A Man Called Horse

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 12th grade February 2008

download word file, 1 pages 0.0

Downloaded 16 times

"A Man Called Horse," by Dorothy M. Johnson is set in the Crow Indian territory, in the western half of the United States. The story ranges from June of 1845 to June of 1846, happening primarily in the summer months. Summer out west is a scorching, sweltering, sweat filled period; on the other hand, winter is a frostier than a tennis ball drenched in liquid nitrogen, so you can imagine how our character from Boston felt.

At first trying to relate to the Indians was a challenging task. They spoke the Crow dialect, and did not seem too apt to learn English, but as time wore on the words became more and more familiar to Horse, and eventually he could speak the language.

The odor of grease hung over the camp like a cloud. Horse was less than thrilled when he had to rub it on his body, which was bruised and sun-seared (p.121,

c.1, p.7). At this point he would do anything to be their equal, but he was not, yet. Horse had to fight with dogs, on the ground, over rancid meat. When winter came, people died off with pneumonia. Winter also provided a challenge for Horse, because this was when he was going to escape. He lacked the ability, though; for escape, he would need at least a horse, without one they would surely find him.

The night when Yellow Robe came home with the bearskin belt, added a certain panic and nervousness to the atmosphere. Wearing the bearskin belt meant that he could never retreat from battle and would not be safe. Greasy Hand and Pretty Calf were upset about this. The day that Yellow Robe died brought great tragedy to the camp, and a down beat mood. A series of tragedies followed: Pretty...