Two serious issues that occur in the 21st century are sexual abuse and racism. These two issues are important to acknowledge because they may cause some severe consequences like depression, anxiety disorders and social phobia. In The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese, both authors create horrible but powerful stories about sexual abuse and racism that profoundly impacts the protagonists’ lives. They also depict a bond between characters who depend on one another for mental support. However, Saul Indian Horse learns how to heal from his past while Pecola Breedlove from The Bluest Eye, does not. Saul Indian Horse suffers from sexual abuse and racism that leads to himself losing his identity. Saul meets Father Leboutillier, a young priest, at St. Jerome’s Residential School. Father Leboutillier finds …show more content…
“‘You are a glory, Saul’. That’s what he always told me [...] That was the phrase that began the groping, the tugging, the pulling and the sucking, and those were always the last words he said to me as he left, arranging his priestly clothes” (Wagamese, 199). Saul reveals that he is a victim of sexual abuse from Father Leboutillier and this is important because it signifies one of the reasons why Saul’s identity is drifting away from his mentality. To help Saul from focusing on the traumatic events in his life, he concentrates on his new hobby, playing hockey. Furthermore, Saul also experiences various horrible methods of racism. Saul loves to play hockey, but however, as he gets bullied due to the different skin colour, he starts to become leisurely and agitated. “‘They hate us because we’re skins.’ ‘We
A single point is similar between these two examples in the novels To Kill a Mockingbird & Indian Horse - the hardships that both blacks and Native Americans face simply because the colour of their skin differs from that of the “normal” whites. A point that makes these two races different from each other in regards to the racism that they endure, and have endured throughout history, is that the black race is headed towards hope and success for the future. An instance where this fact is proven, as Native Americans are not headed towards success, is highlighted in Indian Horse. Over the course of the novel, Saul Indian Horse has many positive and negative events occur. His emotions sky-rocket, but then soon after they plummet to the seemingly lowest they could go. As Saul progresses through the ranks of hockey, he also becomes greater familiar to the racism that abides in the world. Virgil assists Saul with the concept of “The Line”. The white race in this novel has a mindset that Native Americans have to earn the right to cross “The Line” (Wagamese 136). Soon after this realization, Saul begins to see more cases of “Lines” popping up around his life. “I started to see a line in every arena we played
Throughout the book, Saul had a very close relationship with Father Laboutiller, he was the one who introduced Saul and the “Indian boys” to the game of hockey. In my opinion Chapter 15 was one of the most pivotal chapters in the book, it was the time Father Laboutiller and Saul first spoke with each other. Saul was sitting on the steps when Father L approached him and asked if he ever played hockey; Saul reluctantly replied saying no and that he doesn’t like games. In the book Saul says that Father Laboutiller “reached out and rubbed [his] hair […] 'we need to get you outside to watch. I guarantee you'll love it.' [he said]”(Wagamese, 57). This is a very intimate moment in the story and it not only was the start of something amazing; but, it showed a true connection and a 'meaningful' relationship. Their
The Kellys are not only Saul’s adoptive family but are also a source of support. When Saul lives with the Kellys, the importance of having a support system like them does not dawn upon him because of his fear of forming relationships. Consequently, Saul decides to leave the Kellys because he believes that his self-imposed exile can be beneficial for him. Saul believes that if he detaches himself from human interaction, it will impede any further suffering. Saul states, “feels like I’ve had enough noise and people for a while” (Wagamese 178). Delving into his past is mandatory for Saul to write his story because in order for readers to understand his present state, they must know the events that have transpired beforehand. When Saul looks back on the past he is able to see what decisions and actions have benefited him and which have not. For example, Saul is able to realize that every time he distanced himself from others, he only suffered more. This revelation makes Saul understand that despite his past negative experiences with individuals whom he trusted in the past, he should not completely deprive himself of human interaction. Saul returns to the Kelly’s and no longer fears to show his vulnerable side with them. Saul’s return is proof of him understanding that giving his pain a voice and having other people listen is what will allow him to trek through the pain of the past and the pain that future adversities could cause. Writing his story not only serves Saul to consider the lesson he can learn from living in isolation but also provides First Nations individuals with a lesson on how to deal with
Indian Horse is a novel by Richard Wagamese that beautifully explores the idea of family, and what it means to have people around you that make you feel at home. The reader is bombarded with an overwhelming sense of family and betrayal in the first few pages of the novel. As Richard Wagamese continues to write, one is able to see how safe Saul Indian Horse felt with his biological family, and he also shows how lost he felt without their love when he was taken to the Residential School. The school he was brought to was drained of all consensual love the moment it was open, and continued to fill the children with horrible feelings the entire time they were there. Indian Horse was unable to really feel as though he still had family while he was in the
Indian Horse is the perfect novel for any reader who does not see positivity in a bad situation. Richard Wagamese magnificently takes the reader into an emotional rollercoaster throughout their reading journey. Wagamese superbly proves the possibility of getting back up when knocked down, no matter how many times a person is knocked down. Despite the atrocious scenes that come up, Indian Horse is an optimistic novel because it shows that Aboriginal people have positivity and hope not only negatives, and that they are not just “lazy and hopeless”: a reader can see these positives through Saul’s hard work to improve and become the best hockey player he can be, his effort to ameliorate and return to being a “normal” member of society , and the
