Comparing Symbolism In Blue Against White And The Shivering Tree

Being lost psychologically is one of the most overwhelming challenges to overcome in one’s life. In both “Blue Against White” by Jeannette C. Armstrong and “The Shivering Tree” by John Mcleod, the trickster are shown as two extremely different characters, but both demonstrating a despairing side of human nature. In “Blue Against White,” the protagonist Lena prescribed the trickster as a coyote that is lost within a building after entering an elevator, a symbolism for indigenous people that are lost within the colonised dominant society. Whilst John Mcleod describes the trickster as one that is lost within one’s arrogance, overwhelmed by a sense of pride and confidence that it was unable to see the obvious lie from the protagonist, Nanabush.

In “Blue Against White”, Lena “understood that it hadn't been a matter of animal stupidity, because the coyote always knew where it had come from”, symbolising that the coyote knew the path to the exit, but was unable to because “it had more to do with the quick elevator door and the lonely ride up to the top,” which as a result, drove the coyote to be lost psychologically due to the unfamiliarity with the elevator and the feeling of loneliness on the ride. The resolution to this situation would be a change in perspective of the coyote from humans, rather than viewing the coyote as “nobody wanted them there, so nobody made friends with them,” they should be instead treasured and introduced to the elevator alongside every part of the city. This represents a different understanding of indigenous culture from colonisers, where, if the indigenous culture was introduced into the dominant culture, everyone’s door would be a colour lighter than light blue, a combination of light blue and white. In “The Shivering Tree”, Nanabush had gone through a series of maturing through being exposed as prey to his enemies, while the Juggler continued to be arrogant of his abilities, if the Juggler was also able to mature into an modest individual, he wouldn’t have fallen to

Thus, Lena disagreed with her father’s idea of painting the house door blue, “He had said the houses up the hill all looked too much alike… their home would be easier to see because of the door”, Lena rebelled the idea because in her young mind, she believed that “who would have a problem? She had known that all Indians within a 100 mile radius and that they didn’t find their way to each other by the description of their houses.” But what she didn’t understand was that the blue door was a way for her father to continue the remaining indigenous culture they had left, to stand out from the dominant society and bring a feel of home to indigenous people like Lena. As she walked towards the house, “she realised that she had kept that door in her mind throughout all these years she had been away… a bright blue against the white.” The bright blue door allowed Lena to remember the indigenous culture within herself because of the bright blue door that stood out with the rest of the white doors, describing the blue door as “a cool blue shield against the summer heat.” Lena learned to view the door as a sense of home, “Behind that door, warm