Saul is sent to a residential school. What techniques did Richard Wagamese use to portray the residential school experience? How effective do you think those techniques are? Use specific examples from the novel to prove your point. Share your knowledge on what you have learned about residential schools, was it similarly or differently portrayed? What stands out strongly in your mind?
Richard Wagamese used different examples from describing Saul’s experience from when he got there and had to be “sterilized” to the present when he is learning hockey. He also described different kids’ experiences through Saul telling the stories of how some kids had a kind, happy personality to becoming zombie-like with no personality that makes them unique whatsoever. He also describes, in detail, some of the deaths that Saul saw happen at the residential school. For example, the one girl put stones in her pockets and sat at the bottom of the pond until she drowned. With these techniques he uses in the story, it conveys real life things that happened back in the (I'm guessing here) 70s or 80s. He is showing us how lucky we are that we didn’t have to endure these things and show awareness to those who actually survived those tragic times when torture was allowed.
ReplyDeleteBefore reading this book, I didn’t know what residential schools were and I'm glad I do know now, because if it weren’t for the new law to learn about Indigenous people, I probably would've never found out what happened long ago. I have learned so far that they not only take the kids away (or kidnap) form their families, but they neutralize them, so nobody is different. I have also learned that the nuns and priests were very abusive, using corporal punishments and never being nice to them. In just the knowledge I have shared, it’s conclusive so say that the residential schools and those who ran them were truly horrible and I wouldn’t blame any Indigenous person if they said they were still traumatized to this day because of it.
Richard Wagamese truly has done a wonderful job at portraying what happened to him and other Indigenous children back then. Because of him, we can learn about them in his amazing novel. In my mind, the one question I would have is: What made this some about in the first place? The children might as well as watched their parents be killed in front of them because they never see them again. This was truly disturbing to learn so far and I hope nothing like this ever happens again in the future.
~Maya Fleury~
By Desmond
ReplyDeleteSaul portrays the residential school experience as having the light taken from his own universe. Everything vanished with a whoosh, like a moose disappearing into spruce. Saul described the smell of the residential school as having a strong odor of bleach and disinfectant. Saul had every part of who he was basically removed, his long luscious locks of hair.
“It felt as though they were trying to remove our skin.” (pg. 44)
It’s as though they were trying to scrub the “Indian” out of him. They dressed everyone in stiff white man’s clothes.
In my opinion I think that the techniques would have worked in a way to try and get them to forget who they are. Trying to beat them into submission, Changing their names to a more biblical name. Taking away their heritage and family name. Now when it comes to residential schools my knowledge on them was that kids are taken there to have their ways and practices removed from them and learn more about Christianity. They are trying to integrate their practices forcefully onto the other children. In my opinion it’s a very retrospective story.
Richard Wagamese goes into great depth when describing the experiences of Saul and the other kids, which is based on his own during his time in the residential school. “bodies hung from rafters on thin ropes”, “a young boy impaled on the tines of a pitchfork that he’d shoved through himself.” These descriptions are written with great detail, so it is easier to picture the situation. The way it was written gave it a shocking effect. Chapter 14 was written in such a short format, only a page, which makes the descriptions stand out more, so be more effective to the reader, because you don’t have much to think about. Imagery was majorly used, which was the purpose of chapter 14. When writing about a single victim, it makes the story mean more to you and it sticks in your head more than writing broadly about it all. The descriptions can sometimes be shocking when learning about residential schools for the first time.
ReplyDeleteI had some foreknowledge but still didn’t think about them in this way before reading the book. What I did know was that the children’s names were changed immediately to take part of their Indian identity, and that also happened in the book, as well as their hair being cut to not look Indian, which also happened. Something that stands out are the methods being used to assimilate the children. “they led him to the basement and locked him in the iron sister for ten days.” pg.51. The residential schools should be discussed and learned about because this should not be forgotten.
hii
DeleteQ- Saul is sent to a residential school. What techniques did Richard Wagamese use to portray the residential school experience? How effective do you think those techniques are? Use specific examples from the novel to prove your point. Share your knowledge on what you have learned about residential schools, was it similarly or differently portrayed? What stands out strongly in your mind?
