The Snow Walker Kanaalaq Outline

Thesis: As an outcome of the circumstances of Charlie’s journey with Kanaalaq, his character changed profoundly.
I. Main Point
Charlie’s experiences in Alaska’s arctic desolate prairie led to a drastic change in how he views other people.
A. In the movie The Snow Walker, Charlie’s character was put to a great test when his Norseman aircraft crashed in the harsh and frigid Arctic wasteland.
1. It is a major twist in his life that he did not expect or foresee.
a. He was put in a place where he doesn’t want to be, let alone be with someone he doesn’t want to associate himself with in the first place.
i. He was in the middle of a vast tundra with Kanaalaq, a woman she encountered in an Inuit village that needed an urgent medical attention.
ii. Charlie

was overwhelmed with a sense of doom because of his perception about Kanaalaq.
iii. He thinks that she will make matters worse because of his illness.
b. However, life circumstances have its own way of proving him wrong about his preconceived notions.
B. Charlie saw a completely different world that impacted his life.
1. Charlie experienced Kanaalaq’s world first hand that made him understand, respect, and embrace her culture.
a. This is the demonstration of the saying: “You have to taste a culture to understand it.”
i. Culture is like the oxygen we breathe.
ii. It is a primary factor in our lives.
iii. It is a powerful human tool for survival.
b. We can see the culture’s powerful force as we are introduced to Kanaalaq’s way of living.
i. She resonates her people and the way they see and perceive things.
ii. The preview of her culture that shaped her was shown at the beginning of the movie through a group of people with distinct appearance and language.
iii. It is a picture of a simple life, yet might be very challenging for others.
iv. The deepest manifestations of Kanaalaq’s culture were seen in the movie after the plane crash.
v. Kanaalaq demonstrated the Inuits’ traditional lifestyle and essentials skills for survival.
vi. She showed Charlie the Inuits’ way of fishing, hunting, trapping, starting a fire, and the tools needed to survive in an extremely desolate environment.
vii. Kanaalaq taught Charlie not only techniques of survival but also moral values such as patience, kindness, and self-sacrifice.
1. She demonstrated patience in front of Charlie when she caught a sicsic. She laid on the ground for a long time and patiently waited until the sicsic came out. On the other hand, Charlie was impatient as he moved from one place to another while watching Kanaalaq.
2. Her kindness was depicted in the movie as she nurses Charlie back to health. She treated him with mud and grass when she found him unconscious and wounded with insect bites. She fed him and mend his clothes and made him watertight boots.
3. Despite her health condition she helped Charlie with all her might to survive in the wild. Moreover, she gave Charlie her boots to endure the harsh weather. Her sacrifices for Charlie were the defining moments why Charlie had a change of heart and mind.
II. Though Charlie learned the hard way, he was able to redeem himself.
A. As he said in the movie: “Never in your wildest dreams thought you’d see stuff like that. You never thought you could do the things you did. Things you grow to hate yourself for. But somehow you know you’ll make peace with it. At least you try.”
1. Charlie’s journey with Kanaalaq was the way through his character transformation. It was like a fire that burned away his impurities.
a. Charlie’s character was perceived differently by the people around him. To some he was hoity-toity and to a few he was a good pilot and a friend, someone who is worth it to be found and rescued. We saw him as an uncaring individual in the beginning of the movie as he refused to help Kanaalaq. He only changed his mind when he was bribed with two ivory tusks. His behavior demonstrated a culture that is driven by materialism. There might be grounds to pass judgment upon Charlie but there is more than meet the eye.
2. His character evolved because he allowed himself to explore what he have missed because of his ignorance.
a. He was able to examine his life through a different cultural lens. He gradually starts to see objects around him because his eyes adjust to darkness by allowing more light.
i. His cultural blinders he had were stripped off as he began to know Kanaalaq in a deeper sense.
ii. As they begin to communicate and trust each other their journey together formed a bond of respect and friendship.
iii. They exchanged songs and stories of survival. They laughed together. They reminisced about their past and shared their own beliefs. They both laid their differences.
iv. Charlie’s ethnocentrism changed as he learned a lot from Kanaalaq, someone he saw once through an entirely different lens.
B. Though the process of Charlie’s transformation was harrowing, he emerged from the flames of the refining fire, scarred but purer.
1. Charlie is comparable with a hardened rock, a rough ore that was broken and place in a refining fire to expose the rare metal hidden within.
a. To gauge his progress, Charlie demonstrated it as he learn to embrace, adapt and practice Kanaalaq’s culture.
i.

After he realized that his knowledge and manufactured goods were no longer of great use, he fished and hunt like Kanaalaq. He processed and cook meat the Inuit way. He dressed like the Inuits and learned how to speak their language as well.
ii. He also practiced and respected Kanaalaq’s belief about death. When he believed that Kanaalaq was taken away by Tarquiup, he made a burial ground made of big rocks. There he buried Kanaalaq’s tools and his most prize procession, the ivory tusks believing that she will need them in her next life for good hunting.
b. Charlie’s challenges in the wilderness cleansed his character and purified his heart.
i. From a selfish prick focused on his own survival, he was moved by Kanaalaq’s selflessness. He too became selfless when he carried her on his back with the sled he made out of the ivory tusks.
ii. A man who was emotionally hardened by the war, learned how to care for someone deeply. When Kanaalaq’s health was deteriorating he allowed her to rest and tried to feed her.
iii. Charlie’s character transition is an evidence of the saying, “Walk a mile in my shoes. See what I see, hear what I hear, feel what I feel, then maybe you’ll understand why I do what I do. Until then don’t judge me.” His journey with Kanalaaq showed him how important it is for people not to judge other for superficial

reasons.
2. The wide array of obstructions in the tundra were the stages he had to go through to removed his cultural blinders and become a better person.
a. He walked well towards the road of redemption.
i. It was a beautiful journey where along the way he experienced and learned many things and made peace with it.
ii. It was indeed a life changing experience that purified his heart and mind.