Not Enough Horses Conflict Essay

Not Enough Horses by Thomas King handles a conflict between two cultures where a Caucasian man named Clint would like to marry a native man's daughter Sarah. Conflict arises between the two when there is a misunderstanding between their cultures, Clint is determined to try and fix it. In Not Enough Horses by Thomas King, there is an initial cultural conflict between Houston and Clint. Houston is not happy with the fact that his daughter Sarah is going to marry a white man. The battle between Native and non-Native identities is a source of grief for both Houston and Clint. Eventually this conflict is resolved through Clint often visiting Houston, bringing him gifts and being understanding to what Houston has to say. In the end, they both realized

Houston early on in the novel talked about how horses had a great meaning to the Natives, which is why the snowblower having eight-horsepower touched him. After this Houston starts to open up to Clint about his daughter Sarah, mentioning how she's a good cook and very smart. Houston later says “‘You know,’ ‘you’ve been by four times now.’” ‘And four’s an important number to Native people.’” Clint responds with “‘Like the four directions?’” Yes, " said Houston. In that quote, Clint showed that he has knowledge towards the Natives, which also helps change Houston's thoughts on him. Clint then asks if he could marry Sarah, and he says he should ask her. In conclusion Sarah and Clint were later married although it was tricky for Clint to convince her but he was able to by the following quote “‘I told her there weren’t enough horses in the world, but that I’d keep trying.’ Houston's response to Clint is “‘Welcome to the family,’ ‘You’re smarter than you look.’” This novel shows how communication and understanding of one another can unite different cultures together and not to judge a book by its cover because not all cultural differences are that