Binaries and the land in between

[araisha151]

Though there is much evidence of binaries in Thomas King’s “Borders,” it is the illumination of the grey zones that gives this story significance. The most useful binary to this tale is shown in how King contrasts Canada and America. From the narrator’s perspective, we get the impression America is a violent, rude place. An indication of this is when he speaks of crossing the border from Coutts into Sweetgrass, “You would expect that Sweetgrass, with such a nice sounding name […] would be on the Canadian side and that Coutts, which sounds abrupt and rude, would be on the American side.” Another is when the American border guard comes over to the car at the border crossing “the holster on his hip pitching up and down.” This theme is woven throughout the entire story; Canada is shown as nice and welcoming, and America is grimaces and guns. The narrator and his mother, due to his mother’s stubbornness, are not able to leave the area in between Canada and America. The narrator’s mother insists that they are “blackfoot,” not laying claim to either country. Making use of the countries polarization, King quite literally puts his characters in the grey zone, a kind of purgatory. Overnight, the mother tells her son the stories of her people, the tradition of the elder passing down knowledge. It is no mistake that this event happens in a grey zone; it is the author’s attempt to illuminate the fact that there is nowhere left for First Nations and their traditions anymore. This is King’s deconstruction of binaries which lends such impact to his story, for it is in the space in between that is what this story is really about.

QUESTION: Do you agree with the parellelism drawn between present day First Nations and the "grey zone" in this story?

Comments

[mindful_matter]

I also felt that Canada was portrayed in a similar and favourable way towards the USA as King constantly emphasized how they identified on the Canadian side of the line. It can also be seen in the distant relationship between mother and daughter as she leaves for the American side. The drive up to the border when the mother is approaching so slowly also depicts her view of crossing to the American side as somewhat dangerous and frightening. As you mentioned also, there is the constant emphasis on the Americans and their guns.

[almac82]

Great analysis of the story! The examples you chose stuck out to me too.
I certainly agree with the parallelism drawn in this story surrounding First Nations. What stuck out to me most in this story was how many First Nations identify themselves by their nations and are necessarily by the colonizers national identity. I think this story did a good job of pointing out the need to respect the identity aboriginals choose to represent themselves as.

[blondedreamer26]

Im struggling to understand what was so offensive to you about a man introducing his female coworker and commenting on her body. If he finds her attractive, this is a compliment, and she should be pleased that he finds her attractive. Women are always spending all this time getting ready and then when they get a compliment from a man they get offended. So hard to please!

[araisha151]

..............you're kidding, right?

checking in

[literarybean]

Alicia, did you post this?