An Examination of Black Elk's
In the short story "High Horse's Courting", Black Elk writes about the hardships a young Sioux man, like himself, would have to do when trying to get the woman that he loved. Black Elk uses many different objects to help guide the reader through the story which help keep the readers interest, give us perspective into another society, and allow a glimpse into his life.The story is many times comical and outlandish do to the ridiculous measures that the main character, High Horse, goes through to try to win the heart of the girl in which he wants to marry. Although much of the story is meant to be humorous, Black Elk is not ridiculing the young boy. On the cuantrary, in the first paragraph Black Elk puts himself in the young mans place and agrees that if he himself was in that position that he would do everything in his power to receive the hand of the young maiden. Black Elk makes it quite clear that he admires the bravery that the boy showed in his quest to steal the girl away and make her his own. The reader also senses some sympathy from Bla
From there He goes on to explain the antics of High Horse in his village. With a little help from his close friend Red Deer, High Horse causes commotion while trying to win the heart of the young woman. Black Elk puts the character High Horse through an assortment of challenges that seem to be in vein. Though the tasks may not have originated with Black Elk, the reader often gets the feeling that he has gone through similar, if not the same, experience through the in depth descriptions. In the story Black Elk also describes the parents of the young woman. Though he does not give physical descriptions, he does give an account of how they feel for the young woman, and how he sees them. The father is first described as a stubborn man when in paragraph six and seven he would not take the horses in which High Horse was trying to trade for his doughtier.(221) The Father did this again when High Horse came again with a doubled offer. So the reader gets a sense of the overprotective father, and in a sense that notion is correct. It is later revealed that the father was looking for someone that would be brave enough to do
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 761
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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