Acts of violence are common for many individuals who experience racism and discrimination, purely due to skin colour, heritage, or culture. These acts of violence are known to strip culture, identity, sense of self-worth, and dignity among the individual. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese portrays exactly how one can lose culture due to the acts of violence. The acts of physical violence and psychological violence that Saul Indian Horse goes through allows the audience to make sense of the racism that has existed, and still can exist, in Canadian society; furthermore, this piece allows readers to understand the effect that racism has on one’s identity. The effects that the Canadian Residential School System’s brutality had on Saul, and even more so on Saul’s classmates, undoubtedly altered Saul and his identity. As soon as Saul arrives at St. Jerome’s Residential School, he is exposed to countless instances of traumatic situations. Saul recalled Lonnie being strapped by a Sister; this is the first of many counts of …show more content…
Saul realized that the game “no longer brought joy to the game, no vision” (Wagamese 176). The culture and identity that Saul lost was made up with rage, aggression, and belligerence. Saul also brought his aggression and violence out of the game when he eventually moved to Manitouwadge, and began working in the mills. The aggressive behaviour showed in his work, whether it was hauling lumber or camping out. He worked to numb the loss of culture and identity from the constant hostility and rejection, such as he did earlier in his life with hockey. When Saul outburst and retaliated against an aggressive co-worker by choking him, Saul was “Frigid with blackness inside” (Wagamese 174). The blackness that he experienced was simply a result of the racism, discrimination, and segregation that Saul went