Stories are essential to native literature, they communicate history, tradition and moral lessons and have the potential to define a person’s relationship to their past. Such stories are present in Kitamaat, BC, traditional Haisla Folk stories about the stone man and the B’gwus or sasquatch are widely thought of as false or a fable to teach a lesson to children. However, within the novel Monkey Beach these stories are all true and have a profound impact on the character’s lives. The native scholar and lecturer, Thomas King, believes that “stories can control our lives” (9). Eden Robinson, author of the fictional novel Monkey Beach, implements the B’gwus stories within the novel to relate the myths that a character believes in, to the various
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Her relationship with the B’gwus is more tangible than her families, during her life she encounters or sights the real creature wandering through the woods. After her first encounter Lisa worries that her family would “snicker … the way they did when Ma-ma-oo insisted they were real.” (Robinson 17) Lisa’s hesitance implies the impact of the modern colonized world, one that left behind the stories and myth of the past even if they were true. It is Lisa’s connections to the stories of her past that keep her partially planted within the Haislan tradition, her constant interactions with the stories and the impact they hold over her life have created a bond that neither colonization nor herself could break. Robinson ends the novel with a reference to the B’gwus story in which Lisa hears “a b’gwus [howl]-not quite human, not quite wolf” (374) further visualising the impact these stories had on Lisa’s life. The repetition of the Haislan legends throughout the novel continues to demonstrate the importance of stories within a post colonized …show more content…
Robinson, throughout her novel Monkey Beach, demonstrates the influence stories have on a wide variety of characters. Based on the level of belief in their traditional stories, a character demonstrates a different level of colonization within the community. Those who barely believe are very set in the colonized world, whereas those who have held on the tales are keeping the culture alive. The question now remains which is better to move away from the past or be stuck in
Her relationship with the B’gwus is more tangible than her families, during her life she encounters or sights the real creature wandering through the woods. After her first encounter Lisa worries that her family would “snicker … the way they did when Ma-ma-oo insisted they were real.” (Robinson 17) Lisa’s hesitance implies the impact of the modern colonized world, one that left behind the stories and myth of the past even if they were true. It is Lisa’s connections to the stories of her past that keep her partially planted within the Haislan tradition, her constant interactions with the stories and the impact they hold over her life have created a bond that neither colonization nor herself could break. Robinson ends the novel with a reference to the B’gwus story in which Lisa hears “a b’gwus [howl]-not quite human, not quite wolf” (374) further visualising the impact these stories had on Lisa’s life. The repetition of the Haislan legends throughout the novel continues to demonstrate the importance of stories within a post colonized …show more content…
Robinson, throughout her novel Monkey Beach, demonstrates the influence stories have on a wide variety of characters. Based on the level of belief in their traditional stories, a character demonstrates a different level of colonization within the community. Those who barely believe are very set in the colonized world, whereas those who have held on the tales are keeping the culture alive. The question now remains which is better to move away from the past or be stuck in