In order to be a member of a group one must think like the group. Canadians have their own ideas and ways of thinking Canadian. Canadians feel that they have to keep Canada safe; they feel "the need to claim ownership and to protect something" (Hewson 380). Canadians act as if Canada is something that needs to be protected from the Americans that would come in and try to steal it or take over. The novel, written from a Canadian viewpoint, shows Americans in a different light than they would be viewed in an American novel. In David's point of view all Americans are not only alike but they all want to take want ever they can from the Canadians. "Any American was bred to take over things - your water supply, your mineral deposits, your en

There are many ways of thinking Canadian, the biggest of which see Canada's history as either an accomplishment or a process. David McDougal looks back on history as the accomplishment of establishing Canada as Canadian. He thinks that Canada needs "thinkers that think Canadian" (62). He wants the Canadian people to focus on Canada's history, religion, and landscape. David wants to unite Canada to create pride in the country they fought for; that General Brock and Laura Secord fought and died for. However, David is too obsessed with the past accomplishments that his history stops there that everything after is only living up to the events in the war of 1812. "Emptied of drama and emotion these artifacts would not be making any further statements, any further journeys" (208). These things are of the past, they measure the accomplishments of the past, their story ends there. He isn't necessarily wrong in his way of thinking, just limited. To him the important past happened years ago therefore nothing that happened yesterday, no matter how great, can measure up to the history he records. To Fleda the glory isn't in the out come but in the steps taken to get there. In this way, history is on going and continuously being written. This theory is unlike David's, who only stops to look to one glorious past event to shape his history and life. "She followed Laura Secord's route but she carried with her no deep message" (211). To Fleda, Laura's journey was more important than where she ended up. Fleda is in the process of making her own history.

A sense of pride in one's country is important to many people. In the novel The Whirlpool, the characters have many different ways of thinking about their country which effects the way they see Canada. Dr. Kelly Hewson's lecture on The Whirlpool and Canada discusses the different ways in which the characters see each other and Canada. There are many different ideas on what it is to be and think Canadian that are brought about by the characters in the novel The Whirlpool.

People and objects in history often affect and change the present. Laura Secord and General Brock are important members of Canadian history. Lau

Some common words found in the essay are:
Laura Secord, Unfortunately David, David Americans, British Romanticists, David Patrick, Canadian Canadians, Fleda Laura's, England Fleda, David Laura, Imagine McDougal, laura secord, novel whirlpool, thinking canadian, discusses characters canada, discusses characters, whirlpool canada, canada dr, dr kelly, canadian canadians, unite canada, canada dr kelly, pride one's country, characters novel whirlpool, canada's history,
Approximate Word count = 1471
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)