Short Story A Red Girl's Reasoning

Different Views On Marriage In the short story “A Red Girl’s Reasoning” by E. Pauline Johnson, Charlie believes that marriage must be made official in order to be real, while Christine believes that it does not matter how you get married and that weddings are really only important because they put into words how two people will commit to one another. Charlie’s view on marriage is proven in the quote, “...you have literally declared to the whole city that your father and mother were never married, and that you are a child of-what shall we call it-love? certainly not legality.” (Johnson 7). Charlie does not believe that Christine’s parents were properly married because they were married by Indigenous rites. He thinks that a true wedding must have a priest and be officiated, to him it was embarrassing that her

This proves that Charlie is more concerned about the legal aspect of marriage than love because he is worried people will view him differently if he is not traditional. Christine’s view on marriage is proven in the quote, “There is no ceremony at all, save a feast. The two people just agree to live only with and for each other, and the man takes his wife to his home, just as you do. There is no ritual to bind them; they need none; and Indian’s word was his law in those days, you know.” (Johnson 5). This proves Christine’s view on marriage because she mentions that there does not need to be a ritual to bind the people getting married, but that they only need love and trust. She is not so worried about what other people will think about her marriage. Christine realizes that a wedding completed by Indigenous rites is not better nor worse than a wedding completed with a priest because they are all about the same thing; love. To her, a wedding’s importance is just to put in words how you will commit and care for another person and do not want to be with anyone else. Marriage can be done many ways and everyone is entitled to their own