Themes Of Drew Hayden Taylor's Alternatives

Portrayal of The Subjective Truth in The Alternatives

One of the key themes of Drew Hayden Taylor’s AlterNatives is that truth is subjective, and when sought, it will cause a clash of views. At a dinner party in the annex of Toronto, the truth about vegetarianism sparked debate between Bobby, an Indigenous person, and Michelle, a Celtic vegetarian. In view of colonialism, Bobby underwent through the detrimental systems of reserves and residential schools which were established by the Canadian government to manipulate, segregate, and assimilate Indigenous communities. Later, these traumatic experiences of Bobby reflect through his claims that Michelle was imposing vegetarianism on her partner and trying to become superior to others with her

She is presented as a “politically correct” (19) individual who lives in a more upscale neighborhood called Cabbagetown. Other than living a privileged life, Michelle is a veterinarian, and she has “always been a vegetarian” (29). As a vet, she witnesses the “horrible things done to defenseless animals” (114). Michelle asserts, “Do you know what they do to animals? Factory farms and all that. They electrocute those poor animals” (114). Thus, this belief demonstrates Michelle’s empathetic attitude towards animals. Furthermore, this upsetting encounter with animals has influenced her moral principles: “I also have problems with the ethics of the whole meat industry. Think about those poor baby cow scallopinis” (109). Her Western belief to “develop a superior…relationship with animals” (114) conveys her willingness to act as the bigger person with “more understanding” (115) for their well-being. Therefore, Michelle’s background displays the reason why she supports

After the incident of Michelle’s lover eating a piece of meat, Bobby raises the question, “Did you know Hitler was a vegetarian?” (93). Since Bobby is convinced that Michelle’s partner, “a born-again vegetarian, [was only] brought into the fold” (110) by her, he alludes to the similarity between Hitler and Michelle, as they tried to “pressure people…[and] impose [their righteous beliefs] on the rest of the world” (110). Furthermore, Bobby acknowledges the importance of looking through the Indigenous lens, and not through Michelle's Western worldview that promotes inequality and interference: “Native people don’t see themselves as superior to animals. We consider ourselves equals” (115). In addition, compared to Bobby and the Indigenous peoples living in reserves, Michelle’s social status is higher, and therefore, she can “afford the idealism…[as] being a vegetarian can be expensive especially up north and other remote places” (115). Pragmatically thinking of the reality of most Indigenous peoples, Bobby perceives the factualness of vegetarianism as “another example of middle-class Canada saying their lifestyle is better than everybody else” (115). Although he criticizes vegetarians with a “superiority complex” (116) like Michelle, he doesn’t disapprove of vegetarian devout groups as it’s simply a “part of their religion” (116).