It is evident that Saul had found his escape in hockey since he was first introduced to the game. He mentions that "[a]t night in the dormitory...I would get out of bed and stand in the aisle...mimic the motion of stickhandling. I pictured myself...with the puck tucked...on the blade of my stick...I'd stand there, arms held high...and I would not feel lonely or afraid, deserted or abandoned..." (Wagamese 62) It is clear to see that Saul is already beginning to feel less alone even though he has not started to play on the ice yet. He finds comfort within the concept and idea of the game that helps to make the horrific experiences at St Jerome's bearable and somewhat pleasant. The game transports him to a different time and place that pushes all of the negativity in his mind …show more content…
aside, even when he is only thinking about what could become of him if he began to play hockey. Secondly, we see that in times of desperation and grief, it is the game that helps Saul to realize that thinking about the past will only make things worse. One night while thinking about his parents he reflects on the idea of how "...maybe the drink had taken them over as easily as hockey had claimed me. Some nights I felt crippled by the ache of loss. But I knew that loneliness would be dispelled by the sheen of the rink...cold air on my face, the sound of a wooden stick shuffling frozen rubber." (73) Since Saul has nobody but himself to rely on in times of need, he counts on hockey to take his mind off of the unfortunate events that have taken place in his life up to this point.
He finds a home in the world of hockey that fills in the empty space of family, friendship, and love in his life. Thirdly, although it is shown that Saul uses hockey as an escape from the mental abuse, it is also his escape physically from the school itself. When Saul was offered a spot on a new hockey team, he excitedly "...walked out of that room and back to the dormitory one last time...Already I could feel St. Jerome's losing its hold on me...I was being freed." His love and passion for hockey had gotten him so far that he is able to leave St. Jerome's for a better life and future. In the beginning he had thought that there was no way to escape the cruel treatment of the school, but as he began to further improve his hockey skills, he started to get recognition for his talent that allowed him to escape the life that St Jerome's had set out for him. Saul was very fortunate to find hockey as a passion through which he could escape his past and present, whilst his physical and mental strength was
regained.
Winters in the village of Ste. Justine were long. That time on school, church, and the hockey rink, and every boy’s hero was Montreal Canadians hockey legend Maurice Richard. Everyone wore Richard’s number 9 to honor him. They laced their skates like Richard. They even wore their hair like Richard.
Saul Indian Horse is an Ojibway child who grew up in a land which offered little contact with anyone belonging to a different kind of society until he was forced to attend a residential school in which children were being stripped away of their culture with the scope of assimilating them into a more “civilized” community. Saul’s childhood in the school, greatly pervaded by psychological abuse and emotional oppression, was positively upset once one of the priests, Father Leboutillier, introduced him to the world of hockey, which soon become his sole means of inclusion and identification, mental well-being and acknowledged self-worth in his life. It is though universally acknowledged how, for every medal, there are always two inevitably opposite
Murderer, liar, manipulator; these are only a few words that describe the enigmatic Sergeant John Wilson. In the historical book, The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson: A True Story of Love & Murder, written by Lois Simmie, we get acquainted with the complex balancing act of a life John Wilson lived. We find out about his two-faced love life, the bloody solution, and the elaborate cover up. In Simmie’s thought-provoking book, John Wilson abandons his family in Scotland, for a better life in Canada on the force. John battles debilitating sickness along with the decision to double-cross his wife. His young love interest Jessie cares for him as he battles tuberculosis. While, “many young women Jessie’s age would have had second thoughts about commitment
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
