A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

In her 14th and final essay, Elliott speaks to her personal experiences with abuse from her father, and then draws connections to the abuse of the state, both contemporarily and historically. What sets this essay apart from the others is that the author stops to ask the reader questions about their own opinions or assumptions to make the text more interactive. This ends the book on a more action-oriented, personal note, elaborating on the struggle of loving someone who is also abusive; the ways in which one can be both a loveable human being and an abusive person; and the ways in which a nation such as Canada abuses and gaslights those who live within its borders in order to extract gain. The essay brings up the contradictions in the human experience, describing how the author’s father could be kind, thoughtful, and encouraging of her aspirations, but also physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive toward the rest of the family. This continues the cycle of abuse that he endured and that his foreparents endured at the Indian residential schools. On a wider scale, this begs the question of how and if a nation state and its inhabitants can stop this abusive behavior that is fueled by capitalist and colonial ideals—especially when the need to extract value at all costs seems to be a cornerstone of the Canadian state. Just as her father abused her and the rest of the family, then gaslighted them into thinking the abuse was all in their heads, Elliott illustrates how Canada extracts all that it can from those within its borders, and then gaslights those who have been exploited by belittling and sweeping away their concerns. Ultimately, Elliott ends this essay with several questions as to what the reader wants, and if those wants are based in capitalism, colonialism, or extraction.