Finally, Hockey offers Saul Indian Horse the feeling of salvation and freedom from the troubles he is experiencing, such as the death of his loved ones and physical beatings at the mission. “My salvation coming instead through wood and rubber and ice and the dream of
Louise Erdrich’s short story “American horse” is a literary piece written by an author whose works emphasize the American experience for a multitude of different people from a plethora of various ethnic backgrounds. While Erdrich utilizes a full arsenal of literary elements to better convey this particular story to the reader, perhaps the two most prominent are theme and point of view. At first glance this story seems to portray the struggle of a mother who has her son ripped from her arms by government authorities; however, if the reader simply steps back to analyze the larger picture, the theme becomes clear. It is important to understand the backgrounds of both the protagonist and antagonists when analyzing theme of this short story. Albetrine, who is the short story’s protagonist, is a Native American woman who characterizes her son Buddy as “the best thing that has ever happened to me”. The antagonist, are westerners who work on behalf of the United States Government. Given this dynamic, the stage is set for a clash between the two forces. The struggle between these two can be viewed as a microcosm for what has occurred throughout history between Native Americans and Caucasians. With all this in mind, the reader can see that the theme of this piece is the battle of Native Americans to maintain their culture and way of life as their homeland is invaded by Caucasians. In addition to the theme, Erdrich’s usage of the third person limited point of view helps the reader understand the short story from several different perspectives while allowing the story to maintain the ambiguity and mysteriousness that was felt by many Natives Americans as they endured similar struggles. These two literary elements help set an underlying atmos...
This brings us to the Toni Morrison short story “Recitatif”. This short story encourages an African American or ethnically minded style of understanding. The driving force for the thoughts and actions of both Twyla, Roberta, and the other characters is race and race relations. Those two events may seem like nothing, but it shows how even at the early age of 8, children are taught to spot the differences in race instead of judging people by their character.
In the novel, “The Bluest Eye”, Toni Morrison exposes the roots of a broken community, unveiling the effects it has on its members. Morrison illustrates various disturbing characters that are insecure, lost and troubled. Through extended metaphors she is able to trace back these behaviors to the characters’ past. The structure of her novel follows a repetitive rationale of the character’s behavior after revealing their gruesome actions. The passage (116) further develops the text’s theme of a dysfunctional community. Although the exposure the effects of racism seems to be the main theme, Morrison goes deeper and explores the reason how and why the community continues to live in oppression.
Over the past two centuries, First Nations people have been oppressed by the Canadian society and continue to live under racism. The struggles, injustices, prejudice, and discrimination has played a significant role in the construction and impact of how they are treated and viewed in the modern society. Saul Indian Horse from Richard Wagamese's "Indian Horse" and Chanie Wenjack from Gord Downie's "The Stranger" are the perfect examples of how the belief that First Nations were inferior to the Europeans impacted the Aboriginal generations. However, both of the characters can be compared and contrasted by the following ways. As they both go through the breakdown of family bonds and the traumatic sufferings of residential schools, but they differ
In the novel “The Bluest Eyes”, by Toni Morrison, Racial self-loathing and hatred is a major theme through the text, and is even evident in the title. Instead of making the plot center around events over racism, the book shows a deeper portrayal of racism, emphasizing on the way racial self-hatred and loathing plagues the black characters. The novel shows an extended depiction of the ways in which internalized white beauty standards distort the lives of the black characters. The author shows this by having African Americans who have lighter features, Maureen Peal, Geraldine and Soaphead Church, and characters with darker features, Pecola and her Parents Cholly, and Pauline Breedlove. Through them we are able to see racial self-loathing, there
...fluence of African- American folklore is all over the novels The Bluest Eye and Sula. With Morrison demanding participatory reading just like an oral tale to the evil and strangeness in some of her characters, Morrison tells stories rich with African- American folklore. Her settings, characters, and the issues she explores, tell of the history of the Black race in America. The oral tradition of African- American folklore is a way for Morrison to educate and analyze what the black race is all about.
Self-hatred is something that can thoroughly destroy an individual. As it was fictitiously evidenced in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, it can lead an individual to insanity. Toni Morrison raises the idea that racism and class can detrimentally influence people’s outlook on themselves.
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, is a story about the life of a young black girl, Pecola Breedlove, who is growing up during post World War I. She prays for the bluest eyes, which will “make her beautiful” and in turn make her accepted by her family and peers. The major issue in the book, the idea of ugliness, was the belief that “blackness” was not valuable or beautiful. This view, handed down to them at birth, was a cultural hindrance to the black race.
Throughout Toni Morrison’s controversial debut The Bluest Eye, several characters are entangled in the extremes of human cruelty and desire. A once innocent Pecola arguably receives the most appalling treatment, as not only is she exposed to unrelenting racism and severe domestic abuse, she is also raped and impregnated by her own father, Cholly. By all accounts, Cholly is detestable and unworthy of any kind of sympathy. However, over the course of the novel, as Cholly’s character and life are slowly brought into the light and out of the self-hatred veil, the reader comes to partially understand why Cholly did what he did and what really drives him. By painting this severely flawed yet completely human picture of Cholly, Morrison draws comparison with how Pecola was treated by both of her undesirable parents.