Indian Horse

by

Richard Wagamese

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Indian Horse makes teaching easy.
The youngest son of Fred Kelly and Martha Kelly, Virgil is Saul Indian Horse’s closest friend in the novel. A confident, friendly, matter-of-fact teenager when Saul meets him, he encourages the much younger Saul to play on the hockey team (of which he, Virgil, is the captain), and eventually becomes Saul’s main confidant. Years later, when Virgil is reunited with Saul, he’s angry that Saul left town so suddenly, but he also understands some of what Saul has gone through. He is, in short, a true friend: someone who continues to love and respect Saul, “warts and all.”

Virgil Quotes in Indian Horse

The Indian Horse quotes below are all either spoken by Virgil or refer to Virgil. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family and Tradition Theme Icon
).
Chapter 36 Quotes

"My dad never talks about the school," he said. "Mom neither. And they don't say anything about what happened before that. Maybe someone just gave you a chance to rub the shit off the board once and for all."

Related Characters: Virgil (speaker)
Related Symbols: Hockey
Page Number: 157
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 55 Quotes

"Did you want to hunt that fucker down? Make him feel some of the same pain?" Virgil asked. He still couldn't turn away from looking at the ice.
'At first, yeah. Then, the more we got into it at the centre the more I realized it was more than just him. I'd be hunting a long time if I lashed out at everyone. In the end, I learned the only one I could take care of was me."

Related Characters: Saul Indian Horse (speaker), Virgil (speaker), Father Gaston Leboutilier
Page Number: 217
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 56 Quotes

"Even up here in the sticks, we like to use a hockey puck to play hockey," Virgil said and pushed out onto the ice.
"Old habits," I said when he reached me. "New days," he said.
"The guys here?"
"Them and more," he said.

Related Characters: Saul Indian Horse (speaker), Virgil (speaker)
Related Symbols: Hockey
Page Number: 220
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Indian Horse LitChart as a printable PDF.
Indian Horse PDF

Virgil Quotes in Indian Horse

The Indian Horse quotes below are all either spoken by Virgil or refer to Virgil. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family and Tradition Theme Icon
).
Chapter 36 Quotes

"My dad never talks about the school," he said. "Mom neither. And they don't say anything about what happened before that. Maybe someone just gave you a chance to rub the shit off the board once and for all."

Related Characters: Virgil (speaker)
Related Symbols: Hockey
Page Number: 157
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 55 Quotes

"Did you want to hunt that fucker down? Make him feel some of the same pain?" Virgil asked. He still couldn't turn away from looking at the ice.
'At first, yeah. Then, the more we got into it at the centre the more I realized it was more than just him. I'd be hunting a long time if I lashed out at everyone. In the end, I learned the only one I could take care of was me."

Related Characters: Saul Indian Horse (speaker), Virgil (speaker), Father Gaston Leboutilier
Page Number: 217
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 56 Quotes

"Even up here in the sticks, we like to use a hockey puck to play hockey," Virgil said and pushed out onto the ice.
"Old habits," I said when he reached me. "New days," he said.
"The guys here?"
"Them and more," he said.

Related Characters: Saul Indian Horse (speaker), Virgil (speaker)
Related Symbols: Hockey
Page Number: 220
Explanation and Analysis: