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Part 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Green Grass, Running Water, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Indian Culture and White Culture
Storytelling
Oppression and the Justice System
The Power of Nature
Summary
Analysis
As Hawkeye begins telling the next part of the story, Coyote complains that he never gets a turn. In Hawkeye’s creation story, Old Woman walks around looking for things to eat. She digs for a Tender Root.
The fourth and final part of the book continues the pattern of all the previous ones by starting a new creation story about a woman. Fittingly for the last of these stories, this version is about Old Woman.
Themes
In Blossom in the present, Bursum turns his television from the Western back to The Map. Everyone sings “Happy Birthday” to Lionel. Afterwards, the four Indians leave, and Coyote sees them and joins them.
By changing the televisions to The Map, Bursum tries to reassert control after the Western film that depicted white men losing control over Indians.
Themes
Latisha has had a slow morning at the Dead Dog Cafe. When she was still with George, he suggested getting married in June and then honeymooning at the Sun Dance, something she had never considered but ultimately agreed to. They ended up spending a lot of time in their tepee. George really enjoyed himself, especially watching the dances, but Latisha was more reserved.
For George, the Sun Dance is like a vacation—a place to go on a honeymoon. Latisha is confused by his request to honeymoon at the Sun Dance because for her the ritual is part of a way of life. Latisha seems to sense the growing divide between her and George but doesn’t know how to express it to him—or perhaps she fears what he'll do.
Themes
Eli goes to his truck to leave Bursum’s store, talking with Lionel about how strange the Western they watched was. He tells Lionel that he was similar to Lionel at that age. He advises Lionel that, while Norma has strong opinions, it’s up to Lionel to choose his own life path.
Eli has regrets in his life, including perhaps the fact that he stayed away from Blossom for so long, missing his mother’s death. His advice to Lionel—that it’s Lionel’s responsibility to choose his own path—is fitting because Lionel’s main struggle in the story is often about how to take action and avoid being passive.
Themes
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During Eli’s marriage to Karen, her illness eventually went into remission. She made plans to surprise Norma and Eli’s mother with a visit to the Sun Dance. At this point, Eli hadn’t seen his mother for 20 years and he was nervous about what to say. But as they were discussing this and walking on the sidewalk, all of a sudden, a car came and hit Karen.
There is perhaps some dark humor in the fact that just when Karen was getting better from her illness, she died in the car accident. For Eli the death is particularly cruel because the next Sun Dance seemed to promise an opportunity for Eli to return home and find closure with his family.
Themes
In Blossom, Dr. Hovaugh and Babo discuss trying to rent a car to replace their stolen one. But when they reconvene later at the coffee shop, Babo says there are no cars available due to a holiday. Instead, she signed up for a tour bus that goes by the dam.
Earlier, Alberta mistook Dr. Hovaugh and Babo for tourists, and now their ride on a tour bus will prove Alberta right after all. The strange disappearances of cars throughout Blossom continue to be a sign that something unusual—perhaps supernatural—is going on.
Themes
Continuing the creation story, Old Woman floats in water. She looks and sees a Young Man Walking On Water. He’s looking for a fishing boat. But when Old Woman tries to help, Young Man says that’s against his rules—no one can help him or tell him anything. Finally, he finds the Boat. The Waves are rocking the Boat furiously, so Young Man Walking On Water stops the waves and saves the people on the Boat, who thank him.
Young Man Walking On Water is supposed to be like Jesus, who famously walked on water. This Young Man is too caught up with complicated rules to accept help from Old Woman, perhaps reflecting the rigid nature of many branches of Christianity, particularly when compared to Indian religions.
Themes
Alberta is soaked as she comes into Latisha’s restaurant. She is shivering and dizzy, and Latisha says that’s how she felt when she was pregnant, but Alberta just blames the rain.
Alberta’s comment that she blames the rain has a double meaning. She could be saying that the rain has given her a cold, but it’s also possible to interpret her as saying the rain has made her pregnant (suggesting that perhaps Coyote’s dancing has played some role in her pregnancy, just like with the rain).
Themes
Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye wait for Coyote to catch up with them. When Coyote arrives, Ishmael says they should get moving again because they have somewhere important to be. Meanwhile, Bursum checks his Western videos to see if any others have problems.
Coyote has now gone from talking with the narrator of the story to fully participating within the story as a character, blending the line between story and storyteller.
Themes
Eli tells Lionel about how a drunk driver killed Karen. He also says that Norma was so mad at him about never coming home that she waited several weeks to tell him that their mother had died. Eli walks with Lionel to a place he and Karen used to go. Lionel goes off from Eli, and while he’s walking, he hears a voice greet him as “grandson.”
The drunk driver that killed Karen is yet another example in the story of the potential destruction alcohol can cause. Eli’s return to a place he used to go with Karen is Eli’s way of dealing with his baggage from the past, something that he has often tried to avoid facing up until now.
Themes
Latisha stops at a gas station with her children. Alberta is also there and asks Latisha what marriage to George was like. She says it was good at first but became boring. At one point, they had a bad argument when George wanted to take photos of the Sun Dance and couldn’t see the problem. When Alberta goes to sleep that night, she still feels nauseous and considers going to find Lionel. Alberta goes to the local camp and finds Eli, who doesn’t know where Lionel is.
George’s inability to understand why he shouldn’t take photos of the Sun Dance is yet another example of his selfish, ignorant attitude toward much of Indian culture. Alberta’s continued nausea seems to be a further sign of her pregnancy, forcing her to consider the idea that she may have finally gotten what she wanted all along—a baby.
Themes
Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, Ishmael, and Coyote apologize to Lionel for being late—they’ve finally made it to Blossom. They tell Lionel he can help them with something. They take him to the Sun Dance, where George is taking pictures again and Latisha is getting angry at him. Eli confronts George, who keeps protesting. As George leaves and the Sun Dance continues, Coyote feels good about them stopping George and wants to do more to fix the world.
George’s reappearance in the narrative gives Latisha a chance to try to find closure for the bad marriage with him that she endured. Even years after divorcing Latisha, George can’t let go of the idea of the Sun Dance. He wants to take some sort of ownership over it (by taking a picture), showing how deep his greed runs. But the fact that the Indians manage to send George away offers a little bit of closure and the hope that the Sun Dance can retain its sacred status.
Themes
Continuing the creation story, Old Woman leaves Young Man Walking On Water and floats in all kinds of water. She eventually ends up on land, where she runs into Nasty Bumppo, who mistakes her for Chingachgook. Nasty Bumppo aims his rifle at Old Woman, but when he suddenly gets shot by an unknown source, he blames her. Some soldiers come up to Old Woman and ask her who she is. She initially says Chingachgook but when they don’t recognize the name, she changes it to Hawkeye.
Nasty Bumppo is a play on Natty Bumppo from the Leatherstocking Tales. Natty Bumppo is a white man raised by Indians (including with his foster brother Chingachgook), and he learns Indian ways better than most Indians themselves. This passage portrays Nasty Bumppo in a less positive light, showing how he is quick to pull out his rifle.
Themes
Dr. Hovaugh and Babo board the tour bus of the dam. Meanwhile Sifton sits in his office by the dam and is surprised when he sees some cars floating in the water. Parliament Lake, the one by the dam where Bursum has property, is one of the largest man-made lakes in the local area.
The cars floating in water could be connected to the cars that have been stolen all over Blossom. Like the dam itself, the cars are manmade objects, and the fact that these big hunks of metal float in the river helps illustrate the river’s power.
Themes
Eli explains the history of the dam to Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye. Coyote admits to them that he has been doing some singing and dancing lately, despite his promises to stop. All of a sudden, there’s a massive earthquake. The earthquake wakes Lionel and Alberta up in their tepee, and it also rips apart the dam. Dr. Hovaugh and Babo watch the destruction from the tour bus. Coyote claims he didn’t do it, then changes his story to say at least what he did was helpful.
The destruction of the dam represents a chance for things in Blossom to return to their natural order. The manmade dam is powerless to stop both a force of nature like an earthquake as well as the tricky ways of Coyote. Coyote’s unusual way of helping the residents of Blossom shows how fate can work in mysterious ways.
Themes
Old Woman gets taken to a fort in Florida. Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Hawkeye, and Robinson Crusoe come to see her. All of a sudden, an earthquake also goes through the fort in Florida. Coyote comments in amazement to the narrator that there’s another earthquake so soon after the one in Blossom.
Old Woman’s story seems to be ending like all of the other creation stories when, all of a sudden, the earthquake interrupts it. The presence of an earthquake in the different plotlines illustrates how all of the stories are connected—how the Indians living in the present world have a history going all the way back to the beginning of creation.
Themes
A month passes after the earthquake near Blossom. Alberta still feels nausea and seems to definitely be pregnant somehow. Eli died when his cabin was destroyed by the flood waters from the broken dam. Norma, Alberta, and Latisha come together to help rebuild the broken cabin. Lionel talks about possibly living in the cabin when it’s done and offers to take Alberta to lunch at the Dead Dog. Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, and Ishmael come back to Dr. Hovaugh’s hospital and have a conversation with Babo about how they helped fix the world.
The ending of the novel suggests growth for many of the characters as well as a return to the status quo. Lionel’s comments about going to live in Eli’s cabin suggest that Lionel is ready to grow up and perhaps start a more committed relationship with Alberta. Alberta’s pregnancy is a hopeful sign of how things might be different in the world in the future, now that the four Indians have done their part to attempt to fix it.
Themes
Coyote offers an apology for his actions to Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, and Ishmael, but after apologizing several times, he laughs. Coyote and the narrator again argue about whether in the beginning there was water or whether there was nothing. The narrator tells Coyote to sit down and promises to explain how everything happened.
Coyote’s laughter shows a lack of repentance for his actions. The fact that the novel begins in about the same place it ends—with Coyote and the narrator arguing about water at the beginning of creation—reflects how history is cyclical and how some stories get told again and again.
Themes
