Thomas Kings Green Grass, Running Water – Book Report/Review Example
The paper "Thomas King’s “Green Grass, Running Water" is a perfect example of a book report on literature. Legends of the Native Americans utilize a trickster as a form of change, whether advantageous or disastrous. In King’s “Green Grass, Running Water”, the trickster takes the form of a coyote although its characteristics are purely human. The opening of the story wraps up the whole tale. The trickster-god Coyote and the narrator who is only recognized as “I”, disputes on the issue of early existence. The narrator believes that there was only water while the coyote insists there was nothing. Wondering why in his dream there was water in all places, the narrator promises to explain how it happened. The narrator tells the story as told to him by the four American Indian escapees from a mental institution, not directly to its readers but mainly to the trickster Coyote. Having a carnivalesque nature, Coyote can overturn events and set the world right either comically or through dance rituals. Coyote, together with the four American Indians penetrate the Blackfoot Community aiming to set it right. However, these attempts are not always successful. For instance, in one of their quests, Coyote’s dance rituals results in the destruction of the dam. Nevertheless, this dam being a representation of the white domination of the Blackfoot tribe, Coyote still manages to repair the vital part of the Native American tribe. King’s style of using Coyote in assisting readers to extend their minds, conquer the margins and straighten out misconceptions proved to be triumphant in recovering the Native American identity and culture. Coyote demolishes the barriers that divide people from all races, beliefs, values, and knowledge, and most especially the discourse between Native Americans and Euroamericans.