ReplyDeleteRichard Wagamese used literary devices to portray and tell the story in detail. I’ve seen these techniques in books before, but none as descriptive as Richard’s. He used Personification, similes, foreshadowing and metaphors in the past 19 chapters. But the way he heavily described the children’s deaths on page 55, was truly heartbreaking. I felt what he wrote, and mentally saw the terrors he wrote about. He also includes happy thoughts and words in some chapters, showing us that not all of it was terrible. And of course, as a Canadian author he added hockey. (duh.) Hockey was a way for Saul to forget the terrible things happening to him and the people around him. I can relate, using music as my personal escape from the world.
Like Maya, I also didn’t know what a residential school was. When Mrs. Sauvé told us about it, I was shocked and surprised, I had no idea Canada had such a gruesome past. In my opinion, the residential schools weren’t a good idea. Yes, beating them made them listen, but it scared them and forced the religion onto the poor boys and girls. As said in the book, they took away their identities and heritage, making them forget about the lives they had before. They took the “Indian” out of the child, turning them into “normal” people, as the priests and nuns said. Some kids came in being themselves, and came out not knowing who they were and where they came from. I like Richard Wagamese, and I hope to read more from him in the future.
Erika ��
Richard Wagamese used different ways to portray the residential schools. In chapter 11 Saul is taken to the St. Jerome’s Indian Residential School. Saul describes the residential school as “they took the light from my world” pg. 43. The walls were a nasty green the inside smelt of bleach and disinfectants. There were no trees or shrubs the place was dull. When I got there, we were told to take off our clothes and put into tubs of water that nearly scalded us. The nuns scrubbed us so hard that it felt like they were trying to remove our skin too. The only thing I got to keep was my name.
ReplyDeleteThey were so aggressive at the St. Jerome’s Indian Residential school. The nuns were so mean they grabbed a boy and yanked him to his knees as the nun began to hit the boy with the paddle on the back so it would stop him from fighting. They have been many kids come here. There was a boy named Arden Little Light he was a young boy who always had a runny nose. The nuns had tied his arms behind his back so he couldn’t wipe his own nose. We heard him struggling to breath with all the snot. Arden was found him hanging from the rafters in the barn. “He wrapped his own hands behind his back with rope before he jumped” pg. 50. They brain washed him so much that he tied his own hands before he jumped. I’ve seen so much so far at the residential schools. “I’ve seen people die of tuberculosis, influenza, pneumonia and broken hearts at St. Jerome’s pg. 55”. I’ve seen people hung from the rafters, wrists slashed, a boy impaled with a pitchfork that he shoved into himself and I’ve watched a girl fill her pockets with rocks and walk to the creek and drown. They won’t stop and they will never stop hurting kids and trying to take their identity and religion away. I’ve cried at nights in silence so they couldn’t hear me cry.
Richard Wagamese really added a lot of details when he wrote these chapters. “He’d wrapped his own hands behind his back with twists of rope before he’d jumped.” I believe that is really detailed on how the boy hung himself with his hands behind his back because he had a disease that made his nose always run so they’d tied his hands behind his back. They’d pushed him to the point of hanging himself by not letting wipe his nose. That is why I added the first quote.
ReplyDelete“They buried him in the grave yard that crept up to the edge of the bush.” These children were tortured until they broke. They took the identity away from the children to try to rebuild them into god fearing kids. But most of them couldn’t handle getting broken so they’d taken they’re own life. That is why the cemetery grew bigger and bigger till it hit the bushes. That is why I included he second quote.
