Winter in the Blood facts for kids
First edition
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| Author | James Welch |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Published | 1974 Harper & Row |
| Media type | Hardcover, paperback, ebook |
Winter in the Blood is the very first novel written by James Welch. It came out in 1974. The story takes place on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana during the late 1960s. The book is about a young man from the Blackfeet and Gros Ventre (A'aninin) tribes who is trying to understand who he is. Many famous writers, like Louise Erdrich and Sherman Alexie, have praised this book. Sherman Alexie later helped turn the novel into a movie in 2012.
Contents
Story of Winter in the Blood
The novel follows a main character who is not named and is going through a tough time. After an argument, his girlfriend, Agnes, leaves with his electric razor and a gun. The narrator decides to travel to Malta, Montana to find her.
In Malta, he meets a man from New York who is called the "Airplane Man." The narrator meets him again in Havre, Montana. The Airplane Man wants the narrator to take him to Calgary to escape the FBI. While the Airplane Man buys some things, the narrator sees Agnes and her brother, Dougie. Later, the narrator finds Agnes in a bar, but Dougie and his friends hurt him. As he leaves, the narrator sees the Airplane Man being arrested.
The narrator then hitchhikes back home. He finds out that his grandmother has passed away. The next day, he, Teresa, and Lame Bull dig a grave for her. While digging, the narrator remembers a sad event from his past. He recalls when he and his brother, Mose, were herding cattle, and Mose died.
After the grave is ready, the narrator visits Yellow Calf. Yellow Calf tells him stories about the narrator's grandmother. She was the youngest wife of Sitting Bear, a Blackfeet leader. Yellow Calf helped her survive after her tribe turned against her. The narrator then realizes that Yellow Calf is his grandfather. The next day, the narrator, Teresa, and Lame Bull bury his grandmother. He thinks about his future and decides to try and fix things with Agnes.
Main Characters in the Story
- The Narrator: This is the main character, but he is never named. He lives with his mother and grandmother. He feels disconnected from his family history. He also carries sadness from the deaths of his father and older brother.
- First Raise: He was the narrator's father. He passed away from freezing. The narrator's connection to Fort Belknap comes from him.
- Teresa: She is the narrator's mother. She is from the Blackfeet tribe and is Catholic. She is married to Lame Bull after her first husband, John First Raise, died. Teresa owns the ranch and has a lot of land and cattle.
- Airplane Man: A white man from New York. The narrator meets him after leaving Fort Belknap. This character shows the "white" world that the narrator is part of, but also feels separate from.
- Agnes: She is the narrator's girlfriend. She is a Cree woman. The narrator's grandmother does not like Agnes because she is Cree. Agnes's actions, like taking the narrator's gun, start his journey.
- Mose: He was the narrator's older brother. Mose died at age fourteen after being hit by a car while herding cattle.
- Yellow Calf: An old, blind man from the Blackfeet tribe. The narrator meets him after his grandmother's burial. Yellow Calf helped the narrator's grandmother survive when she was young. The narrator learns that Yellow Calf is his grandfather.
- The Grandmother: An old Blackfeet woman and the narrator's grandmother. She is blind and does not speak much in the story. She dislikes Agnes because she is Cree. She passes away before the narrator returns home.
Where the Story Takes Place
The novel is set on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation and along the Hi-Line in Montana. The narrator visits different cities in Montana. He starts at Fort Belknap, then travels north to Malta, and west to Havre. He moves between different places, which shows how he feels about his own identity. Author Paula Gunn Allen says that using different settings like this often shows how people feel disconnected in Native American stories.
Important Ideas and Themes
Feeling Disconnected
In the 1970s and 1980s, many more books by Indigenous authors were published. This time is called the Native American Renaissance. A common idea in these new stories was feeling disconnected or "alienated." Paula Gunn Allen explains that this feeling is common for many American Indians who live between two cultures. The narrator in Winter in the Blood feels this way because he doesn't have a clear sense of belonging to a group, a tradition, or a culture. This makes him feel very confused about himself.
Confused Identity
Random House points out that the author, James Welch, doesn't name the narrator to show how disconnected he feels from his family and the world. The narrator says he feels "nothing but a distance." He often relives old memories. Paula Gunn Allen says the narrator is so out of touch with himself that his memories of his dead brother and father mean more to him than his current relationships. He feels lost in a life that seems to have no clear purpose.
Andrew Horton suggests that the narrator feels split between two ways of seeing the world. This might be why he is never named and why the story jumps around in time. Welch said he wanted the story to feel like a circle, coming back to where it started. The narrator's relationships with other characters also show these different realities. Kathleen M. Sands describes the narrator as someone who struggles in relationships and with his surroundings. This is because he has lost the understanding of who he is and where he comes from.
Finding a Way Forward
Paula Gunn Allen notes that the narrator carries physical and emotional pain from the deaths of his brother and father. Louis Owens writes that without a clear identity, the narrator feels stuck. He slowly moves toward understanding himself. As he travels to find Agnes, the narrator begins a journey of healing. Owens says that after a brief moment of feeling alive, the narrator starts to remember the events leading to his brother's death. He also relives memories of his father.
The narrator's statement, "It was beginning to get light," suggests he is starting to heal. The story shows a pattern where difficult moments lead to moments of reflection and recovery. His final moment of healing happens during his talk with Yellow Calf. This conversation is sparked by memories of past events. Owens says that the narrator's new beginning comes when he realizes how pleasant it is to feel distant in a summer storm.
Fitting In
Jennifer Kay Davis looks at how the changing settings in Winter in the Blood relate to the themes of fitting in and identity. The novel explores these ideas through the narrator's journey to rediscover his Blackfeet heritage. Davis explains that this novel is different from other Native American stories where the main character simply goes back to their native culture. Instead, this story shows the narrator moving between fitting in and feeling disconnected. It's important for the characters to feel like they belong to the culture they choose.
Movie Version
Winter in the Blood was made into a movie in 2012. The screenplay was written by Ken White. Sherman Alexie, a Native American author, helped produce the film with brothers Alex and Andrew Smith. The movie was chosen for several film festivals in 2013, including those in Los Angeles, Austin, and the American Indian film festivals.
