Through Black Spruce: Response Paper

Response Paper Author Name University Name Through Black Spruce, written by Joseph Boyden, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2008, which is Canada’s most distinguished, premier fiction award. The novel was released in the United States, Europe, and Asia too, which made it eligible for various awards, acclaims, and prizes. Through Black Spruce is set in Ontario, and sheds light on the lifestyles of Will Bird and his niece, Annie Bird. While in the coma, Will Bird recounts all important events of the past which led to him being in this situation to Suzanne and Annie, both of which are close to his heart. Meanwhile, Annie Bird recounts the previous months of her life which she spent with Suzanne and Will, and the time she spent in New York, Montreal and Toronto. She tries her best to help Will get out of this uncertain situation (Boyden, 2009). Does this novel have any shot at the ManBooker longlist? All Canadians, including me, would love to know what was going through Joseph Boyden’s mind when he wrote this story. Did he keenly observe the Canadian culture? Did he spend any time in this country or just chose to write the story randomly? The first thing I’d like to mention is that Joseph has mixed conventional and aboriginal narrative models in this story. Just like other narrators, he hasn’t clarified many things but keeps talking about the problems Canadians are facing. In the conventional sense, this book definitely has a chronology. However, when we see it from another perspective, we will have an idea that Joseph has talked much abou...