Frederyk
“Saint Jerome’s was hell on earth”. This is how Saul Indian Horse describes Saint Jerome’s Indian Residential School in the twenty-first chapter of Indian Horse. Ricard Wagamese continually shows throughout this book (at least so far, he has) the abuse and horrid things Indigenous people had to go through during the times of the residential schools. He also shows that not only did those who went to the school suffered, but Indigenous people who weren’t at the schools suffered loss of family, and relationships (example: Naomi and Saul’s mother arguments over how to bury Benjamin). Richard Wagamese uses many excellent ways to portray the horrid experiences at the residential schools, so that we can see how terrible these schools really were.
ReplyDeleteBy writing the book, Indian Horse, in a first-person narrative, we can see how Saul feels: lonely, scared, unaccepted, unworthy and the feeling of being less than human. “When your innocence is stripped from you, when your people are denigrated, when the family you come from is denounced and your tribal ways and rituals are pronounced backward, primitive, savage, you come to see yourself as less than human”. pg.81. He also shows that they were taken from anything they knew, anything “Indian”. Hair cut short, name change to a more biblical name, scrubbed with brushes, and as Desmond wrote in his response, “as if they were trying to scrub the Indian out of them”. Also, I agree with Leonard that by telling the stories as personal descriptive stories, it makes the story have a lot more meaning to us. “One death is a tragedy; one thousand deaths are a statistic.” —Joseph Stalin. Wagamese then presents the deaths at the school as matter of fact (chapter 14). He also often brings back the fact that the school was indeed always that atrocious. In the twentieth chapter, Saul had played just finished playing a very successful game of hockey, and the chapter finishes in a very positive mood. But, the very first sentence in the next chapter brings us back to the reality that they were still in the school suffering, and then he goes on to show us of even more suffering that they went through.
I think that these techniques are effective, as it really touches me whenever I read the book. Even when I reread a chapter of the book, I always have a realization that during those times they were struggling to survive, like the fish in chapter 13. His techniques are very effective, because I already knew about residential schools and the effects they had on Indigenous people before I started reading Indian Horse. I knew that they were cruelly beat, malnourished, sexually abused, and, when dead, thrown into a big pit without a funeral with the rest of those who died at the school. One thing that this book really showed me was how much they suffered outside the school. I had never really thought about how it impacted them outside the school, for example, loss of family and relationships, anger inside them, and it even causes Saul to become a stereotypical Indian, homeless, and a drunkard (ch.1, New Dawn Centre). These effective techniques make Richard Wagamese’s readers know that residential schools were abominable times that impacted Indigenous people in and out of the residential schools.
—Eliakim Gutknecht
The different techniques were used to portray the residential school experience in Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse. Chapter 14 is a great example of this it was a one-page paragraph and it talked only about the ways some of the kids in residential schools killed themselves. He talked about this in such a calm matter like it was a regular thing to see in a residential school. A lot of these kids were very young most weren’t even older than 12 they just couldn’t live the way they were in the residential school. The way Richard wrote this chapter he kept it short and sweet to make you want to ask questions which is what he wanted the readers to do so that nothing else took away from the message of this chapter. By asking questions about this chapter you will have a better understanding of why all these kids would kill themselves and why they were depressed.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have learned from residential schools is that the native kids that attended them were taken from their homes and placed in them without a choice. These kids were not treated fairly in fact they were treated very poorly and the meals they ate were not very nutritious. The kids were abused if they spoke their native language they were only to speak English. Some of these kids were abused regularly which made a lot of kids kill themselves because they couldn’t take it anymore. How this is portrayed in the book is what I was expecting because I have learned about this in the past. What stands out in my mind is how long this went on for and how many kids went through this and the effect it had on their lives in the future.
By Jordan Sauvé
Richard Wagamese didn’t hold back when talking about the residential school. The way he told the readers about the children experiences is quite disturbing, “Arden Little-light hanging from the rafters”, or “Sheila Jack gone crazy” and “a young boy impaling himself with a pitchfork”. I found that Richard Wagamese went into a little too much detail speaking about the “night time invasions”. Also, Wagamese tells the readers everything that happened to the children. Those techniques I find are very affective to myself because I had no idea what happened in residential schools, let alone I didn’t even know what residential schools were until we started reading this book.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what residential schools were until reading this book. So, it was quite a shock hearing about children “dying from chocking on lye soap” or “wrists slashed in the bathroom”. Now, I’ve seen every Marvel movie there is and I’ve heard of some nasty stories from my dad (he’s a firefighter so he’s seen some pretty gross stuff) but this is still quite shocking to me hearing all this stuff that happened to kids in the residentials schools.
