Boekverslag: Black Robe
?Never trust a Savage!?
About a 400 hundred years ago, there was a time when the French laid claim to everything, but in truth the Canadian wilderness belonged to the natives. The Jesuits saw the Savages (as they called them) as souls to be saved. The natives saw the Black Robes (as they called them) as destroyers, threatening the gods and sorceries by which their lives were ordered. Out of that conflict between two cultures, two worlds, Moore fashioned a captivating novel.
Father Laforgue is sent on a mission to convert the Hurons, ?Savages?. A whole group of Algonquins (allied Savages) is sent along to guide him through the wilderness and dangerous Savages. Not convinced of the good intentions of the Jesuits, the Savages kept doubting. Daniel falls in love with Annuka, a Savage girl. When the Algonquins leave the Black Robe and Daniel because of a dream, Father Laforgue travels on alone. Daniel went after them, because he couldn?t leave Annuka. The next day Chomina, Annuka?s father, decides that he and his family will travel with Father Laforgue. When they tried to reach him, they were captured by mean Savages. Annuka?s brother and mother are killed and the other three battered. They escaped and continued their mission. On the way Chomina dies and as they reach the Hurons, they are not hearty welcomed. This Savages too, don?t trust the Black Robe, but after a fever epidemic they want to be baptised, because they think that will cure them. Mission accomplished.
The main character, Father Laforgue, is ?the good guy?. He is very short-sighted. He is a Jesuit and thinks everyone should believe in God and Jesus Christ. That?s his mission: to convert all the Savages. But he?s that naive, that he doesn?t see that these Savages have their own gods and belief. They don?t want to be converted. His mission, his only mission is doomed to fail. But Father Laforgue doesn?t give up, what may be could cost him his life.
There isn?t really a negative character, so I took the Savages as ?the bad guys?. Because the Algonquins aren?t still convinced of the good intentions of Laforgue, they left him in the middle of nowhere, knowing that he wouldn?t survive without their help. One of the women had a dream about Laforgue and therefore they did this. They still think Black Robe is a sorcerer and that he puts spells on them by making a cross with his hands. If they would have trusted Black Robe fully, this wouldn?t have happened. They?re very unpredictable. The Iroqouis, very mean Savages, tortured Black Robe and his group and killed the mother and brother of Annuka. I didn?t expect this. I thought these were good people, but they attacked immediately and, surprisingly for me, just killed the mother and brother without warning. I kept believing they weren?t dead and that I read it in the wrong way, but it was true. They just killed the boy, cut him into pieces and ate him.
The theme, the conflict between two cultures, is used many times, but every time in another setting and other circumstances. This story is an historical fact and, I think, something we should be ashamed of. The white men took everything as though it was theirs, but other people lived there for years. And we thought that ?our belief? was the best and everyone should believe in God and Jesus Christ, without any respect for those native beliefs.
The targetgroup of this novel is everyone, who is able to understand the circumstances, in which those native people lived. I think this starts at an age of 15, 16.
The message of this book is to reconsider our deeds (mentioned some lines ago). To see how short-sighted these French Jesuits were, thinking that they could convert the Savages and to show and warn that we don?t make such a mistake again.
Brian Moores style is very pleasant. It?s easy to read: no difficult constructions, you don?t have to read a sentence twice or thrice to understand it. But at the other side he doesn?t write too light-hearted about the horrible things happening in this novel. Only one time he surprised me, by letting die the mother and little brother. ?At once, a tall Savage, his head dyed red, his eyes horrid yellow circles, a strip of reddish fur hanging from a pigtail down his back, went up to Chomina?s little boy, took him by the hair and, with a gesture callous as though he killed a fowl, swiftly slit his throat. Blood gurgled forth from the child?s mouth.? I think he wrote this too easy. As though it?s about an animal. But he did this on purpose. To show the cruelty of these Savages.
I started a little too late with this book, but this week I was really captivated by this story. I had a certain deadline every day. But when I reached this deadline at some days, I couldn?t stop. That?s why I recommend this novel to other people.
My mark for this novel: an 8+.
