MasonDavis1

My Thomas King essay tells about the historical short story A seat in the Garden by Thomas King depicts cultural conflict between Native Americans (and non-native) people. Joe and Red are the main characters of the story. King attempts to explain how the Native Americans and American cultures are at odds. We will be looking at the symbolic features of this short story. This is how characters and images are used to represent something within the society.

King has used symbolic features in his fiction-short story A Seat in The Garden. One example is that the two main characters in this story are symbolic of the text. King uses Joe and Red as ignorant white men with a negative attitude to Indian cultures. Joe realizes that the Indian man is standing on his land and he cannot bear it any more. King portrays Joe, an ignorant and arrogant character. He demands that the Indian man move out of his land ("Get the hell outta the corn, will you?" (King 238). Joe is the American symbol of individualism. Each person has his/her own property. No one else will be allowed to use the property. King shows America's arrogance toward other cultures. Joe doesn't like Indians, so he has hallucinations about a man walking through his cornfields. Red is no different than Joe. He hates Indians as well and this is why he believes that the big Indian man in the middle is real. The two characters see the Indians from a different perspective and feel that they are more righteous then other people. Red and Joe are enthralled by the sight and decide to talk to the police officer about it. He informs them there are no Indians at that location. Joe calls the Indians the "old winos". King, 1997: 244.

Red and Joe cannot understand why the big Indian guy stands in the middle, but this is also symbolic. It symbolises the cultural differences. Red and Joe see only the big Indian man's mouth moving, but they are unable understand what it is saying. They turn to the same people they hate and ask them for help. "Maybe the Indians could translate for them" King 1997: 240 They are stereotypically negative about Indians. When they approach them, they don't get the full picture. They are not prepared to change the way they see others, especially Indians "They were older that Joe had thought and they didn’t smell as bad, as he had hoped" (King: 241). This is how King illustrates the mistaken perception that White had about Indians. Two characters made a mistake when they arrived at the Indians' location and found out that they were not drinking beer. The Indians were drinking Lemon Water, which was very different to what Joe and Red believed.

The Indians signify the socially marginalized and discriminated. King depicts his Indian characters in a despised way by the two white men who consid