It makes me sick inside knowing that all this stuff happened to these kids, now considering I didn’t grow up with this and hearing this or the first time. I understand why kids would run away or take dramatic action because these are just kids, just 4-15-year-olds they can’t take it. So its very heart breaking knowing that this has happened and its taken so long for the churches to make up for it.
Jakob
Richard Wamamese used different ways to explain residential schools. (in chapter 11) Saul gets to the residential school and he ends up meeting two/three nuns and a boy named Lonnie rabbit. The nuns tell them that Saul will keep his name because its biblical but Lonnie rabbit will need to change it to Aaron. Lonnie rabbit tells the nuns that he doesn’t want to change his name the nuns decided that betting him with a leather paddle until he understood that he will be called Aaron. Later on (chapter 12) Saul starts to see that children are getting sick and he starts to learn about the kids and what they are going through “ they tied his arms behind his back “ also “ a car came and took Sheila jack to the crazy house” the next child he saw was Shane big canoe who was being takin away to St. Germ’s wrapped In ropes who tried to run away he ended up in the basement locked up in the iron sister for ten days they called it “contrition” when he came out Saul and the other children saw that he no longer had fight in him. Saul learns about “Arden little- light hanging from the rafters” even “a young boy Impaling himself with a pitchfork”
DeleteWith all this information that Richard Wagamses has written I find it a lot to digest all at once. However, I think that it’s very important that more people need to be educated on what was going on in residential school. What the aboriginal people were going through when all of this was happing to them. I never knew about residential schools until this book. It was hard to understand that this was real that people did this to young children and that it was allowed and supported by the government and churches. it affected me to know that people were taking young children from their homes to a place where they needed up being beaten, traumatized and taken their aboriginal culture away from them by taken away their names and not letting them see or be around nature.
Eventually they go to a pond and end up finding fishes which they even see themselves in the fish they see “when they lay gasping on the grass, it was ourselves we saw fighting for air “they see themselves needed to fight to stay alive. To fight to eventually leave the school “The only thing (chapter 18 up) that is keeping Saul happy and have faith is hockey. The saddest part is that it took so long before no one knew about what was happing to them until the government and churches apologized and then more and more aboriginal talk about it.
Richard Wagamese used many different techniques to portray residential schools in the book Indian horse. From the first moment Saul got to the school in chapter 11 there was no worm presence they stiped them of all native culture and forced them to shave their heads and look all the same. They were also force to change their names to biblical names and if they did not agree they were beaten with the paddle, the same way Lonnie was. Another way he portrayed the residential schools is in chapter 14. In chapter 14 he goes in to a bit more detail on some of many kids’ deaths and how cruel they were. He would say what the kids would do just to get out of that misery.
ReplyDeleteBefore this class I had little knowledge on residential school I knew about them but not enough to talk about it. In class I learned how the native children got force to go to them and that they were not a nice place to be and by videos that we watched they ruined many people mental of physical lives. I believe that Richard Wagamese portrays the residentials schools well because as a reader you can almost feel how the children felt in the story. How they were tortured either physically, mentally or both. In chapter 11 Saul says ‘’ St Jerome’s took all the light from my world’’ this id how many people felt when u listen to video from people that have gone to these schools.
