The Reality of Residential Schools

Even though this is a fiction book, there is lots of truth in these pages. Children of residential schools have been through experiences that none of the people my age will ever be able to understand. The character Elijah Whiskeyjack grew up and spent most of his childhood in one of these schools. Although ran by a church, they were never very virtuous or holy. His mother died when he was very young and did not want to believe she was truly gone. To make grieving easier, he would speak as though she was still with him. Elijah would have conversation as if she was standing in front of him. Instead of trying to help a child in need of a parent, the nuns would paddle and whip him until he would stop; leaving physical and emotional scars. (332) This would not be an isolated case. Abuse like this was so common, it makes me not only sad and upset but extremely frustrated. These people are people of God, they should help the hurting, fix the broken, and save the damned. That's the whole idea of religion not? To be a better person, selflessness and honesty. But, to turn your back or punish the innocent is to turn your back on the true meaning of your religion. No matter what religion you are, Christan, Buddhist, Islamic, or Hindu, what these people did to children was a sin in itself. They thought they were making these children right where in actuality they were making their own selves wrong.