Medicine River Will example essay topic

The following essay will discuss racism and it's effects based on the characters in the books; There Are No Elders by Austin Clarke and Medicine River by Thomas King. First looking at what racism is and defining it in regards to these books will do this. I will be shown that the effects of racism on the characters in these books were similar. One effect was that the characters feel disconnected and isolated in the places that they call home. Another effect is that the characters in both novels dislike the people inflicting the racism and judgement upon so much so that they want to be free of it in all aspects. Thirdly, the characters are told and shown for so long that they are below their oppressors and as a result, they feel as though they have to prove, to themselves that they can be successful and better than the people that denied them for so long.

Racism as defined by the dictionary is: "1: The prejudice that members of one races are intrinsically superior towards members of other races. 2: Discriminatory or abusive behaviour towards members of another race" (Racism: web Oxford dictionary). In both novels There Are No Elders and Medicine River these definitions are present. The characters face prejudices from other groups or races because of their racial background.

In Medicine River and example of the these prejudices from other races is when Will, the main character, is in the presence of his white girlfriend, Susan's friends at a party. "Susan tells us you " re Native, too", said Alice. "Kind of ironic, isn't it? I mean, being a photographer, You know... the way Indians feel about photographs" " (King, pp. 229). Susan's White friends have a stereotypical view of what is considered proper within Native culture.

In There Are No Elders the characters in the story "In An Elevator" one character in particular, Susan Cole exhibits the same type of prejudice towards a young black man that enters the elevator. "A man walks into the elevator... She has already painted a picture of his attire, and could pick him out of any police line-up with her eyes closed, she goes over in her mind... word for word, her accusations of rape and assault" (Clarke, pp. 57). She too exhibits the prejudices of some white people towards this young black man.

She does this and in the end feels so bad that she judged him that she breaks down in tears, because she assumed he would hurt her in some way and it turned out that he showed concern for her. He turned to her and said, "Lady so much smoking not good for you. Says so on the box.".. And he was disappearing fast from her, going in the direction of the Lake... And even when tears began to wash her face and cloud her eyes and vision and made it impossible for her to identify him in the distance (Clarke, pp. 62). These are examples of prejudices that are inflicted on one race by another.

In addition to this an abusive behavior towards a person due to their race is also a characteristic of racism. Discriminatory and abusive behavior is also apparent in both books. The characters are faced with this in come cases by their own race and by other races. In Medicine River, Will, has it inflicted upon him by his Native side of the family, when his mother has to move by home but cannot go to the reserve because she married a white man and her children are half white.

"We going back to the reserve?" James asked. "Maybe", I said. "No" said Maxwell, "You can't. You guys have to live in town cause you " re not Indian anymore."Sure we are", I said. "Same as You."You mother married a white" (King, pp. 9). In this case Will's cousin who is pure Native tells Will and his brother James that they cannot live on the reserve because they are not pure Native like he is, instead they are half-white, which means they are not welcome on the reserve.

In There Are No Elders the women in the story "If The Bough Breaks" speak of discrimination and abusive behavior by the police department on Black people. They speak of how it is unfair that they have to fall victim to this behavior on a regular basis because they are Black. "he bought this second-hand Mercedes Benz... Ever week. After ten o'clock.

When he gets off the Don Valley Parkway. A cop. A cop in his arse! Three times a week, a cop pulls him over. As an average" (Clarke, pp. 23). These are the types of discrimination and abusive behaviors that are present in There Are No Elders and Medicine River.

The effects of these types of racism will be discussed further. The first effect that we will look at is that of a feeling of isolation and discontent that the characters feel after being victims of racism. In Medicine River, Will and his brother, grows up away from his Native culture because being half white they do not live on the reserve, where he would have been more exposed to it. When Will and James do see their mother at the friendship center dancing, in her Native ways they feel like they want to hide and not be seen. "James and me didn't dance. We had other games we played...

We'd hide at the back of the stage in the dark and watch the people as they moved in the slow, shuffling circle. We were safe and powerful there in the darkness" (King, pp. 209). It appeared that they were afraid of the other Native people, which is understandable considering how they had been treated in the past. This indicates that these children feel isolated and clearly disconnected from their Native culture. They do not feel as though they belong in a place that they call home. They watch things happen from the shadows as if they know that they are not wanted there.

They are watching something that is a part of their heritage, but they do not learn to dance the way their mother knows how to because they have never felt connected to their heritage and people because it was their own people that cast them out. In There Are No Elders, there is a story of "The Cradle Will Fall", and in it the main character, Tom, is living in Toronto, and has been living here for many years but still feels isolated, and feels as though he does not belong there. So, when I ducked my head and closed my eyes against the snow, I almost got knocked down by the person coming at me. He did not see me. I doubt that he noticed me.

