And yet, like many abuse victims, he becomes depressed and frustrated. Over the years, Saul seems to repress all memory of Father Leboutilier’s contemptible behavior. But Wagamese focuses on Saul’s recollection of traumatic abuse for another reason: in doing so, he wants to emphasize the point that the aftermath of abuse can be as painful (and in some ways more painful) than the experience of abuse itself. Father Leboutilier’s apparent kindness toward Saul seems to have caused Saul a great deal of confusion and doubt, leading him to bury the memories of abuse altogether. Such a response is especially common when the abuser is a person the victim had a close relationship with. In many cases, victims of sexual abuse, particularly if the abuse began when the victims were small children, repress or forget about it for many years as a defense mechanism. To begin with, his decision to do so emphasizes the psychological realism of the novel. It’s crucial to understand why Wagamese presents Saul’s abuse years after the fact, instead of portraying it in the present tense. Wagamese shows how trauma, particularly when it’s caused by abuse, as it is in Saul’s case, can be a crippling burden for its victims. Saul’s shocking realization cements trauma as one of the key themes of the book. Jerome’s, Father Gaston Leboutilier, sexually abused him. Toward the end of Indian Horse, Saul Indian Horse remembers some information that he’s been repressing for many years.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |