Struggles in Richard Wagameses’ Indian Horse

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Indian Horse is a novel that is set in the 1950s and 1960s in the northern part of Ontario. The story starts off in a small town of White River, Ontario where Saul and his family live but the majority of the novel’s storyline is located in St. Jerome’s Residential School and indoor and outdoor skating rinks at the school, as well as other rinks in Ontario. After his downfall in his hockey career, he works in remote work camps in the forest and is then taken to New Dawn Centre at the end of the novel.

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Indian Horse is a fictional story written by Richard Wagamese to realistically display the struggles of Canada’s Indigenous people who witnessed the harsh reality of residential schooling. To portray these struggles, Richard Wagameses’ Indian Horse is written in the first-person perspective that is told by the protagonist Saul Indian Horse. It is formatted in an autobiographical aspect of Saul’s journey as an Aboriginal living in Canada during the 1960s.

Saul’s character is really shown to develop throughout the novel. Since he is illustrated as a Native young boy in a society filled with racial prejudice, he demonstrates to be dauntless and valiant for tuning in to the nuns by remaining solid despite the awful circumstances surrounding his character. Towards the mid-end of the novel, he experiences further complications regarding the racial discrimination in his environment that causes him to release another side of Saul that was filled with a lot of aggression and resentment.

However, by the end of the novel, he exhibits perseverance as he rises from ego and chooses to follow the dreams and aspirations he once loved living for.

In the Indian Horse, the value of nature is presented various times as it is shown to be greatly appreciated in the Ojibway culture. In the novel, the main purpose of nature is to bring a source of light and goodness to the world. For example, when Saul’s brother Benjamin passes away, Saul’s parents choose to honour his spirit with the help of the earth’s sources. His mother says, “We will honour him in the old way [...] We will carry him to a high point and lay him in the breast of the earth with his feet pointed east facing the morning sun. That way his spirit can follow the sun as it makes its journey across the sky and begin his spirit walk” (Wagamese 32). It is presented multiple times that mother nature plays a significant role in the protection of the people, the spirits, and is seen as escapism from the rest of the world’s cruelty. For the Ojibway people, nature is more powerful than any other source and Richard Wagamese showcases that through his novel.

Another important theme that is exhibited remarkably throughout the novel is racial prejudice. From what you guys have already heard, racial prejudice is the main culprit that arises the complications of many lives, including the life of Saul’s. The 1960s was a horrific time period, with segregation and racial discrimination towards the natives, residential schools became the talk of the decade. Many Indigenous children were kidnapped and forcefully enrolled in residential schooling where they were threatened and punished for simply communicating in their mother-tongue. Racial prejudice is illustrated throughout the novel as Saul begins to undergo awful circumstances at his stay in St. Jerome’s alongside the hockey industry where he continues to encounter revolting racial comments.

Although Saul encounter’s a lot of racism, Saul stays persevere towards his dream and accomplishes success despite those who choose to belittle him in the process. This brings me to the next theme, which is in fact perseverance. The theme of perseverance was perhaps what made this novel most favourable. In spite of the fact that Saul encounters multiple obstacles throughout his tragic lifestyle including the harsh racism, he still manages to stay consistent with his goal in order to accomplish success. Due to the extreme racism Saul encountered during games, he started to possess that anger and fury on ice which resulted in the end of his career in the Marlboro’s; eventually leading to a disease of alcoholism. However, despite many failed attempts, he decided to learn from his failure and utilize it in order for the rising of his self-growth. Fortunately, with the help of perseverance, Saul was able to rebuild his career in hockey.

Since Saul is seen as a magnet to disasters, there are many conflicts that arise throughout the duration of the storyline. He endures the conflicts of character vs society and character vs self. During the 1960s, people were not too accepting of Aboriginals living in Canada, resulting in residential schools to play a huge part during this time frame. Unfortunately, due to the colour of his skin, Saul also had to endure in the conflict of society. During Saul’s time at St. Jerome’s, he witnesses a lot of discrimination from his society including the nuns from his school, opposing white players of the sport, and skeptics of the game.

Another conflict that is portrayed throughout the entire novel is character vs character. Due to the negative tole that the society had indulged onto Saul, it resulted in him to have a large conflict between his own actions that further lead him to depression and binge drinking. However, he manages to stay true to himself by realizing his mistakes and understanding the harm he was implicating towards his mental health. From the beginning of the novel, the story is presented in Saul’s perspective. He discusses his fear of having to relive the disturbing memories that he experienced throughout his childhood but manages to overcome it by portraying his life in a book to help others overcome similar obstacles. Although the novel is fictional, the character vs self aspect of the storyline brings a more personal side to the story.