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Examples Of Racism In Montana 1948

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In the novel Montana 1948, Larry Watson described the arid land of Montana. He takes us on a journey with our narrator and protagonist David Hayden. David has matured throughout the novel because he goes from being a carefree young child to a more knowledgeable young adult this is shown when he realizes racism is a thing in the world and a big part of the community around him, the effect his family has on the town they live in, and that people who you think to be one thing can be completely different in bad and surprising ways. Racism is a driving force in David’s town specifically towards Native Americans. Uncle Frank is accused of raping young Indian girls who he is supposed treat medically, Wesley the town sheriff interviews Ollie Young …show more content…

Come on boy. You know Frank's always been partial to red meat”(Watson 72). Uncle Frank is also accused by Wesley to have murdered Marie but Weslely realizes that it would probably not hold up in court so he drops that charge and focuses on Frank’s raping of Indian girls. Frank is locked up inside of Wesley’s basement because he did not want to get locked up in jail not in town at least. Wesley and Frank’s grandfather, Julian, thinks that it is unnecessary for Frank to be locked up at all and demands that Wesley releases him. Julian thinks its no big deal to rape a girl maybe just because it is an Indian girl and he does not have much respect for them. Eventually, Franks breaks a pickle jar and uses the glass to slit his wrists making it the event that David believes will fix their family Uncle Frank’s action needed to be punished because he was racist and did not have respect for women and especially the Indian people. This transforms David from the young clueless boy into a young even maybe adult person he is by the end of our novel knowing more than maybe even modern day adults about how hard life is and how cruel the world can

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