Throughout the novel, racism is a major issue surrounding the indigenous people. When Saul starts playing hockey, he notices that he is very good at it. He ends up getting one good hockey team which means he can leave the residential school. One on of his first days playing with the team the other players say “ the Indian school brought their mascot. Is he a squirt? Nah. He's a dribbler.” (74-75) This shows the disrespect that everyone shows towards indigenous people because they are conditioned by society to believe that indigenous people are less human than them. Another example of racism is when Saul is playing hockey, the comments that the fans yell during the tournament such as “ Indian whores, horse piss, stolen pony. Elbows and knees constantly flying at me. I couldn't play a shift that didn't include some kind of cheap shot, threat or curse.” (164) This shows how aggressive the fans were towards Saul and other indigenous people. When he played in tournaments there were other racist comments such as “white ice, white men” when First Nations players were playing they were judged on their race not on how they play. This makes Saul start to not enjoy the game anymore, he starts abusing alcohol because he feels like he is nothing now, he doesn't have any family and doesn't enjoy hockey, he feels worthless which now results in his turning to drugs and alcohol. There were discussions in class about the myths and truths about indigenous people like how all indigenous people abuse alcohol and how all indigenous people are minority and don't deserve the same respect as everyone else. Saul experiences this frequently when he is playing on a team where he's the only indigenous
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
Both Saul Indian Horse and Winston Smith use writing as a means of survival from repression. In Indian Horse, Saul uses writing as a means of seeing what made him turn away from the pain of his rape and cease repressing its happening; for him survive and live on with his life. Saul writes memoirs to find the hidden answers of why he turned to violence and alcoholism and using them to break free of the cycle. From pages two to three Saul says “They say I can’t understand where I’m going if I don’t understand where I’ve been. The answers are within me, according to them. By telling our stories, hardcore drunks like me can set ourselves free from the bottle and the life that took us there …. So Moses gave me permission to write things down. So
Terrence and Jordin Tootoo grew up in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, in Canada’s arctic region. They were like other Inuit children in Rankin Inlet in many respects: They were brought up to respect the customs of their people and they enjoyed the resources the land around them provided- they learned to hunt and fish for food like the others. However, the brothers were also different from their peers in one main respect- they were blessed with a love for the game of hockey, and also with extraordinary amounts of talent which would enable them to leave their native community to pursue the dream of professional hockey. While the brothers were growing up they were inseparable; however, after leaving Rankin Inlet to pursue the professional game their respective careers took strikingly different paths. Jordin’s journey took him to the top- he was drafted into the National Hockey League and signed a lucrative contract with the Nashville Predators. However, Terrence’s road to the professional ranks was filled with hardship and tragedy, ultimately resulting in his suicide in August of 2002. The contrasting paths taken by the brothers is an illustration of how professional sporting careers can have varying impacts on the lives of Native American and Canadian athletes and their communities. In the following few paragraphs I will outline the history of Native Americans and Canadians in sports. I will examine how successful Native athletes are able to help their communities, both financially and by serving as role models for younger Natives. Also, I will argue that their still exist barriers and challenges to Native athletes that do not confront other athletes. For example, Native athletes are often placed under increased scrutiny because of their positions as role models. I will conclude by commenting on how Native athletes fit into pro sports today, and speculate on what can be done to increase the amount of success enjoyed by Natives.
In 1 Samuel 28: 1-25 Yahweh guides Saul to his death because he has outright deceived and disobeyed God. This passage sets an example to obey Yahweh; otherwise he will inflict punishment upon the disobedient. It portrays that Yahweh's love, power, and covenant should never be taken for granted. Saul is, in essence, a pawn in an overall lesson and story by God. It is quite possible that the disobedience of God and punishment inflicted upon him was his very fate that only God could control.
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin is a complex novel filled with an equally complex and diverse set of characters. Martin explores and questions many aspects of humanity, society, and morality by creating three-dimensional, imperfect characters. For many of these characters, it is difficult to determine whether they should be considered good or evil due to the fact that they are so human and realistic. Some characters are easy to love, and others, like Joffrey Baratheon, are incredibly easy to hate. It can be difficult to talk about Joffrey without immediately wanting to write him off as one of the cruelest and worst characters ever created. Not many people stop to ask why he is the way he is. What caused him to become so mean and sadistic?
