if watching a movie from the top of the sky. “Out of the belly of Christopher’s ship / a mob bursts” (Armstrong, 1-2). The sense that the image is being presented metaphorically is conveyed as this mob goes “Running in all directions / Pulling furs off animals / Shooting buffalo / Shooting each other / left and right” (Armstrong, 3-7). There were not enough men on Columbus’ ships to have accomplished this, nor did they spend enough time in the new world to have participated in much of this, but through Columbus’ ships the Europeans determined to conquer and claim this pristine paradise. The bare facts of events are presented, but given a new viewpoint, the viewpoint of what can be seen without an understanding of capitalist commerce. “Between the snap crackle pop / of smoke stacks / and multi-colored rivers / swelling with flower powered zee / are farmers sowing skulls and bones / and miners / pulling from gaping holes / green paper faces / of smiling English lady” (Armstrong, 21-29). From this detached, otherworldly narrative perspective, the activities of these small people, openly and avidly destroying the very structure upon which they depend is utterly baffling to the reader thus removed. Despite the differences in narrative style, both works provide an unmistakable Native American viewpoint. King makes this clear through his use of characters, Coyote is a symbol familiar to most American tribes in some form, as well as in the way he sets the story in opposition to the traditional story told about Columbus. “Christopher Columbus didn’t find America, I says. Christopher Columbus didn’t find Indians, either. You got a tail on that story” (King, 293). As the story progresses, it is told with a beginning that occurs prior to Columbus’ arrival with the introduction of the Indians as playmates for Old Coyote. Columbus only arrives later and appears obsessed with material things. Armstrong also provides several inferences to the fact that she is speaking from an Indian perspective. More than just the characterizations of the men who come from Columbus’ ships, the narrator of the story places him/herself on the side of the Indians in the fourth stanza. “Pioneers and traders / bring gifts / Smallpox, Seagrams / and Rice Krispies” (Armstrong, 15-18). The fact that these individuals are ‘bringing’ gifts suggests a speaker who was already here while the list of gifts brought illustrates the destruction these gifts wrought. This is in direct opposition to the traditional story of Columbus’ expedition in which the Europeans brought fantastic beads, goods from the old world and the benefits of civilization to the more primitive tribes. The picture portrayed is not that of the conquest and glory normally associated with the Columbus expedition but is instead that of a civilization destroyed, lost before it could be known. Finally, both authors convey a sense of deep spiritual understanding as a natural part of life prior to Columbus’ arrival and a loss of that connection after it. King’s story tells the tale of how Old Coyote conjured up the Indians to come play, but they didn’t like to play a game they always lost, so Old Coyote conjured up Columbus and his men. “But that Christopher Columbus and his friends don’t want to play ball. We got work to do, he says. We got to find China. We got to find things we can sell. Yes, says those Columbus people, where is the gold? Yes, they says, where is that silk cloth?” (King, 295). Because they cannot find other natural resources to plunder, they steal the Indians away from the land to sell as slaves while Old Coyote laughs, thinking it is a trick. At the same time, the narrator indicates that ‘those things’, referring to the land and the people, are still here. In this seemingly contradictory statement, King illustrates both how the people are still here but also how they have been made slaves in their own land and disconnected from their spiritual base. This loss of spirituality is also reflected in the poem by Armstrong. As the Europeans run about destroying the land in every way they can conceive as they search for the paradise they found upon their first arrival, the Indians and their way of life are among the intended casualties, but the knowledge of what was still lingers in the memories of those who survive. “Somewhere among the remains / of skinless animals / is the termination / to a long journey / and unholy search / for the power / glimpsed in a garden / forever closed / forever lost” (Armstrong, 40-47). While King involves his reader into a Native American perspective by insisting on bringing him personally into the story through a first-person narrative structure, Armstrong is equally effective at bringing her readers into her viewpoint through an omniscient approach, detached and removed from the ordinary plain. Through their choice of language and juxtaposition, both King and Armstrong are able to convey to the reader the concept that they are seeing things from the Native American perspective, perhaps for the first time. This is done in the way that they each highlight the presence of the Indians before Columbus’ arrival and in the confusing mindset of the newcomers in their fixation on immediate material concerns. The shared spirituality expressed by these authors represents a continuing sense of what the Indians once were but also a sense of what has been lost as a result. References Armstrong, Jeannette. (1991). “History Lesson.” Literature: A Pocket Anthology. (2nd Canadian Ed.). (2008). R.S. Gwynn & Wanda Campbell (Eds.). Toronto, Ontario: Penguin Academics. King, Thomas. (1996). “A Coyote Columbus Story.” Literature: A Pocket Anthology. (2nd Canadian Ed.). (2008). R.S. Gwynn & Wanda Campbell (Eds.). Toronto, Ontario: Penguin Academics. Read More