Indian Horse

The story pauses as Saul remembers Rebecca Wolf, a girl he knew at St. Jerome’s. She arrived at the school with a little sister, who the nuns punish harshly for her timidity. When Rebecca tried to protect her, the nuns locked her up. While Rebecca was imprisoned in the basement, Katherine died in her sleep. When they finally told Rebecca, she went silent, then screamed. Finally, Saul watched as she walked out to the lawn and sang a song of mourning in her forbidden Ojibway tongue. Then she plunged a knife into her stomach. The other students sang a mourning song for her, ignoring the onlooking priests and nuns. I think this flashback is put here to illustrate the cruelty and affect of the white world, Rebecca finally gives up just as Saul is giving up.