Reserved Parking An Analysis of Colonial Spaces in Thomas King's "Borders"

Abstract

This essay challenges the notion of some critics that “Borders,” by Thomas King, ends with the triumphant defeat of racist colonial institutions through the courage and determination of the mother in the story. Instead, I argue that the experience of the boy and mother, as they are stranded in the parking lot of a duty-free store, is an allegory King uses to critique the reserve system in Canada. This essay considers historical scholarship that illuminates the narratives which shaped 19th century reserve policies and juxtaposes these with the attitudes of colonizers and colonial institutions in King’s short story.