Winter in the Blood, a Native American novel written by James Welch, takes place on a cattle ranch in Montana, around 1970. On the surface, this is a story of a Blackfoot Indian sleepwalking through his life, tormented by visions, in search of a connection to his heritage. Welch"s language is, at once, blunt and poetic, and the pictures it conjures are dreamlike and disquieting. Furthermore, the narrator of the novel is disheartened by the loss of his brother, Mose, and his father, First Raise – the two most cherished people in his life. After struggling with guilt, sorrow, and alcoholism, the narrator overcomes these down falls through re-identifying with himself and his culture– specifically through the help of his grandfather, Yellow Calf.

             In the opening line of the novel, the narrator provides a vivid description of the his decaying surroundings:.

             "In the tall weeds of the borrow pit, I took a leak and watched the sorrel mare, her .

             colt beside her, walk through burnt grass to the shady side of the long-and-mud.

             cabin . . . . The roof had fallen in and the mud between the logs had fallen out in .

             chunks, leaving a bare gray skeleton, home only to mice and insects. .

             Tumbleweeds, stark as bone, rocked in a hot wind against the west wall (1).".

             Welch opens the story with this line to show a relationship between the narrator"s feelings of worthlessness and the worthlessness of his environment. In addition, the author melodically begins the novel in a somber manner – so the reader may immediately adjust to the tone encompassing the story. .

             The narrator continues with describing his resentment towards his home life, "Coming home was not easy anymore. It was never a cinch, but it had become a torture (2)." This excerpt provides the reader with an understanding of the sorrow that the protagonist feels at the beginning of the novel and throughout the first half.