Author Richard Wagamese conveys a message in his novel Indian Horse displaying the idea of sacrifice. Specifically how people must sacrifice belonging for survival. Wagamese uses Saul 's experiences, choices and general story to express this message. Throughout Saul’s life he is forced to make sacrifices for himself and the people around him in order to survive, his isolation is what gets him through. Everyday people see the reproductions of community and how surviving isn 't an easy thing. Personal sacrifice can be nearly impossible, but is a necessity in life. This first began in the novel when Saul loses his family, persisting at the school and surfacing again once Saul 's hockey career gets serious. Saul’s life is made up of devastation, quickly making the story a miserable one. Introducing with Saul 's siblings being taken away, his home soon following, his childhood. The first tremendous sacrifice the reader experiences on a more empirical level was Saul’s grandma giving up her life so he could survive. She gave him her coat, her shoe things, her life. Every step was a battle as she was …show more content…
Saul’s life at St.Jerome 's was hell, everywhere he looked there was agony and heartbreak. “We lived under constant threat. If it wasn’t the direct physical threat of beatings, the Iron Sisters or vanishing, it was the dire threat if purgatory, hell…” Page 80. As a result hockey became an escape for Saul, something so pure that helped Saul cope with the nightmare his life became. For the simple joy of playing hockey Saul sacrificed so much. “I used the game to shelter me from seeing the truth, from having to face it everyday.” Page 199. As the reader later finds out he gave up his innocence, state of mind, he put everything into hockey giving up so much. “...he’d given me the job of cleaning the ice to buy my silence, to guard his secret.” Page 199. Being close to the father for an escape. In the same way others give up things to cope, coping being closely tied to