Analysis Of Borders By Thomas King

The political dispute of identity versus citizenship is one that is persistently debated. In “Borders” by Thomas King, the narrator’s mother is traveling to Salt Lake City and must go through the borders between America and Canada. The protagonist experiences the conflict of man versus society as she feels the need to defend her identity from the guards. Thomas King makes the implicit political claim that identity and citizenship are not one in the same. The story is written from the point of view of the narrator, a twelve-year-old boy. The author uses humor to hide behind the thoughts of the narrator to ensure that his message is delivered effectively without offending anyone. Humor in this short story is synonymous with a light-hearted mood. …show more content…
The mother is characterized as humorously proud and stubborn. This is shown when the narrator says; “It didn’t take them long to lose their sense of humor, I can tell you that” (Citation). This indicates that the guards were viewing the mother’s responses to their question about whether she is American or Canadian as a joke in the beginning and then throughout the story, the guards slowly lost their sense of humor. Moreover, humor is not only used a literary technique but the fact that the mother is Blackfoot also significant. “Coyote went fishing, one day. That’s how it all started” (Citation). The mother was telling the narrator a story about the coyote figure, who is the trickster figure in the mythology of several Native people that deals with humor. This reference stresses the component of humor and jokes in this