Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Last Crossing

Gary Paulsen is the author of the novel The Crossing. The main character in this story is a young boy named Manny. The only family he has is himself and he lives on the streets of Mexico. Many homeless children of Mexico, like Manny, think crossing the border to the United States of America will solve all their problems and life will be good.

Throughout human existence, mankind has had to overcome difficult obstacles in order to prosper. In Diane Glancy’s “Pushing the Bear”, the reader discovers how the Cherokee Indians overcome their hardships and flourish into a new, thriving community. In this novel, the audience observe how these Cherokee Indians outlast the harsh environment during the Indian Removal Act. Additionally, Glancy creates a human experience during the Trail of Tears; giving a different perspective of various characters. Through the eyes of characters such as Maritole and Knobowtee, the reader is able to sense the desperation that the Cherokee endured. The upheaval of being forcefully removed from the land stripped the Cherokee of their identity. This disruption left the Cherokee confused, causing frustration to arise because they were unable to live their familiar roles. Men were no longer able to farm. Women had a loss of property and wealth. The bear symbolizes these struggles throughout this novel. Maritole explains, “The bear had once been a person. But he was not conscious of the consciousness he was given. His darkness was greed and self-centeredness. It was part of myself, too. It was part of the human being” (183). In other words, the “bear” is the personal dilemma each character is put up against during this removal. Furthermore, each character has their own personal struggles to overcome; whether that be Knobowtee’s loss of masculinity or Maritole’s loss of family. These struggles,

Initially, Piquette is viewed as an outsider by society when she accepts her personal identity as Metis. When Piquette is invited by Ewen to his summer cabin, Vanessa falsely believes “that Piquette must be in some way a daughter of the forest, a kind of junior prophetess of the wilds, who might impart to me. If I took the right approach, some of the secrets which she undoubtedly knew - where the whippoorwill made her nest, how the coyote reared her young, or whatever it was that it said in Hiawatha” (112). Piquette and many other First Nations have been stereotyped and misinterpreted for so long that society labels them with certain traits. When Ewen proposes that Piquette come to the family’s summer cabin, it is immediately rejected by Vanessa’s grandmother saying “if that half-breed youngster comes along to Diamond Lake, I’m not going” (110). The Metis are not accepted by the majority of society, making it difficult for them to feel like they fit in and are appreciated throughout the community. This creates a divide between society and the Metis and other First Nations groups. Vanessa’s warped views and perspectives about First Nations illustrate how the majority of society views Aboriginal people.

The Strongest Blood tells the story of two cousins in an Indigenous setting, living in the Northwest Territories. Anyone who has read The Strongest Blood knows how it centers in on the teachings of Indigenous peoples and the struggles and conflicts that they face involving their land, spiritual beliefs, and economy. Van Camp’s extensive use of literary techniques directs the spotlight on the two major themes of Indigeneity, and economical conflict while creating an interesting environment for the reader.

“We live the Old Way” are the words that author, Catherine Knutsson, uses to introduce readers to the fascinating culture of the Métis Indians in her intriguing book, Shadows Cast by Stars (1). Set in an unspecified future, sixteen year old protagonist, Cassandra Mercredi, finds herself and her family fleeing from the mainland of UA and going to find refuge on “The Island” (Knutsson 21). They have been targeted because they are “marked by the precious Plague antibodies in [their Native American] blood” (Knutsson 1). According to Essentials of Young Adult Literature, Knutsson’s book is categorized as American Indian and Indigenous Literature (Short, Tomlinson, Lynch-Brown, and Johnson 177). After analyzing the text, the categorization is correct because the story is told from the perspective of the protagonist, Cassandra, who provides readers are given insight into the cultural beliefs and values of the Métis tribe. Additionally, her character communicates the traditional roles of men and women within the tribe, while integrating cultural details that provide authenticity to the story.

The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy takes the reader on a journey through Mexico and South Western United States through the eyes of the protagonist Billy Parham, a young cowboy who began the story as young and naive, wishing for an adventure. He finds it when Billy captures the wolf that he and his father were hunting and, instead of killing the animal, he instead decides to take her back to the Mexican Mountains. Along the way, he began to deeply care for it and believe that it’s a “being of great order” that knew “what men do not,” willing to risk his own life to guarantee her safety (McCarthy 59-60). However, on his trip, Billy and the wolf get caught by Mexican authorities who decide to give the wolf to a circus. When Billy is released,

In Richard Wright’s Native Son, the book is split into three books. The first 2 books focus mainly on the suspense and tensions rising within Bigger’s life and finally in the last book he dies. The dramatic conflict of Native Son takes place chiefly within the mind of Bigger Thomas, who lives in a world of whites, blacks , or reds. To Bigger all of life is conflict and issues that is defined by the color of your skin with the whites being higher up. The tensions within the book can be comparable to fire and ice as each element possess traits which can be seen as metaphors within the novel Native son by Richard Wright and his essay of “How Bigger was Born”.