The thing that stands out the most for me in my mind is how this was legal. In these times there were many laws saying that you couldn’t do these types of thing but yet the government was still doing it. They were abducting children from there homes and bringing them to residential schools to become someone they aren’t. They would torture them to the point of craziness until they broke or became the person they wanted them to be. People need to know more about these school and what they did to the native people so that it doesn’t happen again and also to remember what terrible things happen to them.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteRichard Wagamese portrayed a horrible picture of the residential schools through telling the reader all the horrors children experienced there. They were forced to take on Christianity and abandon their traditions. “They rubbed us nearly raw. It felt as though they were trying to remove our skin.”(pg. 44) Their identity was taken away from them. The residential schools made it seem as though there was absolutely nothing unique about the children, they all looked the same and all felt hollow inside. “St. Germ’s scraped away at us, leaving holes in our beings.”(pg. 52)
ReplyDeleteChildren were terrified of doing something wrong because they knew they would be punished. A lot of children couldn’t stand residential schools anymore so they committed suicide to escape the horrible place. So many young lives were lost in there. None of the children were even buried properly; it was as though their existence didn’t matter. “Row on row of unmarked graves” (pg. 50)
Just like others in my class, I didn’t know much about residential schools so reading this book and finding out how children were treated there was a shock for me. So many of them were taken away from their families and were forced to forget who they are. I could never imagine that children were treated with such cruelty. I agree with Jakob that it’s very sad knowing that churches and the government took so long to apologize for their actions. It’s good that we get to learn about residential schools so we can see what Aboriginal people had to go through and make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
Anastasiia Vynohradova
Richard Wagamese used quite a few techniques to portray the residential school experience. He goes into detail about the school to show how fresh those haunting memories still are. He describes how when he got there, the school need to whip him clean or “sterilize” Saul. He also talked about the other kids and how they walk the hallways silent, heads down, and seeming so dull and lifeless. We are told of how the school puts horror into these kids’ lives and some of them can’t handle it and decide to take their own life. “Bodies hung from the rafters on thin ropes”
ReplyDeleteThe school tortured the kids until they broke, either as children of god or when decided to try and run away or kill themselves. Until I read this novel I have only heard small details about the schools from my previous teachers and it is portrayed to be a lot darker than could have ever imagined. Children being beaten and raped, all just to try and brainwash them and destroy that and all future generation of aboriginal people. Something that really stands out to me is I just can’t comprehend how someone/people can has so much hate towards one race or culture. I was raised to know nothing else but equality so, it takes a lot for me to have the mentality to put myself in their position.
Liam Murphy
BY: Allison Echevarria
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of Indian horse it was very detailed and well written explaining how he was in the residential school, then the book and his story begins to unfold of when he was younger, and explaining detail about how his childhood was. I think it is a very important that he went into such detail for the children's deaths and such. I think one of the chapters that has great significance of the story is 14, since it is a 1 page, but very detailed about the deaths of the children. Another chapter was chapter 12, and how it explains multiple children's deaths but showing their names and their entire stories. So as Jordan said in his paragraphs he talked about it in a calm matter like it was nothing, but I think it shows that he’s straight to the point.
So throughout multiple chapters you see and understand why these kids were depressed and wanted to kill themselves, before the residential schools drove them to lose everything they have. So even though the things Saul experiences and sees’, he found hockey among the mess, so it was basically his and many others escape from reality. So I believe that by hockey being introduced it brought back some hope and life in the traumatized kids at the school. All in all this first part of the novel really went into detail of how kids were treated at the schools, how they truly felt and how their lives were just lifeless at the time. Lastly what really stood out to me was how in chapter 12 Richard Wagamese gave the details of certain children's lives and how detailed he described it, he was very to the point and so it was very shocking to read all the gruesome things that happened at the residential schools’.
To answer your questions Saul is indeed sent to a residential school. Richard Wagamese uses these these techniques to portray the residential school experience. He describes a lot of the information written in the book to help us understand and feel more of how he felt. He also portrayed a horrible image of residential schools. Richard shows us how they treat children’s In residential schools and how harsh people were and still are. It shows us the horrible ideas people have to torture kids. Aren’t you questioning yourself why people would do that to kids? Like it makes me so mad that people would even think about treating kids like that and actually going through with it.
