American Horse by Louise Erdrich

661 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: American horse louise erdrich analysis

Louise Erdrich’s short story “American horse” is a literary piece written by an author whose works emphasize the American experience for a multitude of different people from a plethora of various ethnic backgrounds. While Erdrich utilizes a full arsenal of literary elements to better convey this particular story to the reader, perhaps the two most prominent are theme and point of view. At first glance this story seems to portray the struggle of a mother who has her son ripped from her arms by government authorities; however, if the reader simply steps back to analyze the larger picture, the theme becomes clear. It is important to understand the backgrounds of both the protagonist and antagonists when analyzing theme of this short story. Albetrine, who is the short story’s protagonist, is a Native American woman who characterizes her son Buddy as “the best thing that has ever happened to me”. The antagonist, are westerners who work on behalf of the United States Government. Given this dynamic, the stage is set for a clash between the two forces. The struggle between these two can be viewed as a microcosm for what has occurred throughout history between Native Americans and Caucasians. With all this in mind, the reader can see that the theme of this piece is the battle of Native Americans to maintain their culture and way of life as their homeland is invaded by Caucasians. In addition to the theme, Erdrich’s usage of the third person limited point of view helps the reader understand the short story from several different perspectives while allowing the story to maintain the ambiguity and mysteriousness that was felt by many Natives Americans as they endured similar struggles. These two literary elements help set an underlying atmos... ... middle of paper ... ...omments on how the story itself draws many comparisons between her life and American Horse. Another example of the acclaim this story received can be found in “The Journal of the Short Story in English”, where the website states that Erdrich is able to add a new dynamic to this particular story in the sense that it is unique from all her other works while she still maintains her own personal style such as using multiple point of views. Like any other novel or short story, a lot can be learned about the actual story by understanding the historical content embedded in the piece. Louise Erdrich draws from her her imagination, life experiences, and social climate to piece together American Horse into a fictitious short story that somehow manages to give the reader a very real sense of the socioeconomic divide between the two groups portrayed in the story.

Show More
Related

  • JumpOff Creek

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    She then moves on to describe each of the characters, and in doing so, their surroundings and how they fit in: "He was cold and wet, and the best part of the day had been used up anyway. He wiped his hands on the grass and let the pinto horse take him toward home. There was little enough comfort there. The house crouched dumb and blind on the high bench in the rain. Jack's horse stood droop-necked and dismal inside the strand of rope fence, but there wasn't any smoke coming from the damned stove (28)."

    Read More

  • Social Injustice in Roundhouse

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    Lives for Native Americans on reservations have never quite been easy. There are many struggles that most outsiders are completely oblivious about. In her book The Roundhouse, Louise Erdrich brings those problems to light. She gives her readers a feel of what it is like to be Native American by illustrating the struggles through the life of Joe, a 13-year-old Native American boy living on a North Dakota reservation. This book explores an avenue of advocacy against social injustices. The most observable plight Joe suffers is figuring out how to deal with the injustice acted against his mother, which has caused strife within his entire family and within himself.

    Read More

  • Native Reactions To The Invasion Of America By James Axtell

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    The article, “Native Reactions to the invasion of America”, is written by a well-known historian, James Axtell to inform the readers about the tragedy that took place in the Native American history. All through the article, Axtell summarizes the life of the Native Americans after Columbus acquainted America to the world. Axtell launches his essay by pointing out how Christopher Columbus’s image changed in the eyes of the public over the past century. In 1892, Columbus’s work and admirations overshadowed the tears and sorrows of the Native Americans. However, in 1992, Columbus’s undeserved limelight shifted to the Native Americans when the society rediscovered the history’s unheard voices and became much more evident about the horrific tragedy of the Natives Indians.

    Read More

  • Native American Captivity Narratives, By Mary Rowlandon

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    These stories have a continued overlapping influence in American Fiction and have remained a part of the American imagination; causing Americans to not trust Native Americans and treat them as they were not human just like African Americans. In conclusion to all these articles, Mary Rowlandson and John Smith set the perception for Native Americans due to their Captivity Narratives.

