Indian Horse

Metaphor:

The first time that Saul skates onto the ice without holding onto something, he states that he “became a bird” (Chapter 17). Throughout Indian Horse this metaphor returns in various forms, equating the experience of playing hockey with flight, and in Chapter 35, while encouraging Saul to pursue the NHL, Virgil explicitly names him a shape-shifter. The use of metaphor rather than simile also endows the image with a sense of physical shape-shifting. Shape-shifting is one way to think about the kind of freedom hockey gives Saul: it's a way for him to assert total control over his own body, in opposition to the ways that St. Jerome’s tried to control and regulate him. It’s especially poignant in light of Saul’s rape; part of his survival is finding a way to change forms, to leave the bounds of his physical body behind. Shape-shifting also speaks to an Ojibway way of looking at the world in which animals and people are intimately connected, and the spiritual is an immanent part of everyday life.

Imagery:

Throughout Indian Horse, Wagamese vividly describes the beauty of the natural world. The most important place in the wilderness, for Saul, is Gods Lake, where his family lives before he is taken to St. Jerome’s. He describes it as an “inkpot black” lake, ringed by pine trees and surrounded by grey-white granite cliffs. The sky is flecked with small white clouds during the day, and the bright, full moon at night. The land feels alive to Saul, and sometimes looks like it's breathing, moving in and out. It smells like rich earth, swamp and bog, and when Saul listens he can hear birdsong. Other times the sacred lake is eerily silent, and occasionally it echoes softly with the voices of his ancestors or with spirits. The vivid image is important because it highlights the power of wild spaces for Saul, their connection to his Indigenous heritage, and their ability to transcend the passage of time.