ReplyDeleteI knew a lot about residential schools before reading the book. Which means the information given by the book doesn’t surprise me. Although some information do shock me and surprise me like: how they beat up students for being themselves, or how they push people to believe im something they don’t believe in maybe some people don’t believe in god and maybe some don’t believe in other religions but it is not acceptable to force a religion on someone that does not believe in that certain religion. In the book forcing a religion on someone is very big. Richard Wagamese portrays’s thus horrible scene in our heads to show how people didn’t care whether you liked it or not you would do it or you would get punished. This book helps me to understand more about residential schools and hoe horrible people were.
What is portrayed differently and similarly in the book. The things that would be portrayed differently would be how they act and how they react. Something that stands out shortly for me it would be like I said in my previous paragraph we do not force our religion on a child. If a kid was born and he lived his life for 12 years not believing in God but believing in spirits can you steal them from your parents and try and force them to believe in God and to believe that you only have one father now and is your only father he’s not going to be able to do it. Another thing that I hate is punishing children by letting them starve for a week or washing their mouth with soap or letting them cry without any support or love or Kleenex. You’re doing this to children’s CHILDREN’S how can you?
In conclusion I really hate residential schools and I don’t want them to exist ever again. Although Richard Wagamese did portray a really good image of the residential schools and it does really make me feel sorry for them.
Gaby
Richard Wagamese always put a lot of details in all his chapters. Wagamese used many different ways to describe Sauls experience in chapter 1-21. Wagamese tells stories of children killing them selves because they’re so unhappy and feel alone. Kids at St-Jeromes we’re driven to kill themselves because the nuns and priests would tie hands behind a boys back, making a little girl recite, by putting kids in Iron Sisters and a lot of other things. All these techniques were effective because they gave us more knowledge about Canada’s past and aboriginal cultures past.
ReplyDeleteBefore starting to read Indian Horse I had learned very little about residential schools. I didn’t realize how badly aboriginal people were treated by Canada. Residential schools main goal was to turn kids Catholic to get rid of aboriginal culture. I’ve learnt a lot of things I would’ve never have known If I hadn’t started Indian Horse. Indian Horse is a glimpse into how aboriginal people were mistreated and tortured into becoming Catholic. Canada apologized but aboriginal people will always be affected for how mistreated they were in these schools.
Megan
One of the literary techniques Richard Wagamese uses to portray the residential school experience is repetition. In chapter 14 he shows all the distressing events one after the other using the same words, in line one “ I saw kids die of tuberculosis…” this is followed by “ I saw young boys and girls die standing on their own two feet…”, in line three he begins “ I saw bodies hung from rafters on thin ropes…” This evokes empathy from the reader. In the book, Richard Wagamese also mentions the painful things that children had been through.
ReplyDeleteBefore this class, I had learned very little about the horrors of residential schools in my first year of high school. It was in my native arts class where there were stories about kids and their crucial past experiences. In the book Saul states that a kid had killed himself with a pitchfork “a young boy impaling himself with a pitchfork.” This shows the atrocious acts that happened in residential schools. Richard Wagamese portrayed residential schools differently then I though because he goes into dept and it was worst then I imagined.
The whole residential school concept is very sad and degrading because it is killing out all the Indian out if them. They are killing all their culture and beliefs that they know. They were forced to do something they didn’t want too. I think I can relate a little to this because I come from a different country which has different ways of doing things, I am forcing myself to fit in the society to be like others. Back then the residential schools were around, the government change the people for who they are and nowadays the government has little control on people, it is social media that control people for the trends.
