Role of Family in Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese Essay Sample

A person who has been through tragedy with their family may be unable to form a meaningful relationship. When someone has a painful experience with their family, they often withdraw and live a lonely life. The main character, Saul, in Richard Wagamese's storey Indian Horse, demonstrates how the family is the most important thing in life and how losing someone who cares so much for you may have a long-term impact on your life. Saul is lonely and unprotected by his surroundings. When Saul is approached by a kind figure, he often pushes them away and prefers to be alone. Family lifestyles fluctuate between cultures and beliefs. One feature of the family, however, is that it is significant in every culture because it is the primary basis and framework of society. Saul is lonely, and he lacks emotional support from his friends and family. 

Saul is lonely and lacking in emotional support from others around him. He worries that if he gets close to someone, he would lose them again. “I snuggled my head in against her breast." Saul had numerous problems with the people he cared about the most in his life, and they began to develop when he lost the ones who meant the most to him. She assists me, and we both shiver in the darkness. Her trembling was palpable. I huddled in the harm of the old woman, wrapped in the brittle canvas of an ancient text, and felt the cold freeze her in place.

I realized she had abandoned me, and I sobbed on the empty drum of her chest." Throughout the novel, it depicts Saul's difficulties by pushing aside and attempting to conceal memories of his younger life and life. "I can still see the glitter of the wake they left behind them, the vee of it, and the divergent lines that lapped at the shoreline when I think back to that day." Saul's horrific history mirrors his future self's hidden recollections. Saul's past foreshadows the anguish he will face later in his life. During Saul's time, he conceals memories of his upbringing and history that would have had a significant impact on his future life:  "He stared down at the ice while I told him about Father Leboutilier. I told him about my family and how I’d come to be at St.Jerome's. I told him about the rage that built-in me that I never understood and how corroded everything, even the game. I told him about the road, the jobs, the towns, and then I told him about the booze." Saul's history was only the beginning of his tale. Because of his experiences in the residential schools, he repressed memories. Saul goes through and observes things that a youngster his age should not go through throughout his time at St. Jerome's. Humans will frequently go to any length to protect and care for their families. When things go bad, family is typically the most important factor in a person's happiness. Saul is imbued with a sense of security and affection from his family while he is young, but when he is taken away and his family abandons him, he loses that sense of safety. In the opening of At the beginning of Chapter 17, Saul to Father Leboutilier as if he were a member of his family. "He was my ally. When the nuns and the priests got too hard on me, he was there to mediate and defend me."

In Indian Horse, the role of the family is very significant. It not only depicts the emotion of loss but also the brutal fact that you might lose someone who means so much to you so suddenly. Saul discovers hockey during his time at St. Jerome's. Wagamese depicts Saul's satisfaction and excitement in the sport, which gives him hope after a tragic and painful existence. According to the account, Saul uses hockey and escapism to cope with his emotional stress and horrific experiences at St. Jerome's, as well as his younger self. Saul spends the next few years of his life with the Kelly family in Richard Wagamese's Indian Horse but subsequently leaves, sending him on an alcoholic odyssey. This causes Saul to lose touch with his identity and the way he lives, as well as his ability to connect with his family. Saul was a superb hockey player before being brought to the 'Non-Indian League,' where he was once again subjected to bigotry. While in this league, players and fans chastised him for his culture and appearance. For example. "Thirteen must be the mascot! As well as "Indians are s'posed to wear war paint, not make-up." Sauls ultimately loses the essence and visions of hockey, and all of the bigotry and remarks eventually drove him to quit, which was one of the reasons Saul attempted to drown his former life with booze. After his alcohol detox, his former life came up with him. Father Leboutillier and Saul had a trusting relationship when he was younger, but that changed rapidly after he understood the true scope of what the Father was doing to him during his time at Residential School. "I shook with anger as I recalled it. I was never free. He was my captor, the warder of my innocence. He had used me. I felt hate, acrid and hot." Saul had been humiliated and deceived once more when he discovered that the one person he had admired had been manipulating him the entire time.