“As Long as the Rivers Flow” 180-240
Overall I can definitely say that I enjoyed my novel. I found it easy to read and the plot was always moving along, introducing new events to keep me intrigued. The novel talked about many deep subjects such as sexual asault, rape, suicide, alcoholism and depression. Although I found it sad and hard to read at some points, the author did a good job at explaining the root of these causes. After reading it I feel like I have a much greater depth in my knowledge on First Nations people. The theme I feel that is most prominent in my novel is that challenges can only be overcome by the act of forgiveness. This theme is recurring and applies to many of the characters. For example, Martha had betrayed Raven and Spider when they were babies, leaving them to grow up without their real mother. At first they both expressed anger towards Martha but as time went on they understood that in order to be happy in their new life they had to forgive Martha. Then there was Martha who was sexually assaulted by Father Antoine, leaving her broken for the rest of her life. At the end of the novel she finally meets him at a healing circle. Father Antoine is not willing to admit to his years of wrongdoings, however Martha along with other families forgave him. They had to forgive him so that they themselves could let go of the past. I can relate with the theme since I see this happening all around me everyday. A good example is that my friend and I both got in a very big argument one day and she refused to apologize thinking that she was not in the wrong. I spent a few days fighting back, telling her my side. I knew that the only way for us to work through it was for me to forgive her and move on because the truth is you can’t change someone who doesn’t see any wrong in what they are doing. A text to world connection with this novel would be that Martha’s story is very similar to many other Residential School survivors in Canada. All the events that happened in the novel are based off of real life history. Many children were sexually assaulted in residential schools leaving them permanently damaged for the rest of their lives.
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June 2020
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