Saul, like other residential school survivors experienced a lot of denial and anger after being emotionally and physically abused. Saul was in denial and was trying to forget Father Leboutilier’s sexual abuse. Saul used hockey as a coping strategy to deal with his anger and pain. Saul had a “vision” which helped him play the game and distract himself from the sexual abuse that he was experiencing. When the racism and discrimination from playing for the Marlies got to him, he could no longer play hockey. His outlet for his anger was gone and he had to try to get through what was happening. Father Leboutilier had a big influence on Saul, as he was a father figure to him. When Father Leboutilier said, “This game brings out the best in you, Saul.” …show more content…
(Wagamese 198), Saul took it to heart. Saul tried to forget that he was being raped, and rather focused on playing the game that “brings out the best in [him].” (Wagamese 198). Like Saul, another survivor named Andrew Francis said, “I took up my own journey of healing 24 years ago when I sobered up.”(McNeil 1)”. This quote shows that Andrew Francis used alcohol as an outlet for his pain, just as Saul used hockey and alcohol. Residential survivors all go through denial which only prolonges pain, making the journey of grief even harder. After denial and anger, survivors can’t deal with the pain and loss and are in a state of depression.
Saul tried to go through the pain and pressure but it was just too agonizing. Instead Saul transferred all of his rage and anger to alcohol. “When I could find work I was mostly a high-functioning drunk… I’d pass out listening to music with a book…I’d wake up in the early hours, switch off the light, take another few swallows and fall back asleep. You can live like for years like that.” (pg 181). Saul drank non-stop to forget the horrors he experienced, and he thought that the alcohol would hide the pain. Saul became depressed as he says, “I was at the bottom of that well for a long time. Coming back up to daylight hurt like a son of a b**ch”. Saul could not stay in one place and kept moving throughout the story. He is very unstable and his alcohol addiction physically affected him, as he says “The seizures hit me and I collapsed on a sidewalk in Winnipeg” (pg 190). Saul lost all hope for recovery, which led him the New Dawn Centre. A residential school survivor, Cynthia Wesley- Esquimax also experienced a lot of pain saying, “I carry a lot of emotional baggage and you are almost like a walking time bomb that’s going to explode at any time.” (1). This survivor like Saul, was physically abused and had to deal with sexual violence in the residential school. This shows how much hurt and agony First nations felt. The kids were very unstable after experiencing all of the abuse at a young age. This stage of the grief process is very dangerous, and can lead to children killing themselves rather than living with what they have gone
through The final and most difficult part of the grief process is acceptance. The only way Saul was going to accept what happened was if he re-visited the place of his horrors. Saul went back to see St. Jerome’s and was told “They closed her in ‘69” (Wagamese 196), this made him feel relieved as no one would ever have to go through what he did because of St. Jerome’s. When Saul came back to St. Jerome’s he looked on the rink and described it as “sad ruin of a rink” (Wagemese 198). This reminded him of what happened to him and how he was being sexually abused. He realized how Father Leboutilier was so manipulative towards him, and knew that the only way to move on was to accept what happened. In many cases some people can survive only by going back to their culture. A revival of old traditions helps them remember who they really are, rather than who they were forced to be. Georgina Doucette said “Most of them were survivors who started a revival of our culture which was really needed.”(McNeil 1). Other survivors like Rita Joe embraced their culture “Rita Joe started writing her poems why she was proud to be an Indian.” (Poulette 1) Healing can take very long even “40-50 years” (Littlechild 1). Once survivors have accepted what happened they have a good chance of moving on with their lives.