About a 400 hundred years ago, there was a time when the French laid claim to everything, but in truth the Canadian wilderness belonged to the natives. The Jesuits saw the Savages (as they called them) as souls to be saved. The natives saw the Black Robes (as they called them) as destroyers, threatening the gods and sorceries by which their lives were ordered. Out of that conflict between two cultures, two worlds, Moore fashioned a captivating novel.
Father Laforgue is sent on a mission to convert the Hurons, ?Savages?. A whole group of Algonquins (allied Savages) is sent along to guide him through the wilderness and dangerous Savages. Not convinced of the good intentions of the Jesuits, the Savages kept doubting. Daniel falls in love with Annuka, a Savage girl. When the Algonquins leave the Black Robe and Daniel because of a dream, Father Laforgue travels on alone. Daniel went after them, because he couldn?t leave Annuka. The next day Chomina, Annuka?s father, decides that he and his family will travel with Father Laforgue. When they tried to reach him, they were captured by mean Savages. Annuka?s brother and mother are killed and the other three battered. They escaped and continued their mission. On the way Chomina dies and as they reach the Hurons, they are not hearty welcomed. This Savages too, don?t trust the Black Robe, but after a fever epidemic they want to be baptised, because they think that will cure them. Mission accomplished.
The main character, Father Laforgue, is ?the good guy?. He is very short-sighted. He is a Jesuit and thinks everyone should believe in God and Jesus Christ. That?s his mission: to convert all the Savages. But he?s that naive, that he doesn?t see that these Savages have their own gods and belief. They don?t want to be converted. His mission, his only mission is doomed to fail. But Father Laforgue doesn?t give up, what may be could cost him his life.
There isn?t really a negative character, so I took the Savages as ?the bad guys?. Because the Algonquins aren?t still convinced of the good intentions of Laforgue, they left him in the middle of nowhere, knowing that he wouldn?t survive without their help. One of the women had a dream about Laforgue and therefore they did this. They still think Black Robe is a sorcerer and that he puts spells on them by making a cross with his hands. If they would have trusted Black Robe fully, this wouldn?t have happened. They?re very unpredictable. The Iroqouis, very mean Savages, tortured Black Robe and his group and killed the mother and brother of Annuka. I didn?t expect this. I thought these were good people, but they attacked immediately and, surprisingly for me, just killed the mother and brother without warning. I kept believing they weren?t dead and that I read it in the wrong way, but it was true. They just killed the boy, cut him into pieces and ate him.
The theme, the conflict between two cultures, is used many times, but every time in another setting and other circumstances. This story is an historical fact and, I think, something we should be ashamed of. The white men took everything as though it was theirs, but other people lived there for years. And we thought that ?our belief? was the best and everyone should believe in God and Jesus Christ, without any respect for those native beliefs.
The targetgroup of this novel is everyone, who is able to understand the circumstances, in which those native people lived. I think this starts at an age of 15, 16.
The message of this book is to reconsider our deeds (mentioned some lines ago). To see how short-sighted these French Jesuits were, thinking that they could convert the Savages and to show and warn that we don?t make such a mistake again.
Brian Moores style is very pleasant. It?s easy to read: no difficult constructions, you don?t have to read a sentence twice or thrice to understand it. But at the other side he doesn?t write too light-hearted about the horrible things happening in this novel. Only one time he surprised me, by letting die the mother and little brother. ?At once, a tall Savage, his head dyed red, his eyes horrid yellow circles, a strip of reddish fur hanging from a pigtail down his back, went up to Chomina?s little boy, took him by the hair and, with a gesture callous as though he killed a fowl, swiftly slit his throat. Blood gurgled forth from the child?s mouth.? I think he wrote this too easy. As though it?s about an animal. But he did this on purpose. To show the cruelty of these Savages.
I started a little too late with this book, but this week I was really captivated by this story. I had a certain deadline every day. But when I reached this deadline at some days, I couldn?t stop. That?s why I recommend this novel to other people.
My mark for this novel: an 8+.
Brian Moore is een Iers schrijver.
Boek informatie
- Black Robe
- Brian Moore
- Nederlands
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