Guilt, Denial and Consequences in God and the Indian
Although this play is fiction, it is very likely that many ministers that worked for Residential Schools were haunted by Indian ghost children from their past, much like Lucy for George. God and the Indian by Drew Hayden Taylor is about an Anglican Bishop named George King, who is visited in his office in early 2000’s by Johnny Indian who is determined to make George acknowledge what he did to her 40 years earlier. .
George has lived with the guilt of what he did in Residential Schools for over 40 years. Johnny, later identified as Lucy, wants George to admit what he did to her and other little girls at the school. George feels a tremendous amount guilt, strikingly more than he shows which turns into denial, which is what created Johnny Indian, an aged little girl from his past.
George created Johnny Indian in his mind from his subconscious guilt that has built up over the years. George’s as old as the hills mind has twisted his recollection of his true crimes in his 20’s which assisted in creating Johnny Indian, a figment of his imagination, “he attempts to drink from his empty scotch glass. Taking a deep breath, he opens the drawer to retrieve the gun, but mysteriously it's not there” (Taylor, …show more content…
Trauma, distress and abuse are things people often make themselves forget so they do not have to relive the memories or the feelings associated with them. When George was younger he was in all likelihood pressured by his superiors and what he did was so unspeakable and traumatizing that his guilt made him distort the memories and what really happened along with the guilt made him completely forget that part of working at St. Davids. Georges age, extreme guilt and denial made him believe that the sins he committed ceased to
Although this play is fiction, it is very likely that many ministers that worked for Residential Schools were haunted by Indian ghost children from their past, much like Lucy for George. God and the Indian by Drew Hayden Taylor is about an Anglican Bishop named George King, who is visited in his office in early 2000’s by Johnny Indian who is determined to make George acknowledge what he did to her 40 years earlier. .
George has lived with the guilt of what he did in Residential Schools for over 40 years. Johnny, later identified as Lucy, wants George to admit what he did to her and other little girls at the school. George feels a tremendous amount guilt, strikingly more than he shows which turns into denial, which is what created Johnny Indian, an aged little girl from his past.
George created Johnny Indian in his mind from his subconscious guilt that has built up over the years. George’s as old as the hills mind has twisted his recollection of his true crimes in his 20’s which assisted in creating Johnny Indian, a figment of his imagination, “he attempts to drink from his empty scotch glass. Taking a deep breath, he opens the drawer to retrieve the gun, but mysteriously it's not there” (Taylor, …show more content…
Trauma, distress and abuse are things people often make themselves forget so they do not have to relive the memories or the feelings associated with them. When George was younger he was in all likelihood pressured by his superiors and what he did was so unspeakable and traumatizing that his guilt made him distort the memories and what really happened along with the guilt made him completely forget that part of working at St. Davids. Georges age, extreme guilt and denial made him believe that the sins he committed ceased to