Role Of Overcoming Trauma By Connecting With Heritage In There And Indian Horse

Overcoming Trauma by Connecting with Heritage in There There and Indian Horse.

There There, by Tommy Orange, and Indian Horse, by Richard Wagamese, are two novels that explore the importance of reconnecting with your family and culture in order to overcome trauma. The two texts portray a significant display of how trauma is related to an absent knowledge of one’s heritage, and how understanding and reconnecting with this heritage can heal the trauma. To understand the importance and flow for the characters to achieve this, the reader must see the outcome of their reactions. Firstly, characters Thomas Frank and Saul Indian Horse both struggle with alcohol as a result of disconnection from their family and culture. Secondly, this struggle

Following the life of a mid-aged Jacquie Red-Feather in There There, it is evident that the commonly caused spiral into alcoholism has affected the lives of her own children. The text states, “Opal took care of Jacquie’s three grandsons - whom she’d never even met.” (100). Due to Jacquie’s constant struggle with alcohol, she is unable to raise her own children, who have to live with her younger half-sister, Opal. The initial struggle with alcohol started in a similar way to the characters of both texts, being driven from a lack of family and culture related trauma. The inability to raise her own children creates similar struggles for her own children as she would have had growing up. Following this pattern, her three boys would likely find a similar path in life as her, destined by a distorted representation of what family they should have. Similarly, in Indian Horse, Saul’s alcoholism gives a shroud of gloom to the residents of his adoptive-family’s town, Manitouwadge. This is best shown just before Saul departs from the community, and his family has to see him go. He says to his brother, “‘I’m not disappearing,’ I said. He shook his head softly. ‘Seems to me like you already did.’” (178) Saul’s melancholy interaction with his brother before he leaves reflects how the alcohol represents itself to his family members. The trauma that drove Saul into alcohol in the first place is being rubbed off onto his family. He too is keeping the chain going, as a form of intergenerational trauma. His family must witness him leave bitterly - as an alcoholic, which is rubbed off on themselves as suggested by the tone of Saul’s brother. In both novels the addiction issues of each character gets rubbed off onto others. This shows how the actions of their trauma is reflected, creating a pattern of ongoing struggle from a