Be Proud Not Vain

Sandy Trenholm
ENG 4U1
Mr. Bruce

Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously.
A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of
ourselves; vanity, to what we would have others think of us. Jane Austen. Through
Austens quote we uncover something we should already know, its more important to be
proud than to be vain. Pride is essential to who a person is. In Thomas Kings novel Truth
& Bright Water the characters havent seemed to uncover this. The aboriginal characters
are less than proud of who they are and are quite vain to their identity. Many of the
characters do not identify well with being aboriginal and instead put themselves down,
often with the help from others, for being aboriginal.
A lot of the aboriginal characters struggle quite heavily with their identity as an
aboriginal. Monroe Swimmer is no exception. When the reader is first physically
introduced to Monroe through the narrator Tecumseh, it appears as if Monroe is quite
proud of his aboriginal heritage. Tecumseh asks [you] Monroe Swimmer? (46) to
which Monroe responds with [famous] Indian artist (46) as if [he was] announcing
something important (46-47). It is quite interesting that Monroe identifies himself to
Tecumseh, as being a famous Indian artist first before even properly answering
Tecumsehs question, which was if he really was Monroe Swimmer. However it becomes
apparent that Monroe may not be as proud of his identity as initially suggested but
instead quite damaged from being labelled as who hes supposed to be. Monroe
elaborates to Tecumseh that [youre] supposed to say famous Indian artist after you say
Monroe Swimmer (47) because [everybody] does (47). Monroe appears to be
showing anguish over how others have treated and labelled him as who he is before

knowing him because he happens to be aboriginal. To others he is no longer known as

Monroe or Monroe Swimmer or even as Monroe Swimmer the famous artist but as
Monroe Swimmer the famous Indian artist. Everybody has already labelled him as
aboriginal before getting to know who he truly is as a person or as an artist but as an
aboriginal person and as an aboriginal artist. Unfortunately Monroe plays up his identity
as aboriginal for his audience. Our narrator Tecumseh notes that Monroes hair reminds
[him] of Graham Greenes hair in Dances with Wolves (47). We later discover its only a
wig. It is also through Monroe that we discover how outsiders see the aboriginals and
what their idea is of the ideal aboriginal. One of the characters, Lucille recalls a story of
when Monroe was younger and still living in Truth and Bright Water. Monroe dressed up
with elk hide suspenders connected to short pants and marched around town puffing on
[a] tuba, pretending to be the Bright Water German Club (26). Monroes actions were a
response to Germans [being] so keen on dressing up like [aboriginals] (26). Lucilles
anecdote reveals how outsiders who are far removed from the culture, like Monroe is
from the German culture, dress up to be something theyre not. The actions of the
Germans, but also of Monroe, demonstrate misconceptions or stereotypes of a culture.
Another character that deeply struggles with their identity of being aboriginal is Lucy
Rabbit. Lucy does not seem to be at all proud of being aboriginal. Lucy has a theory that
Marilyn Monroe was really Indian and that she was adopted out when she was a
baby (20) claiming she was probably Cree or maybe Ojibwa, (20). Lucy tries to
assimilate Marilyn Monroe into the aboriginal culture and identifying a global icon as
being aboriginal. Lucy does not look up to any aboriginals but instead comes up with the

farfetched idea that Marilyn Monroe was actually aboriginal but was adopted out of the
culture to no longer identify with it. It is quite evident that Lucy admires Marilyn deeply.
Tecumseh explains Lucy wants blonde hair so she can look exactly like Marilyn (20).
If Lucys theory about Marilyn is right she is trying to cover her identity as being
aboriginal by replacing her black hair with blonde hair. It is not only her hair that Lucy
would like to change about her appearance. It becomes even more shockingly clear that
Lucy does not want to identify as being aboriginal when she says she [cant] do much
about [her] tan (20) so shell focus on her hair which she can change. Lucy no longer
wishes to posses the dark black hair and tanned skin that she has associated with being
aboriginal but instead wants the fake blonde hair and pale skin of what she sees to be
beauty, Marilyn Monroe. No one seems to believe Lucys theory of Marilyn Monroe
actually being aboriginal. Tecumsehs mother Helen tells Lucy that [shes] never heard
that [Marilyn] is Indian (20) to which Lucy responds by saying that youd want to
keep something like that a secret (20). Lucys response demonstrates she is not proud of
her heritage but instead beliefs, like Marilyn, she should keep her aboriginal roots
covered much like the roots of her black hair, they too should also be covered.
It is also important to look at how throughout the book the aboriginals are portrayed not
only by themselves but also by others. Tecumsehs father Elvin for one often does not
have nice things to say about aboriginals, like himself. Elvin takes his son up to Canada
while smuggling toxic waste. When they stop to get a bite to eat Elvin declares to
Tecumseh that this is [probably] the only town in America where two Indians own
anything (92). Elvin is portraying aboriginal people poorly here by stating that

