Volkswagen Blues

“I looked for the last card he’d sent me. And finally I found it. It was in a book with a gold cover called The Golden Dream. By Walker Chapman.” 

After deciding to search for his brother, Théo, Jack looks for the last postcard Théo sent and finds it in a book about Eldorado, the mythical city of gold. Eighteenth-century European explorers searched for the city in South America, but to no avail. They were chasing a myth of their own creation. The empty dream of Eldorado foreshadows Jack’s quest for his brother and his realization that he has invested Théo with a mythical identity.

“When you talk about the discoverers and explorers of America…I’ve got nothing in common with the people who came looking for gold and spices and a passage to Asia. I’m on the side of the people who were robbed of their lands.’'

Although La Grande Sauterelle is both Indigenous and white, she often takes “the side of the people who were robbed,” or the Indigenous. Her insight into the plight of the Indigenous people conflicts with Jack’s unquestioning esteem for the “explorers of America.” As their journey unfolds, the girl’s perspective will compel Jack to revise the understanding of North American history he gained from his francophone family and culture.

“‘I’m a writer,’ said the man.” 

As early as the first chapter, readers learn that “the man” goes by the name Jack, but the narrative frequently refers to him using the general noun “man,” which attenuates Jack’s identity as an individual. Further unsettling his identity is the revelation that “Jack Waterman” is only a pen name his brother proposed, not his real name.