Final Post-Indian Horse

Kendra Wragg

English 12

November 5, 2013

Final Post

Indian Horse by: Richard Wagamese

3. “It’s funny how bartenders always tell you to drink up. When you’re lost to it like I was, you always drink down. Down beyond accepted every day things like a home, a job, a family, a neighborhood. You drink down beyond thinking, beyond emotion. Beyond hope. You drink down because after all the roads you’ve travelled, that’s the only direction you know by heart. You drink down to where you can’t hear voices anymore, can’t see faces, can’t touch anything, can’t feel. You drink down to the place that only diehard dunks know; the world at the bottom of the well where you huddle in darkness, haunted forever by the knowledge of light. I was at the bottom of that well for a long time. Coming back up to daylight hurt like a son of a bitch.” (Pg.189) I found this passage to be very powerful because through the use of metaphors the author describes from Saul’s point of view the strong emotions he feels and how drinking becomes his main coping mechanism. For me, this passage made both an impact on my understanding of the novel, but more so a personal impact. This passage really resonated with me because I felt like I could understand where he was coming from in needing to block out all emotions and escape from his life. When he made reference to the place that only drinkers know I felt I could empathize with him because only people who have been down in a well understand what it is like to see the light. The passage has a huge significance in the book because it clearly shows the result and the impact of the residential schools and being removed from his family had on Saul. Showing readers the place that Saul got to mentally, I believe is very significant to fully understand the story.

5. Near the end of the novel Saul is starting to change. For a while he is stuck and does not know how to move on from the traumas he experienced in the residential schools. He finally makes the decision to go back to the treatment centre and share his story so he no longer has to keep so many strong emotions bottled up inside. When Fred says to Saul, “they scooped out our insides, Saul. We’re not responsible for that. We’re not responsible for what happened to us. None of us are…But our healing-that’s up to us. That’s what saved me. Knowing it was my game.” (Pg.210) After that Saul really took control of his life, he stopped drinking and tried to put the past behind him. That really stood out as a turning point for Saul. This change in Saul serves as the beginning to the resolution in the story. Yes I think this change is realistic/plausible. I believe Saul knew what he had to do by returning to God’s Lake and the school to move on with his life. For this change to happen it took time, which is what makes it so realistic, because to overcome such an obstacle would not happen overnight.