aboriginals do not own anything suggesting that they as a people are inferior to others.
Elvins poor portrayal of the aboriginals does not stop there. Elvin also tells Tecumseh
Canadian jails are worse than Mexican ones (89) because Mexican jails are full of
Mexicans but Canadian jails are full of Indians (89). Elvin is building on a constant
idea throughout the novel, which is that aboriginal people are often held down and
oppressed. While crossing the border Tecumseh narrates that his father shakes his head
and smiles and talks like the Indians you see in the westerns on television (90). After
they cross Elvin says, [the border guards] love that dumb Indian routine (90). Elvin
pretends to be a dumb Indian so he will be undetected by the border guards. Like
Monroe, Elvin also plays of his aboriginal heritage for audiences and his own personal
interests. Elvin however is not the only character that focuses on negative aspects of
aboriginal life instead of the rich aspects that come with it. Lum, Tecumsehs cousin also
negatively portrays his aboriginal people. While out with Tecumseh, Lum asks Tecumseh
[did] I tell you we got skins at Happy Trails? (75) to clarify Tecumseh follows up with
his own question asking Cherokees right? (75). Even though Lum knows the new
comers are Cherokee he decides instead to refer to them in a derogatory manner by
calling them skins instead of who they really are which is Cherokee. Perhaps Lum
picked up on this negative portrayal from older aboriginals around town like Elvin or
Sherman. When Tecumseh journeys over to the railroad he is greeted by Wilfred who
states, [if] you came for a job youre too late (198). Eddie chimes in to add,
Wallys already passed out the apples (198) which is when Sherman comes in to add
that there is [nothing] left but the skins (198). Sherman not only uses the derogatory

term of skins but also compares them to apples (the whites) negatively by saying that
the skins or Indians were less important than the apples or whites. However, it seems
that in the Truth and Bright Water community Sherman may only be revealing an
appalling underlying truth. Tecumseh explains while Wally is [a] nice [guy], he always
hires the white guys before he hires Indians (42). The reality in Truth and Bright Water
may very well be that the whites have control, (as Elvin eluded to by the one town being
the only town in America where two Indians own anything (92)). There doesnt seem to
be an equal living standard between the two groups. This idea can also be shown when
Emery Youngman (Lums Cousin) gets trapped on the unfinished bridge connecting Truth
and Bright Water. The aboriginals from Bright Water were not able to get Emery free
from the bridge so they called Truths fire department, a fire department made up of white
men. The fire department did come and free Emery from the bridge but Gabriel of the fire
department tells Sherman that until they can get a fire department of their own they need
to keep [their] kind on their side of the river (42). This rude comment left the aboriginal
people understandably very upset. What Gabriel told Sherman and on a larger scale told
the aboriginal people living on the reserve in Bright Water was there was a separation
bigger than a bridge between the two peoples and that Gabriel wasnt too happy to be
helping the aboriginals. Gabriel however was not the only white person to put down
aboriginal people, sadly. Miles does quite often. When it is revealed that Monroe bought
the abandoned church Miles suggests a [big]-time Indians artist like [Monroe] (25)
would probably tear the damn thing down and put up a tipi (25). Miles fails to realize
the potential of what a famous artist like Monroe could do to the church but instead only

sees the connection between aboriginal culture and tipis. Miles also goes on to make
some racist comments about Monroe being reserved and having reservations which
were not too kindly met by the aboriginal people around him.
In the novel Truth and Bright Water by Thomas King it is shown that the aboriginal
people have a negative outlook on themselves, with some help from outsiders. They do
not display the pride they could about their culture, people or heritage but instead focus
on the negative. The aboriginal characters are far too vain and because of it struggle with
who they are as a people. The aboriginal people in the novel, as well as all people, should
be proud of who they are regardless of how other people interpret who they are. Imagine
the difference.