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Lone Ranger, Hawkeye, Ishmael, and Robinson Crusoe are the four Indian elders who go missing from the psychiatric hospital where Dr. Hovaugh works. Each of these four elders narrates a portion of the story and also appears as a character within the story. They are very old and may even be supernatural figures who have lived for centuries. Although the figures are typically presented as male, some characters think they are female, and each is associated with one of the women from the novel’s four creation stories (Lone Ranger with First Woman, Ishmael with Changing Woman, Robinson Crusoe with Thought Woman, and Hawkeye with Old Woman). The elders partly embody the power of nature: they claim they are trying to fix the world but they also bring natural disasters, showing how destruction can nevertheless be healing to nature. They also represent the endurance of Indian traditions, with their long lives and with the stories they tell both creating a link from the present day all the way back to the beginning of creation.
Lone Ranger, Hawkeye, Ishmael, and Robinson Crusoe Quotes in Green Grass, Running Water
The Green Grass, Running Water quotes below are all either spoken by Lone Ranger, Hawkeye, Ishmael, and Robinson Crusoe or refer to Lone Ranger, Hawkeye, Ishmael, and Robinson Crusoe. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 1 Quotes
“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep—”
“Wait a minute,” said Robinson Crusoe.
“Yes?”
“That’s the wrong story,” said Ishmael. “That story comes later.”
“But it’s my turn,” said the Lone Ranger.
“But you have to get it right,” said Hawkeye.
“And,” said Robinson Crusoe, “you can’t tell it all by yourself.”
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Sergeant Cereno leaned back in the chair and slowly swung it from side to side. “All right, Ms. Jones. These four Indians . . . what did they look like?”
“Like I said. They were Indians. Old ones.”
“How old would you say?”
“I don’t know . . . four, five hundred years . . .”
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Part 4 Quotes
“Okay, okay, here goes,” says Coyote. “In the beginning, there was nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“That’s right,” says Coyote. “Nothing.”
“No,” I says. “In the beginning, there was just the water.”
“Water?” says Coyote.
“Yes,” I says. “Water.”
“Hmmmm,” says Coyote. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I says, “I’m sure.”
“Okay,” says Coyote, “if you say so. But where did all the water come from?”
“Sit down,” I says to Coyote.
“But there is water everywhere,” says Coyote.
“That’s true,” I says. “And here’s how it happened.”
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Lone Ranger, Hawkeye, Ishmael, and Robinson Crusoe Character Timeline in Green Grass, Running Water
The timeline below shows where the character Lone Ranger, Hawkeye, Ishmael, and Robinson Crusoe appears in Green Grass, Running Water. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1
...would like best. Meanwhile, in a different but parallel narrative, the Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, and Ishmael debate how to best begin telling a story. They agree that beginnings are...
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Going back to Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, and Ishmael, the four of them again debate how the story is progressing so far....
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Back in an unknown location, Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, and Ishmael come to the side of a highway, where the grass and sun are...
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...mask and goes out the gate of the place where she’s being kept, along with Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye. Coyote is confused because he doesn’t know who these other characters...
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Part 2
In an unknown location, Lone Ranger, Hawkeye, Robinson Crusoe, and Ishmael debate whose turn it is to tell a story. Ishmael begins...
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While Lionel and Norma are walking together, they happen to run into the Lone Ranger, Hawkeye, Robinson Crusoe, and Ishmael. They tell Lionel that they’re trying to fix the world, but...
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...a white whale. He insists on calling her Queequeg because the story already has an Ishmael, and he forces her to keep watch for whales. But Changing Woman is horrified when...
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...Charlie, and Eli are all separately watching or reading Westerns. The Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Ishmael, and Hawkeye also watch a Western. Meanwhile, Sergeant Cereno has left Babo and Dr. Hovaugh...
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...soldiers that grab Changing Woman soon after landing. She asks the men to call her Ishmael, but they recognize her as an Indian. They take her to Fort Marion. Coyote interrupts...
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Part 3
The narrator tells Coyote to sit down and listen again. Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, and Ishmael debate whose turn it is to tell a story, and they decide it’s...
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Outside Bursum’s store, Lone Ranger, Hawkeye, Robinson Crusoe, and Ishmael happen to see Coyote, who dances and changes the weather. Robinson...
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...an island. The Island tells her to watch where she’s going. On the island is Robinson Crusoe , who spends his time writing lists. Coyote interrupts to say he’s heard of this...
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...comes to Bursum’s store and finds the four Indians there waiting: Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, and Ishmael. Lionel is soaked from walking in the rain. Soon Eli comes in and...
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Part 4
As Hawkeye begins telling the next part of the story, Coyote complains that he never gets a...
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Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye wait for Coyote to catch up with them. When Coyote arrives,...
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Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, Ishmael, and Coyote apologize to Lionel for being late—they’ve finally made it to Blossom. They...
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...She initially says Chingachgook but when they don’t recognize the name, she changes it to Hawkeye.
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Eli explains the history of the dam to Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe, and Hawkeye. Coyote admits to them that he has been doing some singing...
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Old Woman gets taken to a fort in Florida. Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Hawkeye, and Robinson Crusoe come to see her. All of a sudden, an earthquake also...
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...and offers to take Alberta to lunch at the Dead Dog. Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, and Ishmael come back to Dr. Hovaugh’s hospital and have a conversation with Babo about...
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Coyote offers an apology for his actions to Lone Ranger, Robinson Crusoe, Hawkeye, and Ishmael, but after apologizing several times, he laughs. Coyote and the narrator again argue...
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