blog #5

The book The Heartsong of Charging Elk, to me represents the innerness and changing view of how people of different cultures interact. This book presents itself in a way that not only captures the true meaning of identity, but allows the reader to actually feel what the characters are going through in the novel. The character of Charging Elk struggles when he is left behind in France by his traveling show and is confined to a hospital due to influenza. He is then taken prisoner in the country and is forced to live a life outside of his culture. He is thrown into a situation that is not familiar to him and ends up meeting a prostitute and has an affair with her. He also gets wrapped up in a murder scandal and is thrown in jail. His life is everything but normal and he himself gets lost in himself and cannot seem to find who he is. This story has some unusual turn of events, but it kept me wanting to read further. I have never read a book by James Welch but found his writing to be interesting. His characterization in each character has a unique style to them. I have not read a lot about the different tribes that settled in South Dakota so it was a learning experience to read about them. The setting of the novel sets the tone for the story and South Dakota is the ideal place for the western- mid American culture. I don’t think this book could’ve been written in another setting. In the book it is interesting to see references to Crazy Horse which is now a main culture identifier of South Dakota. I have visited Crazy Horse and found it to be fascinating. I think it is important, especially for the people that live in South Dakota to know where their roots came from and how this land was brought to be. Tapping into periods of time that not many cross the minds of people now, it is fascinating to look at. Having lived in South Dakota my whole life, growing up I didn’t appreciate the history and culture, but now as Im learning and reading more about it inside and out of school, the appreciation has grown. The beginning of the book gave a lot of background to the story and it was easier to read. There were a lot of characters to keep track of and remember, but each had their trait that were memorable.