Overall, individually, the characters Aunt Trudy and Josh have their share of suffering; it is inevitable to attend residential school without experiencing trauma or abuse, all of which leads to needing a source of escape, whether that be through the indulgence of alcohol or continuing the cycle of injustice that they are victims
The fighting is ignited by the racism he faces, leading him into a downward spiral of negativity. Saul quits the Marlboros and starts drinking; drinking to forget the nightmares he lived through. He constantly travels from a place to another, changing jobs, feeling lost and vacant. Saul feels vacant because of losing all that he had, his family and his beloved hockey. He is left with nothing to turn to and seek comfort in, except alcohol which he ironically tells the reader that it kills him: “The first thing you have to realize is that what you need to survive is killing you”(189). Saul works hard with his counselor Moses to regain himself and get back on his feet: he quits drinking and focuses on his rehabilitation. Saul tells Moses that he is ready to leave The New Dawn Centre, he travels back to places he grew up in, like God’s Lake, St.Jerome’s, and finally he ends up back at the Kellys’ place: “When Fred Kelly opened it, his face cracked into a wide grin”(208). It is obvious to the reader that Fred likes Saul, and that he is happy to see him again after a long period of time. Saul, Martha, and Fred sit down and talk about what happened at the school, they share their pasts and the horror they went through. Sharing very sensitive and horrific memories tells the reader that Saul trusts and feels comfortable with the Kellys, the main reason for his return. Fred tells Saul that the Moose need a coach and Saul
He has been bullied most of his life about being visually impaired. Paul is used to being judged by others. The injury to his eyes supposedly occurred by looking at a solar eclipse but there is more to this story. More than his parents have been telling him. Paul playing soccer is contradictory to his blindness. While playing soccer, he participates and plays like everyone else. He is moving beyond his disability. In fact, Paul is an outstanding goalie, “The ball stuck in my outstretched hand like they were Velcro.” The soccer field is the only place he is able to do this, not at school, not at home, and not in his community. Paul has to leave Lake Windsor to be able to play soccer in Tangerine. The kids in Lake Windsor are snotty, rich, and self-centered but the kids in Tangerine are hard working, resourceful, and proud. During their first soccer game, Paul described the game as, “The Palmetto players got down and dirty right away, and their fans cheered them on.” The Palmetto players were bearfaced when it came to playing rough. The kids from Tangerine were used to being picked on by others in society and not being treated fairly. Paul observed, “I looked at my teammates, the victims of all of this, and was amazed at how calm their faces were.” Paul learns through soccer how teams like towns may be mean or unfair to
First Nations children suffered many forms of abuse at the hands of the Canadian Government (Oh, Canada!) under the guise of residential schools. The purposes of the residential schools were to remove First Nations children from the influence of their families and cultures, and to intergrade them into the dominant culture (The Residential School System). This was done under the assumption that First Nations culture was lesser, “to kill the Indian in the child” as it was commonly said. The children were forcibly separated from their families to live in year-round schools where they were taught “white man” curriculum, with a two-month vacation time, completely separated from their Aboriginal heritage and forbidden from speaking their own languages (The Residential School System). If these rules, along with many others, were broken the punishments were severe (Oh, Canada!). Residential school survivors spoke of their horrible abuse during their time at the schools, including: sexual, physical and psychological (The Psychological and Intergenerational Impacts of the Indian Residential School System). The students received an inferior education, usually only taught up to grade five, training them for manual labor jobs (The Residential School System). The residential school system undermined First Nations culture and disrupted families for generations, leaving severe psychological damage in not only the survivors but also their families and the following generations (The Psychological and Intergenerational Impacts of the Indian Residential School System). Many students grew up without experiencing a family life, never gaining the experience and knowledge necessary to raise a family of their own. The effects of the schools were far reac...
Children living in this type of environment may feel anger, shame, and sadness. They are forced to take on adult roles much earlier because their parents are irresponsible. For instance it shows this in The Glass Castle because the children are forced to make their own meals and fend for themselves because Rex is too busy drinking and Rose Mary is careless (Walls). Alcoholism takes away children’s childhood by forcing them to take on adult roles. Another example of this is when Billy Deel is forced to take care of himself while his father is passed out and constantly drinking, “Billy had a lot of unsupervised time on his hands” (Walls 82). Billy was greatly affected by his father’s alcohol abuse his personality didn’t maturely develop like other children. This is shown when he sexually assaults Jeanette and doesn’t see anything wrong with it, he yells on page 87 “Guess what? I raped you!” (Walls). This statement proves that parents make a huge impact on children, and when children don’t have that, they suffer. Alcohol abuse is not an individual problem, it affects everyone surrounding that person. It isn’t fair for children to be raised in that environment and government should take greater action to protect the children’s safety by removing them from homes like
as Jennifer, a victim states, “I feel our childhood has been taken away from us and it has left a big hole in our lives.”
“When Dad went crazy, we all had our own ways of shutting down and closing off…” (Walls 115).In Jeannette Walls memoir, The Glass Castle, Walls enlightens the reader on what it’s like to grow up with a parent who is dependent on alcohol, Rex Walls, Jeannette’s father, was an alcoholic. Psychologically, having a parent who abuses alcohol is the worst thing for a child. The psychological state of these children can get of poorer quality as they grow up. Leaving the child with psychiatric disorders in the future and or being an alcoholic as well.
Aboriginal people in Canada are the native peoples in North America within the boundaries of present-day Canada. In the 1880’s there was a start of residential schools which took Aboriginal kids from their family to schools to learn the Roman Catholics way of culture and not their own. In residential schools Aboriginal languages were forbidden in most operations of the school, Aboriginal ways were abolished and the Euro-Canadian manner was held out as superior. Aboriginal’s residential schools are careless, there were mental and physical abuse, Aboriginals losing their culture and the after effects of residential schools.
