The Struggle In Thomas Black Bull's When The Legends Die

In the novel “When the Legends Die” the main character Thomas Black Bull has many conflicts. One of his biggest problems was people controlling his life. During his life people like: Blue Elk, school teachers, Red Dillon, and things like his past determined what he did in life. In Tom’s early life Blue Elk was a big dictator of what happened to Tom and his family. Blue Elk’s actions caused tom and his family to end their life on the reservation and to move to the mountains. Usually Blue Elk caused problems for Tom and others on the reservation due to his lust for money. Years later when Tom was living alone in the mountains Blue Elk forced Tom’s life to change again by duping him into leaving the mountains to go to school. Even while Tom was at the school Blue Elk still influenced decisions about Tom’s life.

The major people that contributed in the breaking of Tom’s spirit were: Benny Grayback , the agent, Luther Spotted Dog and his friends, and Rowena Ellis. These people broke Tom’s spirit by forcing him to except the new ways and told him the negatives of the old ways. The students teasing and harassment also contributed to the breaking of Tom’s spirit. After Tom gave in, the people at the school could easily control him. During his time at the school Tom lost some of who he was. Under Red Dillon’s control Tom’s life got worse. Red allowed tom to decide if he wanted to ride, but once Red had Tom he controlled him. At each rodeo Tom let Red tell him what to do because he didn’t know much about riding or rodeos. Once Tom became smarter and realized that the way Red ran things wasn’t beneficial and that Red didn’t care about him he rebelled. Again, as Tom lived his life under Red’s control he lost more of