ipl-logo

Journey In Richard Wagamese's Indian Horse

1114 Words5 Pages

Through the Medicine Wheel, we are reminded of our lifelong journey that is continuous upon birth and living through youth, adulthood and senior years. In Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse, the protagonist Saul experiences many obstacles which shape and develop his character. Saul’s life can be divided into more than the four stages of life to better understand his journey. Saul’s Life with His Family The time Saul was able to spend with his family was very short due to the effects of the white men. The time spend together was filled with pain and loss because of the firm hold of the residential schools. Saul was able to learn the history and beliefs of his people taught to him by his grandmother, Naomi, despite the lack of hope in his family. …show more content…

In Saul’s return, he is acceptant of his truth and past willing to forgive and continue the path towards wholeness. In his return, Saul experiences spiritual development. While visiting the place of his people, God’s Lake, Saul is visited by his family and Ojibway people. Saul says, “Benjamin. My grandmother, with my Grandfather Solomon. My Mother and father… I stood on the edge of the cliff with my pouch and eagle feather fan and my family stood around the fire in the trees looking up at me (205).” This encounter reminds Saul that he is not alone and will always be connected to his people through faith. Furthermore, the symbol of tobacco particles represents Saul and his forgiveness to the ones who have wronged him in life. Saul states, “I took a pinch of the tobacco from the pouch and held it up to the evening star… I cried in great heaving gasps. I let myself mourn (205).” This is Saul’s emotional development because after many years of rage and emptiness, he is able to express his true emotions such as sorrow. Saul has allowed his self to beginning the journey to wholeness and rebirth having confronted his past and made peace. Saul’s return ends the vicious hold the white men held on him for numerous

Show More
Related
608 Words | 3 Pages

Heroic Journey The book that was read was Andrew Smith’s “100 Hundred Sideways Miles”. This book describes the journey of Finn Easton, an epileptic teenager, and his struggles. The Heroic Journey is a pattern of narratives that tends to show up in stories and myths. It is seen in this book through Finn’s internal struggles trying to find meaning in life outside of his father’s book which had incorporated characteristics of him.

Read More
366 Words | 2 Pages

By learning about the severe beatings, sicknesses, fears and molestations occurring at the school, a sense devastation is created to the reader’s mind, though in Saul’s mind aside from the havoc he has encountered, there is something else he thinks of. Despite the fact Saul faces the most tragic adversities, he pulls himself aside from the fear and acts secure. Amazingly Saul spoke to himself, as he said, “When the tears threatened to erupt from me at night I vowed they would never hear me cry. I ached in solitude What I let them see was a quiet, withdrawn boy, void of feeling” (55). By remarking the fortitude Saul speaks of, it is exemplified that Saul has enough courage to accept the circumstances he is in and move on, showing the reader even though he has lost many things he has learned to show others he is fearless and strong.

Read More
662 Words | 3 Pages

Saul is finally understanding what he went through. In the book we see Saul revisit his past, “I used to live here,’ I said……”Don’t matter. Lots of them used to live here, and you can see how heartwarming an experience the visits have been.’ ..... ’I haven’t seen it since the sixties.”

Read More
1306 Words | 6 Pages

With the younger children, it is not always possible for them to study in a different education surrounding and insist on their goal. Sherman Alexie’s “The absolutely time of a part-time Indian” describes an Indian boy Arnold Junior left his homeland and pursued his goal in Reardan where has many white people. In Reardan, he learns something new and makes some new friends like Penelope and Gordy. Finally, he satisfies with the new life and even fix the friendship with Rowdy. The passage compares the description of Junior’s life both in Rez and Reardan, and those differences have great impacts on him.

Read More
1912 Words | 8 Pages

The ability to rise above past difficulties and experiences and move forward is an underappreciated ability, that can ultimately lead to success in future situations. In Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road, a novel about three young indigenous people, Boyden displays the importance of rising above personal difficulties through the characters’ efforts to overcome the racist mindset in Canada at the time, as well as their struggles throughout the first World War . Though many attempt to bury their difficulties in the past, the inability to do so often contributes to a person losing connection with the real world and their loved ones. In this context, real world refers to the everyday life of a typical person in Canada, peacefully with their family

Read More
1399 Words | 6 Pages

Introduction Garth Stein, author of the renowned The Art of Racing in the Rain has a capacity to engage readers from the beginning to the end of each novel. One might ask how what his writing is so appealing; numerous people believe that great novels are because of the who the author is as a person. However, the author has to allow the characters to take on their own personalities; the characters are very much different from the author in truly iconic novels. Garth Stein certainly subscribes to this idea, as he is known for his stories that seem authentic and natural, driven by his original characters, rather than characters based off of himself.

