The novel Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese explores the life experiences of the Indigenous Canadian, Saul Indian Horse, in Canada in the 1960s (Wagamese, 2018). Saul Indian Horse is the story’s protagonist and endures a lot of pain and suffering, mainly due to his race and cultural heritage highly disliked during this era. In the story, Richard Wagamese tries to use Saul to explore the particular conflicts he faces, their impacts, and how he addresses them to create meaning, thus delivering the intended message to the readers (Wasyliw, 2007). Saul faces two significant conflicts throughout the novel: the self versus society conflict and the self-conflict (conflict within himself) as he struggles to find his identity (Miroux, 2019). Richard Wagamese uses the theme of racial discrimination, which is the cause of self versus society affecting Saul, and a motivating factor to self-conflict seen in Saul’s alcoholic character as he battles to find his identity.
Saul Indian Horse faces a tough childhood as an indigenous Indian in an era characterized by white dominance and increased racial prejudice. The author introduces the theme of racial discrimination early in the story using the protagonist’s early life experiences. Saul’s family disintegrated early in his life due to the white Canadian’s kidnappings. His siblings were abducted, taken to white Christian schools, and taught the white man’s culture (Wasyliw, 2007). Benjamin and Rachel: Saul’s siblings, are taken to the Christian schools to “remove the Indian from” them (Wagamese, 2018). Benjamin would later rejoin them but succumbs to an infection he got while in the Christian schools. Saul later leaves with his grandmother Naomi after his parent starts overdrinking after the death of Benjamin. Naomi freezes to death, leaving Saul on his own in the wilderness, but he is later rescued at sheltered at St. Jerome, where he spends some of his childhood life.
The self versus society conflict in the novel is seen in Saul Indian Horse’s experiences in St. Jerome school, characterized by increased misery and racial prejudice. St. Jerome is one of the schools where Indigenous Canadians are tortured and forced into learning the white man’s culture and where they face much abuse. Indigenous children face not only verbal and physical abuse in St. Jerome but are also sexually abused, which affects them physically and mentally. Some of them are tortured to the extent that they die, while others commit suicide due to psychological torture. Ironically, the priests and nuns who should protect the children are the ones who assault them sexually, leaving them dehumanized and psychologically tortured, which affects them later in life. Saul quotes, “sometimes, three or four boys would be visited like that. Sometimes only one. Other times boys would be led from the dorms. Where they went and what happened to them was never spoken of” (Wagamese, 2018). This shows the increased sexual assaults that the indigenous Canadian children faced in St. Jerome, which was supposed to be their safe place but ended up being the opposite.
The increased racial discrimination against the Indigenous Canadians is a societal vice that causes the self versus society conflict experienced by the protagonist. The society contributes to the propagation of racial prejudice, as seen in Sauls’s experiences in both St. Jerome and as he tries to pursue his passion and career in hockey. The increased impact of society in propagating racial discrimination can be seen in the legalization of discriminative practices like the kidnapping of Indigenous Canadian children who are assimilated and relocated to Christian church schools like St. Jerome, where they learn the white man’s culture. In St. Jerome, Saul develops a passion for hockey, and with Father Gaston Leboutilier’s help, he can perfect his skill as a hockey player and become one of the best among his peer. Through his prowess in the game, he earns his adoption with the Kelly, where he relocates and lives after leaving St. Jerome christian school.
As much as Saul Indian Horse is suitable as a hockey player, he faces increased racial discrimination, which is attributed to his failure as a promising professional hockey player. When Saul joins the Moose, a local hockey team, he propels the team to success, as seen in the many games they win and the recognition earned both in the hometown and nationwide (Miroux, 2019). Despite the success that Sauls offers to the team, he still faces racial prejudice, seen in the racial stereotypes that he was called “crazy redskin” and “savage,” which, of course, affected him in the game (Wagamese, 2018). In a game where the whites dominated, Saul was able to find his place in the team, and this angered most white spectators. This is clear in the quote, “All the hurt. All the shame. All the rage. The white people thought it was their game. They thought it was their world” (Wagamese, 2018). This statement shows the racial tribulation faced by Indigenous Canadian hockey players like Saul in a white man’s game.
Saul Indian endures at first endures the increased racial prejudice against him as a hockey player, but with time he is forced to react, leading to physical violence. Of course, his reaction is justifiable, but the players, the prejudiced audience, and societal members cannot see it this way. His conflict between himself and society is the cause of his failing career which comes when he is at the top of his game and ready for drafting as a national athlete and a hockey player. Saul develops an aggressive character and is involved in fights and other physical combats with the opposing team, thus presenting him as an indisciplined player. Saul quotes, “I punched him in the head with everything I had, and he crumbled on the floorboards” (Wagamese, 2018). This shows his increased aggression which results from his conflict with society. It would be true to say that were it not for his aggression due to racial prejudice, and Saul Indian Horse could have been among the greatest hockey players of his time. Saul let the insults get into his head and demoralize him pushing him to the corner and forcing him to react. Additionally, the increased aggression to racial discrimination that he faced can be seen in the piled-up feeling that he had been holding up all those past times that he faced racial prejudice but did not react.
