Genre
Historical Fiction, Coming-of-Age, Sports Novel
Setting and Context
1950s Ontario
Narrator and Point of View
The novel is written in first-person perspective. The narrator is Saul Indian Horse, the protagonist and main character.
Tone and Mood
Nostalgic, mourning, hopeful
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Saul Indian Horse. The antagonist is St. Jerome's school, and, in a wider sense, white settlers and Catholicism.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is between Saul and the violence done to him by white settlers.
Climax
The climax of the novel occurs when Saul returns to St. Jerome's and remembers that Father Leboutilier sexually abused and raped him.
Foreshadowing
“It’s because I’m Indian, isn’t it?”
He drove with both hands on the wheel, looking straight ahead. “Yes,” he said.
“Do they hate me?”
“They don’t hate you, Saul.”
“Well, what, then?”
“They think it’s their game.”
“Is it?”
I could hear the crack of our tires in the frost on the road. “It’s God’s game,” he said.
“Where’s God now, then?” I asked.
He gripped the wheel harder as the ruddy face of St. Jerome’s slid into view at the crest of the ridge.”
Wagamese, Richard. Indian Horse. Douglas & McIntyre, 2012. Chapter 23.
Father Leboutilier's repeated attempts to force a Christian framework on Saul, and his failure to reckon with the realities of the racism Saul faces, foreshadow his disregard for Saul's autonomy and complacency in St. Jerome's assimilationist project.
Understatement
Allusions
Many of the character's names are allusions to biblical stories. Moses, Saul's counselor at the New Dawn Centre, is reminiscent of the biblical figure in that he leads Saul out of a dark place, although unlike the biblical Moses, his guidance is not enough for Saul, who ultimately needs to hear his great-grandfather's voice.
Imagery
See Indian Horse Imagery
Paradox
For Saul, hockey is paradoxically both his only source of freedom, and the site of constant racist harassment that he otherwise might be better able to avoid.
Parallelism
Virgil's son Billy, who is the smallest boy on the team, but has the ability to use his speed to control the ice, parallels Saul, who was a similar kind of player.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Personification
“I’d stand on the rocks in the dim hours before any of the others had woken and feel it enter me like light. I’d close my eyes and feel it. The land was a presence. It had eyes, and I was being scrutinized.”
Wagamese, Richard. Indian Horse. Douglas & McIntyre, 2012. Chapter 41.
Saul personifies the land.