In contrast to the Two Row Wampum treaty that idolizes peace and respect, with the metaphor of the two boats floating down the river of life together in a non-interfering way, is Glen Coulthard’s proposal of decolonization that says we have to sink the settler’s ship in order for Indigenous people to regain recognition and revive their rights. Coulthard sees the sinking of the settler ship as the only way decolonization can be accomplished because settlers have and continue to dishonour treaties, disrespect and take away indigenous rights and ignore the consequences of their actions. Moreover, Coulthard’s ideal for decolonization is intersectional, as it "must account for the complex ways that capitalism, patriarchy, white supremacy, and the

Although this course is about global women’s movements, the overall argument in which I intend on taking for the purpose of this book review is that besides women, First Nations men are also victims of oppression. In addition to oppression, first nations are often stereotyped by society. Rice’s book does a good job on reflecting this idea once again, through the use of first person point of view stories. It allows the reader to really understand how these stereotypes affect the everyday lives of First Nations people. Before getting into how stereotyping affects the lives of these people, we will begin with looking into oppression and how it relates to the textbook.

Thomas King’s The Inconvenient Indian tells the story of Indigenous people in Canada and the United States, it challenges the narrative on how Indigenous history is taught and explains why Indigenous people continue to feel frustrated. King’s seeks to educate the reader as he provides a detailed accounts of the horrific massacres Indigenous people endured, yet he simultaneously inserts humorous moments which balances out the depressing content and enhances his story. The books highlights the neglect and assimilation that Indigenous were subjected to and how their survival was seen as an inconvenience to western culture. King directs his message at a Euro-centric audience to offer an accurate explanation of Indigenous culture and

Trauma is an experience of such intensity, that it overwhelms the boundaries of the self. The intensity of trauma might indeed overwhelm psychological resources, fragmenting the idea of the ego and altering the ability to sense self, and distinguish reality from fragmented reality. From such trauma many issues may arise, including psychosis. Psychosis is characterised by an impaired relationship with reality and can be seen through a depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness or paranoia, withdrawal from family and friends, and hallucinations. Psychosis could mean a complete loss in being able to distinguish between truth and reality, and losing a sense of self. Literary works, through different literary elements can shape the meaning of

King characterizes the mother’s stubbornness through her conversation with two U.S. guards at the borderline. The mother answers all questions from the border guards truthfully and honestly as the purpose of the trip and their destination, however, as guards ask her about her citizenship and even propose an answer of “Canadian?” (King 137), she insists in answering their question as “Blackfoot.” (137). Such repeated answer accentuates the importance of Blackfoot to her as an identity as well as a powerful representation of one standing up for their Indigenous group. In her article, “Beyond Border Binaries: Borderlines, Borderlands, And In-Betweenness In Thomas King’s Short Story ‘Borders.’”, Evelyn P Mayer analyzes the idea of “borderlands”

Martin McGartland was an Irish republican growing up in the Ballymurphy Estate in the Catholic side of Belfast. Many would think that he was a member of the IRA just like any other eighteen year old living in the Ballymurphy Estate. Instead of joining the IRA, Martin actually worked with the Special Branch of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, providing intelligence on possible IRA attacks and in the process saved multiple innocent lives. Martin McGartland told accounts through his biography, “ Fifty Dead Men Walking”. On the cover of the book there is a statement right below the title, “ The Heroic True Story of a British Secret Agent inside the IRA.”

Cooper challenges the assumption that white characters exhibit certain character traits simply because they' are white and Native Americans exhibit certain character traits simply because they are Native American. He does so by introducing the interracial friendship of Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas who have a very different racial history but look past race and develop a bond that saves other and leads to unification between whites and Indians. The novel’s setting is three years into the French and Indian War, and the struggle over the unfamiliar Native frontier brings about tensions between an expanding national culture and a diminishing Native American population (Cooper 13). Chingachgook and his son Uncas are the last of the Mohican tribe who have an uncommon friendship with a white man named Hawkeye. While Hawkeye may identify as white, he most closely associates himself with the Indians, he is a

The End of the Tour directed by James Ponsoldt follows the story of an interview done by David Lipsky about David Wallace. The all the scenes in this movie are very intimate and give the feeling that they viewer is right there as a fly on the wall. This feeling is very important for this movie because David Wallace is a very private and socially awkward person. These scenes reflect his preference of social settings in his famous and private life. A quote from the movie that contains the essence of the film is when Wallace tells Lipsky that he doesn’t want to be like him. It is clear that Lipsky looks up to Wallace and at one point in the movie forces Wallace to face his biggest fear that he has not lived up to the world’s expectations.