Antwone Fisher was an individual that endured so many things. He faced a lot of challenges that may have seemed impossible to recover from. This story was an example of the many things that some children may experience. Antwone was not raised in an upper crust home. He did not grow up in a home in which his mother and father was present. Instead of having positive role models, he had to live with individuals that were abusive to him. When observing Antwone’s personality, one may refer to two different theorists such as Bandura and Rogers.
Schools are where we spend half of our lives at, our kids are spending time and energy in these places to become better people in the future. There is absolutely no reason why budget cuts should ever happen in a school. If the country is taking taxes from all of the citizens than they should be conscious to spend that money on things that matter like our children. Making budget cuts takes away programs for kids to excel in and makes a child harder to express himself. Arts are usually the first programs to be cut.
Residential schools undoubtedly created detrimental inter-generational consequences. The dark legacy of residential schools has had enduring impact, reaching into each new generation, and has led to countless problems within Aboriginal families including: chemical dependence, a cycle of abuse in families, dysfunctional families, crime and incarceration, depression, grief, suicide, and cultural identity issues (McFarlan, 2000, p. 13). Therefore, the inter-generational consequence...
The job of a child welfare worker appears to be a demanding profession that promotes the child’s safety, but also strengthens the family organization around them in order to successfully raise the children. This child welfare workers work in the system known as the Child Protective Services whose initiative is to protect the overall welfare of the child. The short novel From the Eye of the Storm: the Experiences of a Child Welfare Worker by Cynthia Crosson-Tower demonstrates the skills necessary to deal with the practice of social work along with both its challenges and its happy moments. The novel consists of some of the cases involving Tower’s actual career in social work. In reading the book, I was able to experience some of the actual cases in which children dealt with physical and mental abuse from their families that caused them to end up within the system. Also, some of these children had issues in adapting to foster and adoptive families based on the issues they faced earlier in life. As we have learned earlier in the course, the violence that a child experiences early in life has an overall affect on the person they become as they grow into adulthood. When children deal with adverse childhood experiences, they are at a higher risk for abusing drugs and/or alcohol, increased likelihood of abusing their own child or spouse, higher rates of violent and nonviolent criminal behavior, along with several other issues throughout their lifespan.
From the individual perspective, the client was a victim of child abuse, which led to feelings of fear and sadness and a desire to avoid these emotions. Socially, she came from a family of alcoholics giving her easy availability. There was also the pressure of keeping up appearances due to her mother’s status in society. The initial individual consequences of the client’s alcohol use were reinforcing. She felt invincible, warm, and it helped her avoid the thoughts in her head. Everything was right with the world as long as she was intoxicated.
When faced with a life altering situation although Molly’s characteristics and personality aid her in courageously defying them, the effects of facing this traumatic event will lead to long term psychological repercussions. When severe harm is inflicted on a person’s psyche, it is viewed as an emotional trauma (Levers, 2012). The emotional harm inflicted on Molly’s psyche originates from different dimensions; like her upbringing, her trauma is multidimensional too. As a child of the Indigenous community, whose ancestors and elders were killed violently in inter-group conflicts, and whose children were forcefully removed from families, Molly is would experience intergenerational trauma (Atkinson, 2002). Intergenerational trauma is trauma passed down from one generation to another; as a close knitted community group, the grief experienced by family members of losing their loved ones, would have been transferred across generations (Atkinson,
In Hayden’s poem “The Whippings,” the readers are given a more direct vision of what Hayden experienced at the hand of his foster mother. Hayden writes the poem in third person as he reminisces about how his mother “strikes and strikes the shrilly circling boy till the stick breaks,” and how “his tears are rainy weather to wound like memories” (The Whipping 1). He then ends the poem with by saying “… and the woman leans muttering against a tree, exhausted, purged—avenged in part for life long hidings she has to bear” (The Whipping 1). We see through the eyes of Hayden himself, that his foster mother would go far beyond a simple disciplinary punishment. Instead, she beat him in order to release her own frustrations for the demons in her life. Her actions filled Hayden’s childhood memories with pain and sorrow, and we see that through his own recollections in “The Whippings,” and “Those Winter Sundays” alike. In the poem “Those Winter Sundays,” Hayden’s choices in diction like the words “cracked,” and “ached” initiate the gloomy tone of the poem, and reflect the pain that derived from his relationship with his foster mother, which also could be a reason for the purposeful absence of Hayden’s foster mother in the poem (Howells 288-289). The reader also interprets that Hayden’s painful memories of being beaten and tormented as part of the unspecified “chronic angers” that haunt