The Difficulties of Borders Between Canada and US

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Your Citizenship please? At a point in time, people encounter this question when you are about to cross the border into a different country, whether it is by car, train or plane. It questions one’s identity as to who they are. Most people answer with the current country they live in but does one ever answer with the country that they were from? “Borders” by Thomas King, is an intriguing story about a mother that has pride in her culture and values where she comes from. Along with her two kids, she resides in a native community. The mother has to declare her citizenship at the border, where she persistently presents herself as “Blackfoot.” The story, “Borders”, illustrates how difficult it is for Aboriginals to maintain their cultural identities in contemporary times. The mother and the daughter have several cultural differences as the mother, who displays extremely strong values and feelings towards her culture while her daughter, Laetitia wants to explore outside of her reserve. There is an imaginary line that King refers to is an additional obstacle that impedes on their culture. They have to respect the border but still maintain their culture. The obstacle that the imaginary line creates a political alliance which adds to their cultural values. Lastly, the title “Borders” itself, is very symbolic and play a significant role in the theme. The title intrigues the reader and identifies an idea that is central to the theme of the story.

The mother and daughter appear to be very different in the story. The mother is very proud of her native heritage and is not pleased when her daughter brings up her plan to move. “Laetitia had not left home with my mother’s blessing…” (King, 133) The mother creates chaos because she has too much...

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...ng that she is Canadian or American. She is stern but successfully is able to pass through the border as just stating her native identity. King explains how difficult it may be for some natives to express and value their culture with the complications of the imaginary borders that is presented. The mother takes her son and travels across the border and back, telling tales, demonstrating in what you believe in, with hope that one day her daughter, Laetitia will return back to the Blackfoot reserve.

WORKS CITED

Andrew, Jennifer. Border Trickery and Dog Bones: A Conversation with Thomas King.

Studies in Canadian Literature. 1999. CBC

Davidson, Arnold E., and Priscilla L. Walton. Border crossings Thomas King's cultural inversions. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003. Print

King, Thomas. One Good Story, That One. Toronto: HarperCollins, 1993. Print

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