Symbolism In Truth And Bright Water

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Truth and Bright water by Thomas King is a coming of age Novel. The setting of this story takes place among the Blackfoot indigenous people living in the United States/ Canadian border in two townS separated by the Shield river. Truth is located in Montana, United States and Bright water is found in an Ottawa Indian reserve. Symbolism is when certain images or objects are used to represent specific people or concepts. Symbolism can also be used to pass messages to the reader in a way that provokes their imagination and their thinking. Throughout the novel Thomas King’s use of symbolism is quite evident. The tile itself “Truth and Bright Water” draws several symbolic instances that can be drawn from the novel. “Truth and Bright Water can perhaps be interpreted to mean “Truth or Consequences”. In the novel we see there is a …show more content…

Some characters have something they are not telling anyone. For example Lum, Tecumseh’s cousin suffers the consequences of his silence as he fails to tell the truth about his abusive father. Lum puts in a lot of hard work in order to compete in the Bright Water Indian days independence celebration race. However he is unable to participate in the race as a consequence of wounds he received from his abusive father. It is the silence that is torturing him as he continues to stay quiet about his abuse when he should tell the truth to someone. Also, there is a sense of division in the title. The title represents two locations that are separated by a river that flows between them. Bright Water lies on the Canadian side while Truth is on the American side. The symbolism of this division shows the political and natural division that exist between the two towns. The half done