Indian Horse

Horses are a central symbol in the novel. The horse, Saul’s namesake, brings the teaching of the changing ways to come. Once Saul begins playing hockey, the players are frequently described in equine terms. Even early on, before Saul is allowed to play, he describes the players thusly: “Their faces burned with zeal and joy and their breathing was like the expelled air of mustangs” (67). Soon after, as Saul is allowed to play, he describes of his first sense of belonging among players after a scrimmage: “We stood there like stallions home from the range” (71). When Saul is first covertly learning the game, his stand-in for a is a stack of horse turds.

Hockey players are frequently referred to as warriors or soldiers. Before he begins playing at St. Jerome’s, Saul describes the other players by saying: “As they pumped their legs and swung their arms in pursuit of the puck, zipping by me in a blur, they were warrior-like” (67). This warrior nature of the native players is emphasized when Saul joins the Moose, who are a bit more rough and tumble. As Saul says, “We came from nations of warriors, and the sudden flinging down of sticks and gloves, the wild punches and wrestling were extensions of that identity” (111).