After year of using the steroids, Will was caught and suspended from the league. Since he was unable to play hockey anymore, he decided to devote his life to crime, going back to his parents being murdered. Since he was unable to get into the police force do to steroid use, he d...
Have you ever been away from home for a long period of time? The main character Odysseus from Homer’s The Odyssey has been away from his kingdom fighting in Troy and sailing from island to island for twenty years. While at sea, Odysseus deals with both alienating and enriching experiences as he is surrounded by monsters who want to eat him and his men, and women who want him to love them. Odysseus survives the troubling situations and finally realizes how much he misses the love of his wife who is caring loving, and patient. She gave birth to his son who he has not yet met, which makes him anxious to return to his kingdom. Sometimes being away from what you think are the little things can give you a better perspective of what is around you.
Born on January 20, 1933 to an aristocratic Lithuanian family, Dr. Hannibal Lecter grew up in a loving environment until the dawn of World War II. After the death of his parents, Hannibal and his younger sister Mischa were held captive by a group of bandits during the winter of 1944. It was at this time that Lecter witnessed and engaged in the death and cannibalization of his sister, Mischa Lecter. Through this experience, Lecter is shown to frequently recall this event throughout his life. For example, during Lecter’s time in Florence, Italy, he experienced a traumatic nightmare regarding his involvement of Mischa demise. This dream is odd within the novel, as it is the only time where Lecter is described as
Throughout Bill and Stephen’s journey, they experience many mental difficulties and problems that leads to them giving up on their journey. Firstly, Katz is a destroyed man looking to shape himself through the hike. Katz was a drug addict and an alcoholic. Going on the hike means giving up all his bad habits and starting off the hike like new person. It is not easy, he always thinks about it and being away for it made him angry and grumpy most of the time. Eventually, Katz does break his promise, thus this effects their friendship greatly, as Bryson says “I was furious, livid - more furious than I had been about anything in years. I couldn’t believe he was drinking again. It seemed such a deep, foolish betrayal of everything - of himself, me, what we were doing out here” (251). This signifies how Katz had a bad mental breakdown when he took the break from the hike. He had to drink in order to calm down, which makes Bill furious, since he is attempting to make Katz a better man. Secondly, Bill’s starts to develop a fear of mental isolation. When Bill is walking through the claustrophobic forest he says, “personally, I would have been pleased to be waling now through hamlets and past farms rather than through some silent ‘protected corridor.’” (202), he explains that being trapped in a confined forest makes him feel isolated and he would rather be out in open spaces able to “breath”. Having Katz being a slow walker even made it worst for Bill. He had no one to talk to, no one laugh with, or discuss his problems with during his walk. This makes him miss home, he wanted his wife to love him and kids to play with. Lastly, Bill losing his stick made him extremely homesick, “that stick ... had become all but part of me. It was a link with my children, whom I missed more than I can tell you. I felt like weeping” (161). This shows how the stick was the
Anita Diamant’s novel The Red Tent is a Midrash revolved around the biblical passage of Genesis 34: Dinah and the Shechemites. In this story Anita Diamant gives a voice to Simeon and Levi’s sister, Dinah, who is known as the woman who was raped then later loved by Shechem. After Shechem’s injustice of Dinah, Shechem and his city were slaughtered by Simeon and Levi. Both bible passages and the novel The Red Tent provide some similar and some different characteristic traits for Simeon and Levi which in turn allows the readers to take away and learn more from the Midrash story. The readers are able to further involve themselves in the relevance of Dinah’s voice and story. Even though Simeon and Levi are separate individuals, for the purpose of this character analysis, I will be treating Simeon and Levi’s character aspects as of one character. Because the character of Simeon and Levi in the bible were described as cruel but nevertheless righteous whereas in Anita Diamant’s novel, The Red Tent, they are cruel, unrighteous and deceitful; the differences and similarities of their characters are easily brought forth which in turn enabled Anita Diamant to provide Dinah’s story with more relevance and implication.