Commentary on Winter In The Blood Essay

Winter in The Blood, the first novel written by James Welch, takes place mostly on an Indian Reservation in Montana. It is narrated by an unnamed man, who also serves as the protagonist in the story. We do know he is a 32 year old Blackfoot Native American. He resides on a cattle ranch with his mother and step-father, and is at a crossroads in his life. He, at first, lacks any affection for himself or his family, and lacks any motivation or direction in his life. However, a common theme of Winter in the Blood is redemption, and change, and a belief that we all control our destiny, and quickly we find ourselves rooting for the narrator, in his quest to find himself. Its a coming-of-age story, where our protagonist goes through a transformation of self, and in the process we all learn a little about our own personal journeys in life. My favorite novels do this. They pull us in to the story, place us inside our heros shoes, and inspire us to find true meaning in our own lives.

The narrator starts off detached. His is in a zombie-like emotional state, unable to feel any emotions for his family, friends, or loved ones. This would probably be characterized by a professional as low-level depression. The narrator poignantly describes this in chapter 1, which sets the tone for the novel. I felt no hatred, no love, no guilt, no conscience, nothing but a distance that had grown throughout the years (pg 2).

As a Native American, culturally, our narrator is part of a minority group that is oppressed by the dominating culture. But he also runs into problems with his own people as well. Winter in The Blood shies away from dealing with the struggles of Native Americans against the dominating culture for the most part and instead focuses squarely on our narrators problems as he navigates himself throughout his journey. I think this also separates Winter in The Blood from other novels about the struggles of the Native American people in America. It also adds a real quality to the narrator, bringing him closer. We feel his problems, his challenges, are our problems too. We become enveloped inside our protagonist and begin to root for him.

Breaking through the dark, bleak mood of the novel our narrator finds a ray of hope. It comes when Yellow Calf, in telling the story of himself and the narrator's grandmother, vaguely hints that he is the narrator's true grandfather. This is a moment of revelation for the narrator because up to that point, he has believed that Doagie was his grandfather. And then it came to me, as though it were riding one moment of the gusting wind, as though Bird had it in him all the time and had passed it to me in that one instant of corruption (pg 124). Discovering an important fact about his true origins re-connects him to his family and perhaps also to his Indian cultural heritage, represented by the wise old Yellow Calf.

Winter in The Blood is about survival, meaning, and finding oneself. His grandmother was saved by his grandfather during a bleak winter time. This story, this secret, is his lifeblood, where he came from. The winter, in his blood. Reconnecting with his family tree has given him meaning, a sense of purpose in his life, perhaps direction.

I liked the idea of connecting with ones past and I really enjoyed this novel as a whole. My only criticism for it was leaving the narrator unnamed. The author went to great lengths to personalize his struggles, his family roots, and lack thereof, yet choose to leave him unnamed. Perhaps the author choose to leave him unnamed to prove a point that the Native People find meaning through earthly things and family, and name recognition means little. I enjoyed how the author chooses to discuss the narrators lifelong relationship with his horse. The Native People view themselves on a parallel plane with the earth and the creatures that inhabit it. Horse and human mind seem to come together in one stunning moment of secret communication and understanding. In all, Winter in The Blood was my favorite piece of work that we reviewed this semester, and I felt a great connection with the narrator and his journey to find himself.