Indian Horse Analysis

Richard Wagamese, the award-winning author of the novel Keeper’n Me (2006) as well as various other literary pieces such as Dream Wheels (2006), Medicine Walk (2014), and Indian Horse (2012), was born in 1955 in Northwestern Ontario and is from the Wabaseemoong First Nation. Through the combination of Wagamese’s fictional writing blended with components of his personal life in Keeper’n Me specifically, the fifty-nine year old author has been recognized for this and other phenomenal works through a variety of diverse awards in his years of writing including being the recipient of the 2012 National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Media and Communications. His debut novel allows audiences to get a glimpse of what this writer is capable of and furthermore his personal life as he incorporates many fascinating concepts into it while keeping it a light read.

In Sherman Alexie’s novel “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” the narrator portrays both internal and external conflicts throughout his journey to success. Arnold Junior Spirit is a fourteen-year-old boy who believes that in order to pursue his dream he will have to choose between staying in his Spokane Indian reservation or moving out to an all-white school in the neighboring farm town. But things aren’t as easy as they seem when Junior tries moving schools because he know has to be part of two communities. Many conflicts form within the Spokane Indian reservation and the Spokane Indian reservation as well comes into conflict with the white community.

“Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” Adversity implies difficulties, trouble and misfortune as it tests the potential of man and strengthens his spirit of self confidence. In the novel Indian Horse written by Richard Wagamese there are many circumstances where the main character Saul is forced to overcome the adversity in which once shattered his human spirit and made him feel worthless. The ideas of adversity such as being beaten at residential schools and the racism he faced while playing hockey, demonstrates Saul’s constant inner struggle and his desire to become a

Identities can be ripped away from people, but love can help people to regain it and realise who they truly are. In Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse the native children’s identities are taken from them, and not all of them find it again. Saul’s own identity as an Ojibway is taken by the residential school and the impact of unfavourable circumstances; but with the love and support of his family and friends, he finds it again. The residential school and other negative influences cause Saul to lose his identity, which is the offset for his quest to regain it with help from his friends and family.

Education —an institution for success, opportunity, and progress — is itself steeped in racism. In Sherman Alexie’s short story “Indian Education” from his book The Longer Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is set in two places, the Spokane Indian Reservation and a farm town nearby the reservation. The story is written in a list of formative events chronologize Victor’s youth by depicting the most potent moment from each year he is in school. Alexie addresses the issue of racism in education by examining examples of injustice and discrimination over twelve years in a boy’s life. Victor faces his initial injustice in first grade when he is bullied by bigger kids, but his understanding of injustice becomes much more complex in grades two through twelve as he experiences discrimination against his American Indian identity. Familial experiences of a Native woman, Alexie’s style and humor, and Victor’s awareness of discrimination from grade one to twelve all reveal the grim reality of growing up and being schooled on an American Indian reservation.

In the Novel “All The Pretty Horses” by author Cormac McCarthy, the book develops the ideas about how imagination affects an individual’s willingness to embrace or reject an uncertain future. The people in John Grady's life affect his future in certain ways, the decisions he makes based on the opinions of his peers, to the death of loved ones.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a book about a young boy just entering high school who leaves his best friend and family to go to school mostly occupied by white people. This whole book follows him through his first year in this school where he tries to get a better education than he can get on the Rez, in the hopes that he will one day get off that reservation and out of his soul crushing poverty. “The Absolutely True diary of a Part-Time Indian” ATD, Sherman Alexie uses unfortunate events, social class and conversations to show that not everyone gets the support they need to follow their dreams.

The kidnap of Saul into the residential school system is a product of the superiority complex that exists. The belief that the indigenous people were inferior to the whites is what drove Saul to the school in the first place. Meanwhile, at the school Saul is taught to suppress his culture and values. Saul accompanied with thousands of other young aboriginal children are assimilated into the white culture. The main goal of the school system was to “[try] to remove [their] skin” (Wagamese 44). In this text, Saul compares his first time being bathed at St. Jeromes to

To prove it, he was told “‘And if I don’t go?’ ‘Then I’ll think you’re a coward. That you let it beat you without even trying.’ ‘What if I’m not good enough?’ He laughed, and the others laughed too…’Believe me, you’ll be good enough.’” (Wagamese 154) In more detail, the Moose always made sure that Saul knew he belonged, they treated him like a part of the family. They also helped to push him forwards when he was doubting his skills, like a normal family would do. To sum it up, the Kelly family has played a huge roll in Saul’s life. They helped him to make some critical decisions, along with helping to make sure he feels like he belongs.

