Why did Grey Owl success?

Grey Owl describes Grey Owl’s whole life. In short, when he was alive, he was regarded as the symbol of North American Indian in that he used his own experience to propagate protecting Canadian forests all around the world, which is the home of Indians but whose size is decreasing every year owing to human’s overcut; however, after his death, newspaper uncovered that he had no Indian blood at all.

The latter is the main content of this book. Undoubtedly, the author, Vicky Shipton, aims at returning Grey Owl to an ordinary person rather than a star. In this view, I conceive him as a case of commercialization made by the media. In this sense, I’m curious about why he could success.

In my homework, I explored some possible reasons based on this book. First, in around 1937, Europeans worried about Hitler and Mussolini and they hold that a war was coming soon. Second, at that time, people didn’t have jobs or had boring jobs. Third, before Grey Owl, people knew little about North American Indians since previous writers had described Indian’s life as bystanders. In other words, Grey Owl made full advantage of the timing.

I still agree with the above opinions; however, I want to supplement another important one, in effect, Grey Owl condemned “white man” of cruelty on behalf of Indians. Fortunately, this standpoint catered to ordinary people. As mentioned, they are worried that Nazi would occupy their countries. Unconsciously, they want to express their condemns of other countries’ invasions, or the cruelty between human.

In view of all the above situations, Grey Owl created a different world – a better world in that difficult time. His depiction of Canada’s wild forests and his unworried life was a dream for many people. Hence, he became popular.

Nevertheless, can human build a heaven on the mundane world? Impossible. Neither does Grey Owl. In order to meet consumer’s demands, the media promoted him. On the other hand, for the same reason, the media made his real life public after his death. Actually, Grey Owl isn’t more than a tool. Nither do most stars. Simultaneously, the media is a tool, too. It turns around the taste of people. But what is public’s taste? How can they cultivate this taste?

I’ll keep thinking.