    Read More

  • The Horse Fair by Rosa Bonheur

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dozens of horses are charging through the fair grounds, each hoof vibrating the ground, which causes chaos to erupt. Some horses are white as for a person of royalty, and others a mysterious brown. Through all this chaos, Rosa Bonheur paints what is before her. Her painting is called The Horse Fair. The painting itself is 8 feet tall by 16 feet wide.1 The Horse Fair is located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.1 Bonheur uses a panoramic view in her painting.2 The Horse Fair was inspired by the horse market that Rosa Bonheur use to visit on Boulevard De l’Ho ̂pital.1 The building in the upper far left of the painting is called Asylum on Salpetriere, which is located in Paris.3 The people on the hill in the upper right corner of the painting are potential customers evaluating the horses to see which horse to purchase.1 Through this painting, Bonheur shows the power and magnificence of the horses as the owners of these horses are using all of their strength to control them.3 Bonheur included a self portrait of herself on a horse in her painting, which can be located next to the black and white horses that are rearing up.4 The audience can notice the shadows that are coming off each of the horses. The shadows are through the use of chiaroscuro. The shadows make the horses look more real, as if they are actually moving through the fair ground. The author will prove Bonheur’s use of naturalism in her painting The Horse Fair by analyzing Bonheur in terms of historical context, anatomical accuracy, and structural elements.

    Read More

  • All The Pretty Horses Analysis

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy may seem like an ordinary tale of a young man and his heroic Western journey but in reality, it is a complex web of the actions and reactions of characters, specifically the actions of the women in John Grady Cole’s life and his reactions to them. His actions can be directly tied to a decision that one of the female characters in the story has made. Their roles directly affected the path he took throughout the story, suggesting that this is not just a coincidence but moreover a correlating sequence of events. As a Western novel, the plot development that women principally dictate John Grady’s fate is unusual, yet important to his character and the story’s events.

    Read More

  • Deborah Ann Butler Achieving Against The Odds Summary

    1528 Words  | 4 Pages

    Anne spoke of some of her experiences and in them most of the women included were all aspiring to be professional jockeys and illustrated how difficult it is for females to break through the gender barriers in the industry but Anne’s story was different. Anne went through situations where instead of being celebrated for any of her achievements was made a joke of and accused of not being able to actually accomplish anything so she must be sleeping with her boss. She was also given situations in which were meant to make her fail, though Anne was able to overcome these things and create something good. For example, Anne was given a horse that was known as being a little wild. No one was able to keep this horse still and she would usually tear off. Anne says,’ I started off at the back and ended up at the front, and then did a couple of circuits. Anyway I thought that was it, I’m gonna get sacked ... but anyway, Bob Henbury [the trainer] came up laughing and said “that’s the best she’s ever gone” and then every work day they used to put me on her and of course I didn’t have a clue what I was doing and I was actually trying to hold her and she was running off with me and of course she was actually doing a bit of work.” From then on Anne was the only “lad” able to handle that horse, showing her trainer just how valuable she was. Anne was eventually excepted as a woman in a “man’s” world

    Read More

  • Naïveté in Flannery O'Connor’s Good Country People

    1623 Words  | 4 Pages

    In "Good Country People," Flannery O'Connor skillfully presents a story from a third-person point of view, in which the protagonist, Joy-Hulga, believes that she is not one of those good country people. Joy is an intelligent and educated but emotionally troubled young woman, struggling to live in a farm environment deep in the countryside of the southeast United States, where she feels that she does not belong. Considering herself intellectually superior to the story's other characters, she experiences an epiphany that may lead her to reconsider her assumptions. Her experience marks a personal transition for her and constitutes the story's theme--the passage from naïveté to knowledge.

    Read More

  • Comparing The George And The Jewels And Black Beauty

    377 Words  | 1 Pages

    The article “ The George and Jewels” by Jane Smith develops their characters by having a human narrator. A piece of text evidence would be “with the wind knocked out of you and think about how nice it would be not to get back on because the horse is just dedicated to bucking you off”(Smith 1). This shows that the narrator doesn't like horses that much because they are a pain and just wish she could stop and lay there. One piece of text evidence is “ There she was curled up next to me like a dog kind of pressed up next to me but large soft and sweet”

    Read More

  • Essay Comparing Appaloosa And The Brumby's Death

    923 Words  | 2 Pages

    A horse is the projection of peoples' dreams about themselves - strong, powerful, and beautiful - and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence. ~Pam Brown. In the poems ‘Appaloosa ‘ by Judith Beveridge and ‘The brumby’s death’ by Ethel Mills., each poet captures the essence of the Beauties and the beasts of horses and its meaning to humans and the nature of working alongside humans. While the only the relationship between a human and a horse can be experienced by those of who work and bond with horses and the manner of tone of each horse differs from horse to horse and human to human . Indeed, the manner of experiences with horses is different for each poet is quite different. I fear that the horses Beveridge