Young Indigenous children from all over Canada were snatched from their homes, taken from their families, and placed in residential schools that would ruin these children and bring out the feeling of pain that would last their entire life. In Richard Wagamese novel Indian horse, Saul Indian Horse, one of the many victims of the sixties scoop was taken as a young boy, where he was abused mentally, physically and emotionally at St. Jerome's residential school. This school would inflict pain that would last forever and has a terrible aftermath on his life that puts him in a long and difficult healing process he endured to turn his life around from the distractions he used to hide from the pain. Richard Wagamese tells the story of Indian Horse through the eyes of Saul Indian Horse to demonstrate the feelings he endures during the story for the readers better understanding of the character.

The spontaneity and the unpredictable nature of human life makes the sustainability of human livelihood a challenging task. In the novel Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese, Saul detaches himself from others and experiences racism as well as isolation from his friends and teammates while playing hockey. These traumatic experiences cause him tremendous amounts of emotional pain, making it impossible for him to keep a job and compels him to become an alcoholic.

Discrimination and stereotypes are both forms of adversity that attack someone based on who they are and are challenges that need to be overcome; this is apparent in both novels.” The Kelly’s would be your legal guardians, Saul. That means you could leave here and attend a regular school. You’d have a home, Saul. A real home.” (Pg. 95) It is evident that living at St. Jerome’s residential school is a horrible and traumatising experience through Saul’s detailed explanation. The children attending residential school were verbally and physically abused and furthermore the cultural was stripped from them. Their basis for discrimination was based exclusively on the children being Ojibway. Fortunately, because of Saul’s immense hockey talent, he was offered a better life through living with Fred and Martha Kelly. Despite the discrimination, Saul focused on improving at hockey which consequently provided him with the opportunity to leave St. Jerome’s residential school. Unlike Saul Indian Horse, the girls at Permian high School ARE unable to overcome the subjugation of females and stereotypes of gender roles. “Some of the Pepettes (Permian High School cheerleaders) spent $100 of their own money to make an individual sign, decorating it with twinkling lights.” (Pg. 27) Every girl at Permian high school desired to be a Pepette. A Pepette is assigned to a football player and has several responsibilities to fulfil for the football player. Females at Permian high school goal was to date a football player, once this had been

All Canadian's need to know of Canada's dark past. For many years aboriginal children were put through boarding school ran by religious institutions, these schools were called residential schools. The novel "Indian Horse", by Richard Wagamese inculpates perfectly what the kids went through before, during and after residential schools. The book also gives insight on current issues that the survivors of the school face after they are dropped into the real world. It is also important that older generations read this novel as older people have not learned about residential schools while they were in school. Canadians need to read "Indian horse" by Richard Wagamese in order to discover why reconciliation is needed for the Aboriginal people of Canada.

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” Unfortunately Native Americans have deep roots with racism and oppression during the last 500 years. “In The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven,” Sherman Alexie tries to show racism in many ways in multiple of his short stories. These stories, engage our history from a Native American viewpoint. Many Native Americans were brutally forced out of their homes and onto Reservations that lacked resources. Later, Indian children were taken from their families and placed into school that were designed to, “Kill the Indian, save the man.” In the book there are multiple short story that are pieces that form a larger puzzle that shows the struggles and their effects on Native Americans. Sherman Alexie shows the many sides of racism, unfair justice and extermination policies and how imagination is key for Native American survival.

Indian horse by Richard Wagamese allowed me to open my eyes on the issues of Aboriginal people dealing with all the horrible pains and abusive trauma from the residential school. Before reading this book, I felt like I was educated well enough to understand how much aboriginal people suffered through generations and how much they have lost compared to what they had before. However, after reading this book I was able to see through First nation’s perspective and realized it's not just knowing about what aboriginal people have been through throughout the history. In this novel, the author allowed me to see Saul’s life transitioning ,where in the beginning saul was living the indigenous way of life with his family, but eventually forced to be