Saul Indian Horse addresses his increased conflict with society by visiting God’s Lake, where he had a past vision about his ancestors. Richard Wagamese uses God’s Lake as a symbolic place that is culturally linked to the Fish Clan. It is in God’s lake where Paul Indian meets Slanting Sky, the great grad father, and ancestor of the Fish Clan, who inspires him to be brave and face his predicaments with courage (Schorcht & Wagamese, 2008). Slanting Sky quotes, “The journey you make is good… You have come to carry this place within you. This place of beginnings and endings” (Wagamese, 2018). This quote is motivational for Saul and enables him to face increased prejudice that he faced and thus come to terms with his racial identity. The increased insults over time had, of course, broken Saul’s spirit and soul, affecting his zeal and purpose in life, and this explains the miserable young adult life he led before visiting God’s Lake the second time and meeting Slanting Sky.
The second conflict faced by Saul’s Indian horse is the self-conflict depicted in his increased alcoholism after he leaves his professional hockey career. Saul leads a miserable life after being kicked out as a professional hockey player on his team. He becomes a frustrated man who hops from one job to another and develops his alcoholism addiction. Saul is not only frustrated with his life. However, he lacks self-discipline and motivation to continue, especially after stopping playing hockey, the only thing that he was good at and which people recognized him for. As Saul moves from one job to the next, he also faces racial discrimination from his white cowers. He sometimes fights with them, showing his frustration, aggression, and indisciplined character in handling mere provocation.
Saul’s self-conflict depicted in his increased alcoholism can be viewed as his way to escape reality, which he opted for rather than finding help. Saul gradually became an alcoholic after leaving his hockey career and joining as a laborer in a labor market dominated by whites (Milton & Sundarsingh, 2020). As much as Saul faces increased challenges, his alcoholism is more of an escape from reality rather than finding a solution to his challenges. His increased alcoholic character can be seen in his interaction with Ervin Sift, who hosts him in 1978 and shelters him as a son but would later leave this life and Ervin back to his alcohol addiction.
Saul’s self-conflict affects him physically and mentally, as seen by his increased alcoholism addiction. Saul has made little or no difference in his life due to his self-conflict, which he ought to address to live a better life. Saul lives on low-paying jobs, and his savings are spent on alcohol because he is depressed, which highly pushes him behind. By the time Saul starts living with Ervin Sift, he is already far worse and needs rehabilitative services noting that he is an alcoholic. Additionally, the conflict also affects his purpose and sense of self which he a lot after leaving his hockey career (Wagamese, 2018). This is seen in the alcoholic character and the life he leads, mostly binge drinking and living from hand to mouth while he had much potential in his early life. The physical impacts of the self-conflict which results from alcoholism are the seizures that saul experiences due to withdrawals as he tries to quit alcohol.
Saul addresses his conflict throughout the novel using various approaches. One way he uses this is by visiting God’s Lake, where he gets Slanting Sky’s revelation and motivation to push on and be brave enough to face his challenges. The visit to God’s Lake came after the realization that Father Leboutilier had abused him as a child but could barely remember noting that he had repressed these memories of the abuse. Saul recounts how Father Leboutilier abused and raped her as a child, and this shows that the event had traumatized him to the extent that he did not want to remember it, which the author reveals before the end of the story.
Enrollment into the New Dawn counseling center is an approach that Saul deploys to serve his conflict and to face reality as it was, thus eradicating alcoholism. Saul’s interactive sessions with his counselor Moses are a positive approach to eradicating the conflict and promoting his journey toward sobriety. Here, Saul decides to revisit his past in St Jerome School and later rejoins Kellys, who readopts him and acts as his support system in his journey to recovery. Saul’s approach to solving his conflict can be seen in his evaluation of his past, which not only haunts him but has put him through misery and mental torture, which he ought to address (Wagamese, 2018). Richard Wagamese concludes his novel as Saul has already moved in with the Kellys and has started going out with Virgil, a hockey coach who assists him in his recovery journey.
In conclusion, Richard Wagamese Indian Horse explores the life of an Indigenous Canadian, Saul Indian Horse. He faces increased discrimination due to his racial orientation in a society that was highly dominated by whites. The author presents two main conflicts in the novel: the person versus society conflict and the personal conflict Saul Indian faces. The person versus society conflict relates to the increased discrimination that the protagonist faces as an Indigenous Canadian. In contrast, the personal conflict is visible in Saul’s alcoholic addiction, which he develops after leaving his hockey career. Saul solves the person versus society conflict by visiting God’s lake and being motivated by his ancestors. He also solves his self-conflict by getting counseling and moving in with the Kellys, who act as his support system.
References
Milton, B. J., & Sundarsingh, J. (2020). PRUDENTIA; AN ANALYSIS OF SELECT NOVELS OF RICHARD WAGAMESE. Solid State Technology, 63(6), 7940–7946.
Miroux, F. (2019). Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse: Stolen Memories and Recovered Histories. Actio Nova: Revista de Teoría de la Literatura y Literatura Comparada.
Schorcht, B., & Wagamese, R. (2008). Story words: An interview with Richard wargames. Studies in American Indian Literatures, 20(3), 74-91.
Wagamese, R. (2018). Indian horse: A novel. Milkweed Editions.
Wasyliw, J. L. (2007). I imagine adoption: filiation and affiliation in the works of Richard Wagamese (Master’s thesis).
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