ZAHI SIDDIKY
Richard Wagamese used a lot of details and small forms of what native kids had gone through in the residential schools. He used a lot of gore and what kids had gone through in small but effective details. Richard also put in what they had done to the kids who didn’t behave. The whole residential school meaning is just for white people to rip their native out of the Indian culture. They take kids at such young age and force them to learn English and lose their language and scrub them clean make them dress differently and act differently and not have any native language or representation or qualities.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think of what the white people had done to the natives is harsh, how come the natives were forced to not be different. People are so unfair, why did kids have to go through this. The type of violence done in what Richard Wagamese had written in Indian horse shouldn't be seen or felt by anyone. Especially kids. Our generation might be hard, but their generation was worse. Taken away from your parents at young age and tortured. By the time you came out if you did you were wiped of your spirit.
megan
Indian Horse Blog
ReplyDeleteNick Tessier
When we started reading Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese, I didn’t know very much about what went on at residential schools. I knew that children suffered at these schools but I didn’t know how bad the abuse was. The children at the residential schools were almost treated as badly as people in concentration camps during world war 2, where they were forced to do hard labour even though they were starving.
Children died in residential schools by committing suicide using anything they could find. Children were targeted by the nuns and the priest for different reasons. The children were not allowed to speak their own language. If they spoke their own language they would be put in the iron sister (metal box downstairs). They were depressed, hopeless and lost their mind because of the abuse by the priest and nuns. An example is Sheila Jack. She walked all humble, quietly and regally almost. She was peaceful, assured and composed and the priest and nuns didn’t like that. So, they drove her crazy by abusing her, waking her up in the night and in front of the classroom to recite words. If she made a mistake they used a wooden ruler to hit her as a punishment.
Richard Wagamese uses different ways to explain what it's like living in a residential school. How much death happens, the amount of people that aren't happy and end up going crazy.
ReplyDeleteThe author used a lot of visual representation to capture our attention and to have us understand how most kids had killed or hurt themselves. This technique is very effective. "a young boy impaled on the tines of a pitchfork that he'd shoved through himself." Just that simple sentence from the book bring the image straight to my head, it makes me think about the sorrow this kid had in him to be able to do that to himself.
I never even knew about residential schools before this book was brought forward to me but I have always known that back in the days and even today people were and are treated very low. To me it is incredible that these people were treated like this until just 27 years ago.
-monica
Richard Wagamese described the residential schools as a very horrible place, so horrible to the point of suicide or self-harm, “I saw wrist slashed and the cascades of blood on the bathroom floor, one time, a young boy impaled on the tines of a pitchfork that he’d shoved through himself” I think the techniques he used were very powerful, he clearly got the message through to the audience. He used guilt to make us feel bad and to understand the struggles the children went through.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter 12 Wagamese identifies 3 children and specific details about their death. Throughout these chapters you begin to understand why these kids are suicidal and depressed. Saul found his way out of depression, he found hockey, even though he couldn’t play he still loved to be around the ice and he atmosphere of hockey it helped him stay sane and not try to kill himself, later in the book Saul found his chance to play the great game of hockey, he was the happiest he's even been since he's been at the school. So, I believe Wagamese used detail to explain all the events that have happened. Lastly, I think Wagamese brought great awareness about residential schools to the readers.
-Matt :)
Richard Wagamese explains all the problems that Saul goes through and really all the kids that went through, I think that he explained the trouble and the struggle very well. Just like in chapter 14 he explains the kids dying of TB influenza, pneumonia and suicide, he says “I saw runaways carried back, frozen solid as board.” its really shows that one, kids would do anything to leave and two, that the priest, sister and fathers don’t really care they were brought there make these kids Catholique and “take the Indian out of them” Wagamese explains this by the brutal truth, the hell these kids had to go through, I think that wagamese ported the schools very well because in real life you can hear stories of kids killing them self, like this is a very real thing that happened and for him to try and explain a horrible thing and make it understandable is a great accomplishment. For me I had near no clue what residential schools were, so he thought me and probably more people.
ReplyDeleteHe uses hockey as a for of relief when there was no hope for saul. He makes it easier for the reader to understand everything. even though the life there and the way they were treated it still show the suicide, the running away, the abuse but it is flipped to have hope for the reader and to have a relatable thing in the stories (hockey) saul is a great kid and he tries to keep he culture inside him but u can see him slipping towards Christianity, he says “St. Jerome, hell on earth” for me at least this shows me that he is starting to think more about Christianity although it was a bad thing about St. Jerome he still is starting to think about it. He does after all have to go to church and learn about god every single day, its like our schools after awhile you will get it, you will learn and it will stick in your mind its called brain washing and there is not many things you can do to stop and thouse kids were yong and were still trying to find themselves out. And the fathers and nuns took advantege of that.
