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Synthesis essay corrections

How One Can Face Their Past

 

What effect did the residential schools have on Saul and Betty? Is there a reason bad things happen to good people? Humans can be cruel but, why would one want to make others change their beliefs?   In the novel Indian Horse written by Richard Wagamese, a young boy named Saul is taken away from his family and is forced to live in a residential school. The setting takes place in Ontario during the 1960’s. In the residential school Saul was taught to be ashamed of his culture. The residential school wanted to “remove the Indian from our children”(47, Wagamese). This quote explains how they were treated; as if they meant nothing.   Sugar Falls is a graphic novel written by David Alexander Robertson and illustrated by Scott B. Henderson. The setting takes place in Canada. Betty was a five year old girl, who was abandoned by her biological Mother. Thankfully a loving family took her in as one of their own. After finding happiness the despicable priest came and took her away “like he owned her” (14, David Alexander Robertson). In the residential school Betty was treated with no respect and was taught to forget her culture. Both Indian Horse and Sugar Falls show examples of abuse within residential schools. In Indian Horse Saul was sexually and emotionally abused, Saul was forced to keep quiet if he wanted to continue playing hockey. Betty was also sexually and emotionally abused. Although Saul was not open to share his past he was so used to keeping everything to himself he had to face his demons before he could be at peace with his own history. Whereas Betty was happy to share her past and even let high school students continue to tell her story. Regardless of their differences, one can learn how to recover from times of hardship by being able to share their past.

 

Saul faced abuse while he was enrolled in the residential school. Saul’s passion was to play hockey, he felt a sense of peace and happiness as he would glide along the ice. There was nothing Saul wanted more than to play hockey. Unfortunately, Father Leboutillier understood how much the game meant to Saul and he took advantage of the fact he could be the one who decides if he plays or not. Father Leboutillier made a horrific deal with Saul: “He’d given me the job of cleaning the ice to buy my silence, to guard his secret. “ (199, Wagamese). Father Leboutillier sexually abused Saul. Saul wouldn’t say anything because he wanted to play hockey, and he enjoyed the idea of having someone that loved him. Overtime Saul became really good at playing hockey, he was put onto a super high level of hockey, because of his First Nations background he was treated differently and was treated with no respect. Even the fans who would show up to the games would not support Saul. Eventually he was forced to quit and this led him down a dark path to alcohol and depression.

 

Betty had a rough start to her life, her biological mother was cruel and abandoned her at the age of five years old. A loving family took Betty in and loved her. They provided her with a childhood that she deserved. Eventually the unwanted priest came and took her away to a residential school. Betty was able to make friends in the school and this helped her to forget about all of the awful things that were happening to her. Sadly, Betty was badly abused in the school. One time she was talking to her friend in Cree, the Sister caught her and kicked Betty in the head which caused her to be deaf in her ear. The nun commands her: get up, child. I’m only showing you what’s right” (Robinson, 29).  The nun thought she was teaching the children a lesson but all she had accomplished was abuse. Betty was also sexually abused. Unfortunately Betty was not the only one who had to face this problem. Many of her other friends also had to suffer through this.

 

Because of Saul’s horrific past as the residential school it has caused him to turn into an alcoholic. Saul needed a way to escape from his past. Saul tells us that “In alcohol I found an antidote” (Wagamese, 180). Alcohol had a bad effect on Saul and it caused him to become dependent on the drinks. After becoming sober, Saul decided to visit the residential school. He felt as if he needed to re visit so he could “learn to share the truth he had discovered locked deep inside of him” (Wagamese, 207). Saul was raised to keep things to himself so for him to learn how to talk about his past was a huge step in the right direction for him. When it comes to Saul one will need patience. Thankfully his adopted parents had a lot. It had been many years since Saul had visited but when he did they still welcomed him in open arms. Saul came back to cope with his family. He had realized this is not the way he wanted to spend his life and had learned how to cope with his past. Finally, Saul had gone back to visit Virgil. This was a turning point for Saul because Saul has found a safe way to forget his past. He has learned to cope through family and playing the game that he loves; hockey.

 

As for Betty, she was happy to share her past. Betty’s granddaughter April had brought one of her high school friends over to do a project about Betty and the residential school.  When April and her friend Daniel were welcomed into Bettys home, they were greeted with Betty holding an eagle feather and she had asked them to remove their shoes before entering “I am holding the eagle feather to honour the past and move forward with courage honesty and truth” (Robinson,5).  Betty explains to her guests how she needed a lot of courage to move forward, she did not want to forget her past she wanted to honor it. By keeping her story alive, Betty hopes it will raise awareness of the past and make sure nothing like this could ever happened again. Betty copes by participating in her culture, although she was raised to be ashamed of it. When Betty is telling her story, she wears the bright coloured clothing because while she was in the residential school they only wore boring colours. Betty had also “taught Cree to others. Later she became a language consultant” (Robinson,38).  By remembering her past and her culture Betty is able to be at peace with her horrific childhood.

 

In conclusion, residential schools had showed Saul and Betty how to recover in their own way. For Saul, the right path wasn’t always easy. He had so face his demons and bring himself to a realization of what he was doing was not right. As for Betty, the residential school has shaped her into who she is today; a proud First Nations Women. Although the residential school had similar effects on each character, they each grew up differently.

 

Things I did well: 

1.) Combining and organizing my thoughts

2.) Punctuation

Things I need to improve: 

1.) Adding more detail

2.) knowing when not to add too much detail