Violence In Indian Horse By Richard Wagamese

Sherman Alexie states, "There are all kinds of addicts, I guess. We all have pain. And we all look for ways to make the pain go away." Everyone experiences pain at some point, but people look for different ways to escape it. In the novel "Indian Horse" by Richard Wagamese, the protagonist Saul Indian Horse, an Anishinaabeg boy, witnesses how his family got destroyed by white people. He is later taken to a residential school, St. Jerome, where he discovers about hockey. Saul's God-given gift in hockey leads to opportunities in the sport, but he faces racism and discrimination, which result in violence and a loss of joy in the game. Ultimately, he decided to be alone and busied himself with work to forget the trauma and abuse he suffered most

As Saul discovers he has a God-given gift for hockey and gets recruited to play on their midget town teams, his life goes downhill. At one point, Saul said, when he finally stood up for himself, "They all looked at me and made faces. I flipped my right glove into this face. I fought three of them before they hauled me off the ice. That was the end of any semblance of joy in the game for me. I became a fighter." (Wagamese 165). He finally stands up for himself, as he has had enough of the players who constantly belittled him and fought with them. However, as Saul fights with them and becomes violent, he feels a loss of joy from the game. Saul finally understands why he is full of anger and uses physical violence. Saul says this as he uncovers the painful past he forgot when he was young, "The truth of abuse and the rape of my innocence were closer to the surface, and I used anger, rage, and physical violence to block myself off from it." (Wagamese 200). Saul uses physical violence, rage, and anger as his defense mechanisms. As Saul struggled to face the painful reality of his past, he resorted to these aggressive behaviors. Based on the quotes I provided, the audience can see why Saul becoming violent is his way to express his anger over how the people have treated him most of

Readers can see why Saul has isolated himself as he witnessed the nuns and priests abuse the children in the residential school. Saul said this after taking him to residential school, “Every time I moved or was forced to speak, it roared its incredible pain. And so I took to isolation. I wasn’t a large boy and I could disappear easily.” (Wagamese 48). Saul has witnessed how he lost his family one by one because of white people. The immense pain and sadness Saul felt made him decide to use isolation from the kids, nuns, and priests, and Saul finds it easier to disappear from others and use isolation as Saul is a small boy. Saul realized he needed to be alone as he had had enough of the racism he faced in hockey. Saul states, “Feels like I’ve had enough noise and people for a while.” (Wagamese 178). Saul decided to keep himself away from the people, which meant he wanted to be alone and to move far away where no one knew him, and Saul needed to be alone as he had enough of the racism. Also, Saul wanted to find himself after all the trauma and racism from the residential school and hockey. The audience can see that Saul isolating himself is his way of dealing with the horrific events he has experienced. Additionally, to find his identity, he uses isolation after experiencing the constant racism and abuse he has put up with since he started playing