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Thomas King's 'The Inconvenient Indian'

    918 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Thomas King’s novel, The Inconvenient Indian, the story of North America’s history is discussed from his original viewpoint and perspective. In his first chapter, “Forgetting Columbus,” he voices his opinion about how he feel towards the way white people have told America’s history and portraying it as an adventurous tale of triumph, strength and freedom. King hunts down the evidence needed to reveal more facts on the controversial relationship between the whites and natives and how it has affected the culture of Americans. Mainly untangling the confusion between the idea of Native Americans being savages and whites constantly reigning in glory. He exposes the truth about how Native Americans were treated and how their actual stories were

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast All The Pretty Horses Book And Book

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    “All the Pretty Horses”, a novel written by Cormac McCarthy tells the tale about a man and his friend travelling the plains of Mexico after leaving their homes in Texas. As the novel’s name alludes to, horses are a central theme in the story as they represent manhood and freedom when John Grady, the protagonist, and his friend Rawlins get thrown in jail. McCarthy’s novel became critically-acclaimed which gained him more recognition, as well as a movie adaptation directed by Billy Bob Thornton. Even though Thornton’s adaption has the basics of the novel’s story it does not appropriately grasps its depth. While Thornton’s version stays faithful to the dialogue from the book’s included scenes it does fall short by having an erratic pace, having

    Read More

  • The Virginian, by Owen Wister

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    The cowboy hero, The Virginian, as portrayed in Owen Wister’s novel was the first of his kind and today is known as the stereotypical mythic cowboy figure which our view of the western frontier are based from. The Virginian was the first full length western novel apart from the short dime novels which marked the final stage in the evolution of the cowboy hero to a national icon. The Virginian was published in 1902 and at that time was wildly popular because of the settlement of the west. The story of the cowboy who had the skill and courage to take control of the untamed frontier enthralled people. The cowboy hero had a few distinguished qualities, he was a self-appointed vigilante, he had a very strict moral code, he had exceptional perception skills and he had the ability to adapt. Owen Wister’s The Virginian was the first to portray these qualities and really created a deeper cowboy character.

    Read More

  • Marie Lazarre Kashpaw and Lulu Lamartine: Matriarchs of the Chippewa Tribe

    1421 Words  | 3 Pages

    As Mother’s Day approaches, writer Penny Rudge salutes “Matriarchs [who] come in different guises but are instantly recognizable: forceful women, some well-intentioned, others less so, but all exerting an unstoppable authority over their clan” (Penny Rudge), thereby revealing the immense presence of women in the American family unit. A powerful example of a mother’s influence is illustrated in Native American society whereby women are called upon to confront daily problems associated with reservation life. The instinct for survival occurs almost at birth resulting in the development of women who transcend a culture predicated on gender bias. In Love Medicine, a twentieth century novel about two families who reside on the Indian reservation, Louise Erdrich tells the story of Marie Lazarre and Lulu Lamartine, two female characters quite different in nature, who are connected by their love and lust for Nector Kashpaw, head of the Chippewa tribe. Marie is a member of a family shunned by the residents of the reservation, and copes with the problems that arise as a result of a “childhood, / the antithesis of a Norman Rockwell-style Anglo-American idyll”(Susan Castillo), prompting her to search for stability and adopt a life of piety. Marie marries Nector Kashpaw, a one-time love interest of Lulu Lamartine, who relies on her sexual prowess to persevere, resulting in many liaisons with tribal council members that lead to the birth of her sons. Although each female character possibly hates and resents the other, Erdrich avoids the inevitable storyline by focusing on the different attributes of these characters, who unite and form a force that evidences the significance of survival, and the power of the feminine bond in Native Americ...

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie's What You Pawn I Will Redeem

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie, Jackson wanders from person to person and seems to have an unusual connection with those that are Native Americans. All of his ‘friends’ may fail him, but he never disowns them. Some may argue that he is simply afraid of people he can’t relate with, but it is evident that he merely feels a familiar bond with those he can relate with. This is also apparent in the poem “Capital Punishment,” when the cook feels sympathy for the Indian killer. Therefore, the story simply exemplifies the family bond Native Americans feel toward each other due to the prejudice that they feel from peoples of other races, and not a fear of people from other races.

    Read More

More about American Horse by Louise Erdrich

Open Document