READING BETWEEN THE LINES- A Stereotype in the Garden

STEREOTYPES! The cliché which the media reinforces and we eat up as a society. When used in the right manner, they can make you feel really stupid. That's exactly what Thomas King (of satire) does in "A Seat in the Garden". The comical fiction is full of stereotypes, and follows very typical and oversimplified characters who follow a storyline, which, provides a message portraying the issue with our government and society.

The story follows two men, Joe and Red, who's lazy and drunken life is disturbed by an Indigenous man standing in Joe's garden who seemed to loop the same seven words in sequence "If you build it, they will come." The man was nothing but a hallucination or perhaps a spirit. However, it doesn't really matter what he was, let's use our heads and try to dig a little bit deeper! MEANING! That's what we're looking for. Joe and Red become determined to get the Indigenous man out of the garden and on their mission, they seek help from three Indigenous men (Who they label as drunks who drink lysol) who often pass through Joe's garden. The men realize that Joe and Red are hallucinating however, they decide to have some fun with the two and conclude that the Indigenous man in the garden simply wants a bench to sit on. After a quick violent attempt ends with Joe face planting into his garden, the two finish with building a bench, convinced that they've done the right thing.

Understanding the plot of the story, let's move forward into the analysis. The story is filled with humour and satire. Thomas King shows two drunken cranky white people, who complain to a useless RCMP offi

cer who was all talk, all due to the literal cartoon portrayal of the Indigenous man who was standing in Joe's garden. All very stereotypical. From the naive and drunken portrayal of Joe and Red, to the image of the Indigenous man which seemed like the description of an Indigenous man clipart.

"The big Indian was naked to the waist. His hair was braided and wrapped with white ermine and strips of red cloth. He wore a single feather held in place by a leather band stretched around his head. His arms were folded tightly across his chest"

The description represents a very typical image which movies would portray. Why would movies portray an Indigenous man like this? Let's take a look at media in general. Media is a huge platform in which stereotypes are reinforced. Women are over sexualized, race determines your occupation, clothing and overall attitude. Contrary to reality. The story itself shows the affect that media has on our two innocent protagonists. Specifically during the beginning of the story when Joe tells Red about the man in his garden, Red refers immediately to a movie which he's recently seen.

The story continuously shows how stereotypes are often formed by the stupidity, and ignorance of people. Joe and Red are not very smart, doesn't take more than the first two pages to realize that. Throughout the whole story, they are reinforcing stereotypes. Simple example is when Red and Joe are preparing to go speak to the three Indigenous people. Red tells Joe to "grab a couple of beers, so they know we're friendly". I personally can't seem to determine if this is due to his ignorance or innocence. By saying that, he reinforces the stereotype that all Indigenous people are heavy drinkers.

Stereotypes surround us. I talk about this very often. I believe its our job to personally break them. Take a look at yourself, what stereotypes surround your race? For me, its a lot to do with terrorism, being relentlessly religious and eating a lot of curry. It really couldn't be further from the truth.

The message that I took from this satire-heavy story is role play. I believe that Joe and Red represented the government and the majority of the non-indigenous society. Forming a complete misunderstanding and enforcing stereotypes formed in regards to the Indigenous community. They are clearly very ignorant; similar to the way that the government has been. The same way that Joe and Red built a bench in order to get the Indigenous man to leave them alone, the government continuously provided ridiculous solutions for the problems the Indigenous community presented. A simple example could be the Indian Act. When the Indigenous community was complaining about their lack of rights, the government provided this stupid solution.

I personally believe that this story was extremely well written. With satire sprinkled throughout and the comical relationship that this story has with A Field of Dreams, a 1988 movie of which this story makes a comedic twist; this story is a very strong several messages and several different ways of being interpreted. I highly recommend reading it, link at the bottom. As a society; we need to look past the stereotypes we've formed in our mind and take a new look at people. Specifically the Indigenous community. Put yourself in their shoes, their life is no walk in the park. How would you feel having gone through what they have? What do you currently go through? What are some stereotypes about your race and culture and how do you fight them?

USEFUL LINKS:

Read "A Seat in the Garden."

http://teacherlingo.com/Downloads/Samples/37017150-7cad-467f-9c93-8df46d74f964.pdf

Define Stereotypes

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/stereotype

What is The Indian Act?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/background-the-indian-act-1.1056988