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Summary Of Indian Horse By Richard Wagamese

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Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese is a powerful and eye-opening story that magnifies the struggles faced by Indigenous people in Canada, particularly focusing on the impact of residential schools. Wagamese creates energy, passion, and suspense with his writing techniques; he uses the setting to influence mood in the story. The plot always keeps you guessing and the characters represent something greater than themselves. Indian Horse encapsulates the thoughts and feelings of Saul, and makes it easy to relate to the reader. Wagamese has created a truly gripping novel that will have you thinking about how residential schools affect Indigenous people in more ways than one. Wagamese uses the setting in Indian Horse to depict the mood in the story mirroring the way Saul is feeling with the descriptor words of the setting all while thickening the plot. The attitude of the novel is guided by how the setting is described. “The walls were sickly green. At every landing were doors of frosted glass so the light was pale and gave …show more content…

Wagamese’s ability to create an unexpected turn in the story makes the plot impossible to guess. The reader goes through the entire story believing that Father LebPACier is a good guy and that he is the reason Saul is a successful hockey player. Although this is partly true, he is the reason for the trauma in Saul’s life. “I used the game to shelter me from seeing the truth, from having to face it everyday”(Wagamese,199). Hockey kept Saul from thinking about the rape and abuse he received. Finding out that those things happened to Saul was something the reader could not see coming. Saul solves his problem and begins the healing process at the end of the book. “But our healing-that’s up to us”(Wagamese,210). Saul talking to somebody in Fred Kelly who experienced the same thing, helped Saul realize he is not alone and that talking about it

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In the end, all three of these characters aid Saul in his journey to find inner peace and to put his life back in

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However, against all odds, he finds joy again in hockey and uses it as a part of his healing journey. Throughout the book, we see Saul develop as a character. Now, after many years away from Manitouwadge, Saul returns hoping to bring the passion of the game to others. “I think what I want to do is coach. kids.

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This together suggests how alcohol is temporarily helping him escape from this rotting feeling in his guts which is burning his identity. The use of rotting also suggests that this pain has been with Saul for a long time as it takes time for something to rot. This is proved when Saul says “lunch kit” as it is typically addressed by a child, which shows that this trauma originated from his childhood in St. Jermoes. Wagamese showcases the devastating impacts of St. Jeromes that forced Saul to escape his own indigenous

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1256 Words | 6 Pages

With over 130 residential schools built across Canada, thousands of negatively impacted survivors never got a chance to recover their identity and build themselves a community. In Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse, the main character Saul uses hockey as an escape from reality and a way to keep a hold on his freedom of identity. Hockey allows him to build a sense of community and introduces him to the concept of family. Wagamese uses hockey to depict Saul’s identity loss and rebuild, serving as an example of the lasting negative impacts on residential school survivors.

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Individuals, who are surrounded with agony by mistreatment at an early phase, often leave with wounds in which can trouble their lives. In Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse, the Aboriginal children struggle with traumatization caused by dreadful brutality from the white people at the St. Jerome’s Residential School. Unfortunately for the children, the abuse leaves them upset for a lifetime. The children experience cruel abuse, which leading to leaving them mentally damaged.

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Childhood Trauma in Indian Horse Childhood experiences shape and foster a trajectory forward when predicated on stable and ethical values. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese pivots around the collapse of childhood innocence that shatters Saul Indian Horse’s transition into adulthood. Through Saul’s narrative, Wagamese highlights the long-term impact of childhood trauma and the resilience required to cope with its aftermath. Saul Indian Horse’s narratology characterizes the repercussions of childhood trauma inflicted by the separation from his family, the residential school and his consequential coping mechanisms of hockey and alcohol. Separation from his family is the beginning of Saul's tragic journey.

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1454 Words | 6 Pages

As socialization's effects are inevitable, we are constantly influenced by groups. However, regardless of the groups we are influenced by, the one concept that is absolute is our reliance on the sense of togetherness that seldom dissolves. The concept is explored in the novel Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese and the short story "Borders" by Thomas King, both of which emphasize characters who have been influenced by cultural assimilation. Indian Horse is a journey of Saul Indian Horse, a young Indigenous child who lost their family due to assimilation and was forced to attend a residential school. “Borders” is a journey of a Blackfoot mother who desires to visit her daughter in Salt Lake City, separated from her Blackfoot background; both emphasizing

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1772 Words | 8 Pages

Indian Horse: Temporary Relief in Coping Mechanisms Richard Wagamese’s novel Indian Horse follows the story of Saul Indian Horse who experiences numerous accounts of trauma throughout the novel wherein he is ill-prepared to face. Because of this, Saul does not know how to deal with his emotions and therefore attempts to run from his suffering rather than face it. Saul moves from one escape to the next, each providing short-term relief. The first of these comforts was hockey, which Saul discovered a passion for during his stay at St. Jerome’s. When the racism from the crowds and the players became too much, Saul fled and found relief in physical labour.

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So as readers continue reading Indian Horse, they will notice that Saul’s character goes through several traumatic events, in which we see his character evolve and change the ways he deals with stress and trauma. To begin with, toward the start of Saul's journey, we see that he develops a newfound love of hockey, which aids him through a tough time. Furthermore, readers can see how hockey transports Saul away from the horrible conditions of St. Jerome.

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872 Words | 4 Pages

Sovereignty, as described by Wilma Mankiller is “to have control over your own lands, and resources, and assets, and to have control over your own vision for the future, and to be able to absolutely determine your own destiny.”. In other words, sovereignty can refer to the inherent right of Indigenous peoples to self-governance, to make decisions about their own lands and resources, and to maintain their cultural and linguistic identities. This includes the right to self-determination and the ability to control their own destinies without interference from outside forces, including, but not limited to colonial powers. In the book Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese, a young boy named Saul Indian Horse is taken from his family and forced to attend

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People encounter many obstacles in their lifetimes, obstacles that are too arduous to overcome by themselves. They must find a way to get through these difficulties, and there is always something, or someone, that helps keep them sane through these hard hours. To Saul Indian Horse, the main character of Richard Wagamese’s novel Indian Horse, that obstacle is St. Jerome’s Residential School and the very element that kept him sane was hockey. In the residential school, Saul is abused both mentally and physically, witnessing the continued deaths of his Indian classmates. Fortunately, Saul was able to keep himself sane through hockey.

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1114 Words | 5 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.

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1188 Words | 5 Pages

The detrimental and unfair categorization of people by race, gender and more, commonly known as discrimination, affects many in society both mentally and emotionally. Many instances of this act of hatred occurred among Aboriginal and Native Canadians in the 20th century. However, for a little Native Indian boy stepping onto the rink, this is the norm that surrounds him. Saul Indian Horse, in Richard Wagamese’s “Indian Horse”, faces discrimination head on, where his strengths for hockey are limited by the racial discrimination from the surrounding white ethnicity. Consequently, this racism draws him into a mentally unstable state, where he suffers heavy consequences.

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829 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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Throughout “All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac McCarthy, the main character John Grady Cole is submitted to many evils as he tries to find his own place in the world. In his own personal quest for a happy ending, John represents the idealized cowboy of the Old Wild West uncovering the truth of the violent and deadly landscape he encounters. John Grady attempts to mesh together his romanticised cowboy honor code into a land that concedes nothing to nobility and the only winner is the one who survives. Only through his many trials and beatings does John Grady begin to accept the world for what it is, a place that does not contain only pretty horses; however, he still manages to remain true to himself and what he believes in. From the beginning of “All the Pretty Horses,” John Grady Cole faces threats from the modern world towards the cowboy life he admires so much.

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