Indian Horse book review

Indian Horse book review

Indian Horse is a book that is written by Richard Wagamese. The author has majored in explaining sexual harassment and racial prejudice as the dominant theme in the book. Racism and prejudice are very dominant among the minority tribes such as the indigenous Canadian tribe. The author has used Saul Indian Horse as the main character to present his themes in the book. Saul Indian Horse belongs to a small fish clan that is located near Winnipeg River in Canada. Saul Indian Horse experiences a tremendous amount of oppression by being discriminated against due to his minor tribe. He is sexually mistreated while at St. Jerome. He is denied freedom of expression as he cannot speak using his mother language. The discrimination is propagated by the Canadian white who present themselves as a superior tribe. The Indian Horse is given a lot of labels by sports journalists who refer to him as ” crazy redskin”, more so he is also given patronizing names despite his skilled abilities in sport. He faces multitudinous levels of discrimination from his fellow peers and sports opponents.

The indigenous tribe of the Canadians are portrayed as weak individuals who have does not enjoy freedom in a white-dominant society. The white Canadian have an inherent belief that the indigenous Canadian cannot defeat them. When Saul is schooling at St Jerome he is oppressed by his teachers due to his race. He is thoroughly whipped and mistreated by his teachers. The teachers demean Saul by reminding him in the presence of other students about his primitive indigenous culture. The indigenous students have capabilities that surpass those of the whites so the teachers force them into accepting that they are inferior. The white student’s acts of revenge against their failures by attacking and bullying the indigenous students (Wagamese, 2012). Saul has phenomenal skills in playing hockey. He outperforms his fellow white students who possess a lot of privileges and opportunities that the indigenous student’s lack (Foon et al., 2018). The white students have no alternative since they experience humiliating defeats from the indigenous students. They frequently attack Saul by fighting him for his talents and skills of playing hockey.

Racial prejudice has resulted in a feeling of bitterness among the indigenous students who feel that they are undermined in every aspect of their life. The rights and freedom of the indigenous are not adhered to. The whites since they are usually defeated by the indigenous tribes have a conspiracy of fighting the indigenous so that they can be exempted from the team (Wagamese, 2012). However, Saul lets go some of the mistreatment he faces he is unable to persevere some prejudice that goes beyond his ability to tolerate. The racial prejudice is geared towards limiting the potentials of the Indigenous students. The teachers and the team opponents are very unkind to Saul, he is tempted to revenge against some of the whites who constantly demean him and anger him by fighting him. When Saul takes action against his opponents and teammates who mistreats him, he is exempted from the NHL despite his incredible skills and abilities in playing hockey.

Sexual intimidation against the indigenous tribe is facilitated by even the respectable figure in Canadian society. Saul Indian Horse experiences social exploitation by Father Gaston. These experiences are very detrimental to the development of the child. Saul is traumatized since he is victimized by his mentor who he has always trusted and emulated. Father Leboutilier has betrayed his loyalty and respect that Saul credited him (Wagamese, 2012). Saul is in total confusion for he cannot comprehend why he is facing a lot of adversities in life.  He has no alternative rather than forgetting all the experiences that he has encountered. Due to frustrations and depression that Saul faces in life he isolates himself from the other people. Saul is affected psychologically by the tragedy he encounters in life, he suffers loneliness and solitude for he does not want the other people to understand what he is going through. Saul realizes that the only way he can deal with the trauma is by speaking out what he has gone through in life. He shares his experience with his adopted parents.

Fred Kelly and Martha Kelly encourage Saul by revealing to him that they also had a similar experience when they were at school. Saul lessens his debilitating pain when he speaks out his experiences.

In conclusion, Richard Wanganese has used Indian Saul as the main character to express the dominant themes in his book. Racial prejudice against the indigenous tribe is very prevalent in Canadian society. Saul Indian is discriminated against by his classmates and opponent players of hockey. The individuals and students of minority tribe possess incomparable talents that surpass the abilities of the white Canadians. The whites have always devised methods to distress the indigenous tribes and stop them from exploiting their talents. The victims of racial prejudice are experiencing psychological stress and traumatic life. The theme of sexual victimization is also discussed to a large extent. The sexual exploitation is propagated by the whites who have high ranks in society. The indigenous Canadians live in fear since they cannot freely express their talents and abilities in the racist community. Racism is very rampant in schools where the teachers discriminate against the indigenous students. For the indigenous students to thrive in this racist society they have to persevere the challenges they face.