Jeremy ;D
Saul is sent to a residential school. What techniques did Richard Wagamese use to portray the residential school experience? How effective do you think those techniques are? Use specific examples from the novel to prove your point. Share your knowledge on what you have learned about residential schools, was it similarly or differently portrayed? What stands out strongly in your mind?
ReplyDeleteIn the book Indian Horse, Residential school played a big part in telling the story, he explains what happened to some of the children, for the most part the children that attended Residential schools, got abused in all ways, children couldn’t speak their own language, if they did anything to disobey the rules, they would get punished. Residential schools at the time where cruel, the priests and nuns would give hard daily labor for the children to do, the children that went to Residential schools didn’t have free time, they weren’t allowed to do things most children do, some would even commit suicide, because they couldn’t handle the strict discipline. A lot of children suffered, children had to obey the rules.
By Carlie
ReplyDeleteRichard Wagamese used a lot of different techniques to portrait what the residential schools were like, Saul described it as the smell of bleach and disinfectant. The nuns were very abusive to the children who attended, these schools would burn and rape the children, some even took their own lives because they couldn’t take the abuse anymore.” A young boy impaled on the tins of a pitchfork that he’d shoved through himself” He described what happened in these schools very well, imagery, similes, metaphors and foreshadowing were used a lot in these 19 chapters so far.
They were very abusive and aggressive at the residential schools. Pg. 50 “he wrapped his own hands behind his back with rope before he jumped” They had brainwashed the kids so much that he tied his own hand before killing himself. A little girl filled her pockets with rocks and walked into the creek, some students were beaten with paddles, the nuns would scrub them so hard their skin would start coming off. I have learned a lot more about these residential schools in this class, I barely knew what residential schools were before I started reading the book and fore sure didn’t know about all the abuse that was happening and I am very interested to read the rest of the book.
Richard Wagamese portrays the residential school as a place that rapes you of your innocence. On page (209) Mr. Wagamese really brings the topic up when Saul and Fred talk about there experiences. Even though Saul leaves the residential school he never forgets about what happened. As soon as Saul goes to the residential school he realizes that something is wrong. Saul was stripped immediately, the children he was with were forced to change names but luckily Saul already had a good Christian name. The change from gods lake to a residential school is terrifying. I think Wagamese really showed the extent of how some changes were or some of the kids.
ReplyDeleteNot all the experiences were bad. When the new young priest father Leboutier came to St. Jerome he introduced Saul and the other kids to hockey. Although father Leboutier was a bad man the author portrays him as a good guy at the beginning. When Saul is good enough to play hockey but not yet old enough, its father Leboutier that convinces father Quinney to let Saul play. Wagamese however does hint that were some stuff going on we didn’t know about. In chapter 14 the residential school sounds worse than ever, children were dying standing up with diseases like tuberculosis, influenza and pneumonia. Chapter 14 turns into a suicidal blood bath. Saul describes how he watched a girl fill her pockets full of rocks and drowned herself in a river. In conclusion the residential school is a living hell for most of the students.
What role does "family" play in the life of Saul Indian Horse? What constitutes "family" in this novel? Discuss examples of "family" strength, weakness, and powerlessness in the story.
ReplyDeleteThe “family” role in Saul Indian horse consist of losing his blood family and losing all mental states and finds a family to bring him in and treat like their own. Saul met the Kelly's and they immediately took him in. They treated him like their own and involved them in activities. Another role of family that Saul has been welcome to is the hockey team. His teammates after a while became someone to him because they gave him respect. They created a bond with the new fond boy. They made him feel welcome and safe in most parts. When Saul got to play for the maple leaf's the team was happy and congratulated him. The family lead him to believe there was so much more beyond the residential schools. He had to find his own way and the new come family let him.