Temporary Relief In Richard Wagamese's Indian Horse

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. The hard work provided a new distraction from his struggles. However, this too was fleeting.

Every game Saul would leave everything he had on the ice, every ounce of energy he had in him would be put toward the game. After he left Manitouwadge and found himself moving from job to job, he realized that he could find the distraction that hockey once provided in physical labour. While working as a logger at Nagagami Lake, Saul recounts, “It was hard, heavy work, but there was something in the strain that I liked.The more they tried to exhaust me, the harder I worked” (172,174). Saul takes pleasure in proving himself through physical exertion and the drive to push himself to preoccupy himself with his life. Saul admits that he is aware of the fact that he is suppressing his emotions when he says, “The rage is still there”. It sat square in my chest.But I never reacted. I wouldn't risk the explosion I knew would follow.Instead, I threw myself harder into the discipline of labour, losing myself in the grunt work I favoured” (180). Saul openly declares that he is concealing his feelings instead of confronting them. He hides them away inside himself in fear of releasing them through

Eventually, this method of escape begins to have severe effects on his mental and physical health. This being the case, alcohol only provides temporary solace for Saul. Saul leaves the closest place he had to a home and now finds himself floating from job to job. His colleagues. None other than hard and deliberate drinkers. Naturally, Saul inherited some of these habits himself. Eventually, he becomes very accustomed to it and allows himself to favour this drunken state. Saul recounts, “I discovered that being someone you are not is often easier than living with the person you are. I became drunk with that. Addicted. My new escape sustained me for a while” (181). Again, Saul admits that he is running from himself to avoid facing the truth. He feels that he must escape to continue living. His daily routine shifts into one consisting of drinking consistently from morning to night. This suggests that Saul doesn't feel that he can live with himself in a sober state. Saul eventually finds himself without a job and without a place to live. He spends his nights loitering around bars hoping someone will buy him a