I was just another obstacle he had to walk around, or walk into (Clarke, pp. 149). He knows that no matter how long he has been in Canada he will never been looked at as anything but another Black man. Tom shows that this hurts him by thinking about how long he has been in this country and still has not become the stereotypical Canadian that plays hockey. In all the fifty years I have lived in this city, I've never once tried to skate on ice, or rollers, and I never watch hockey games. The game that identifies me, through culture and the thick damp soil, is now forgotten, like other customs of that land from which I am torn. Cricket to me is now merely a figure of speech (Clarke, pp. 149).

This shows the isolation and disconnected feeling that is a result of having racism inflicted upon you. Tom feels disconnected from the country that he lives in. In addition to feeling disconnected and isolated another effect of racism is that many times the people that have it inflicted upon them want to be free of the oppressiveness. In Medicine River both Will and his brother James try to get as far away from their home, Medicine River. Will goes away and starts a new life in Toronto, and is brought back to Medicine River when his mother passes away. Will knows and the reader knows that he has gone to Toronto to get away from Medicine River.

"James said you went there to get away... Can't see Ninastiko from Toronto, So when you think you " ll be moving back home? ... There was no logic to it, but my stomach tightened when Harley said home" (King, pp. 93).

The reader can see that Will does not want to stay in Medicine River, because of how he and his family was treated in the past. He wants to be free of the reserve and everything and move back to Toronto. The same can be said for James. In the book we do not hear much about James as an adult but when we do he is living elsewhere in far away places from Medicine River. "I didn't hear from James for a long time. Then I began to get postcards and letters.

They were from all over the world: Mexico, South America, Hawaii, France, Japan. Most of them funny and he seemed happy enough" (King, pp. 145). Will and James both were happy when they were away from Medicine River, it shows that they did not like their home, because to them it was not really home. In There Are No Elders, the case is similar but different in ways. In the story "Not So Old, But Oh So Professional" the character of Max, is the one that wants to be free.

When he picks up a white prostitute he is very taken by her. When they go back to his place he notices that she is wearing white. He says: "She is wearing white tonight. I have no defense against that color...

For better and for worse: white dominates me" (Clarke, pp. 88). Max in this case wants to be free of the oppressiveness of the color White. To him the color represents all the prejudices that are inflicted upon him or his people by white people, and he wants to be free of it. Our final effect of racism that will be discussed will be that of the feeling that due to having prejudices having been inflicted upon them many victims want to prove that they are just as good a people as their oppressors. In Medicine River Will wants to prove to the Native people that he and his family did not deserve to be exiled from the reserve. Will wants to feel wanted from them almost as though he seeks approval or acceptance from his Native community.

When one of the elders of the reserve comes to Will for advice, he appreciates the fact he is able to help the people that exiled his family, he therefore feels important. "Lionel needs someone to help him get a credit card... You know how these things work. Would you believe it Will?

The bank messed up my account last week. This is the third time" (King, pp. 171). By having an elder come to Will for advice, it allowed Will to see that he was better off in ways because he did not grow up on the reserve. He was more knowledgeable on how the world worked outside the reserve, so much so that he could help an elder on the reserve. In There Are No Elders, we look at the story of "If The Bough Breaks" to see the same effect of wanting to feel like one is better than their oppressors when we look at the women in this story. These are five professional black women: "Five well-off bitches like us, with two-car garage, educated, decent and have more education than most women, than the average Canadian white woman" (Clarke, pp. 21).

These women have all that they are living the ideal life in Canada, but still the roots of racism run deep, and they feel as though they need to prove that they raise and have raised their children better than the White people. They feel as though they have been vindicated when they see a young White girl be arrested for shop lifting, because none of their children would ever do that. We raise our kids better than them... if it isn't some white woman in a beat-up Toyota, while you or she are driving a BMW, or I behind the wheel of my husband's Benz, anything, any-blasted-body, we always have to explain some thing to them. Explain ourselves. Explain (Clarke, pp. 21). This shows that no matter what these women have accomplished or how far they have come they will always feel as though they will have to justify to White people why or how they have come so far.

In conclusion it has been shown that the effects of racism in the books There Are No Elders and Medicine River were similar and ran deep in the characters that had it inflicted upon them. In both books it has been shown that all the characters felt disconnected and isolated from the places that they called home, because of prejudices that they had inflicted upon them in their so called homes. In addition it has been shown that all the characters wanted to be free of their oppressors, whether it be in a minimal way or getting as far away from oppression as possible. Also it has been shown that no matter how far they go nor how much they have grown all the victims want to show their oppressors in some way or another that they are just as good as their oppressors or better. It has been shown that the effects of racism run deep and stay with a person for a long time if not their entire lives.

Bibliography

Clarke, Austin. There Are No Elders. Toronto, Ontario. Exile Editions Limited, 1993.
King, Thomas. Medicine River. New York, New York. Penguin Books, 1998.