Read More
1095 Words | 5 Pages

In a different part of the book, Vance transitions the mood by relaying another anecdote, this time with a completely different tone and diction. He discusses the sorrow he faced with losing his Mamaw, writing, “That was when I broke down and released the tears that I’d held back during the previous weeks” (172). Introducing a tone of despair adds variation to Vance’s writing and introduces an intimate side of the author, thus pulling the reader closer to the story. The different

Read More
571 Words | 3 Pages

Writer Sherman Alexie has a knack of intertwining his own problematic biographical experience with his unique stories and no more than “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” demonstrates that. Alexie laced a story about an Indian man living in Spokane who reflects back on his struggles in life from a previous relationship, alcoholism, racism and even the isolation he’s dealt with by living off the reservation. Alexie has the ability to use symbolism throughout his tale by associating the title’s infamy of two different ethnic characters and interlinking it with the narrator experience between trying to fit into a more society apart from his own cultural background. However, within the words themselves, Alexie has created themes that surround despair around his character however he illuminates on resilience and alcoholism throughout this tale.

Read More
859 Words | 4 Pages

The book focuses on a young boy named Arnold Spirit who shows persistence and bravery as he defies all odds and strides towards a happier more successful life than his parents and ancestors before him. Arnold is a bright, inspiring young boy who grows up with little fortune and is destined to continue down the path of a poor, misunderstood Indian. However, his fate changes for the better when a spark lights the fire inside of him to strive to pursue a better, more flourishing life as he makes an extraordinary decision to transfer to an all-white school for a worthier education. However, the drastic change of schools puts a burden on his family to get him to school as well as leads to extreme bullying from not just kids at his new school but also from his fellow Indians in his hometown. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, I learned that it doesn 't matter what your situation is and what you are expected to accomplish in your lifetime or what standards have already been set for you because you can be whoever you want to be with hard work, ambition, and confidence.

Read More
157 Words | 1 Pages

“The Way to Rainy Mountain” is organized very well, it includes three narrative voices. Throughout this novel the first narrative voice is about the Kiowa legends. Then Momaday has a paragraph of contexts that relates to the legend. The author gives the reader a bit of his life by relating a family experience he had. Because some of the Kiowa legends and history go with Momadays own family history, then this three voice narration allows the author to have great detail about the Kiowa’s way of life in every way.

Read More
552 Words | 3 Pages

There are five pendants thrown into the fire at the same time; each representing each status of the Sandolios which are Alpha, Beta, Warrior, Hunter, and Omega. The burning of the pendants together brings the tribe unity and strength to all. It is showing Anthenesic that all is well and they are still together as one. Anthenesic proves her presence to the Sandolios by putting out the great fire in the end with colorful wind.

Read More
1619 Words | 7 Pages

But, near the end of the book, Kenan describes how he was able to see the sun through the gray skies when he heard the cellist. This symbols also help characterize the story’s setting by revealing the dark and frightening occurrences in war. Another symbol that is briefly mentioned is cigarettes. They symbolized wealth, cigarettes are very hard to come by and can be quite costly. It is said that some of Kenan’s neighbors have spent all of their savings to buy cigarettes, which can only provide temporary happiness.

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

This presents that David, Rosalind and Petra feared going to the Fringes because of what they have been told all their life about it. Even though, the Chrysalids certainly demonstrates the love towards a family and how deep it is, how important the friendship and loyalty of the people that care about you the most is and always protection them. But mainly, throughout the book, fear was definitely one of

Read More
738 Words | 3 Pages

In the story “A Worn Path” Phoenix Jackson was an old African American women. She takes a small journey that can be an allegory of someone's whole life. The journey had hard and easy parts, beauty, danger, and confusion. But her quest was to get the medicine for her sick grandson who laid at home waiting for her return. Phoenix was a delusional yet heroic, caring grandmother who would stop at nothing to get what she needed.

Read More
683 Words | 3 Pages

These symbols are fire and ice. Fire is used as a symbol of desire. Desire is a strong feeling of wanting to have something. Desire can also be associated with greed. In lines three and four, “From what I 've tasted of desire/ I hold with those who favor fire.”, the emotions that the speaker evokes gives the idea that he has experienced desire.

Read More

More about Journey In Richard Wagamese's Indian Horse

Open Document