THEMES & IDEAS INTRODUCED
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Importance of family
Abusing power
Family
feuds/disagreements
Loyalty
Racism
Prejudice/discrimination
Guilt
Truth/lies/secrecy
Justice/injustice
Sexual harassment
Bravery
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Innocence
Growing
up/adolescence
Murder
Suicide
Deceit
Trust
Oppression
Favouritism
Opinions
Law and order
Responsibility
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pick out an idea/theme
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Find the visual starter that you think BEST relates to your idea/theme.
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Find the quote page that relates to your theme/idea.
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Write a brief summary of HOW each quote (or as many as you can understand!)
relates to “Montana 1948”. Be specific. Think about characters and events in
the text.
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On an A2 piece of paper collate all your ideas. Also include a brief summary of
your theme/idea:
WHY is this idea important to our understanding of the text?
 Is there a particular character that embodies/represents this idea?
 Find a quote from the text that relates in some way to your chosen idea/theme.
 Think of another object/symbol/illustration that depicts your chosen idea/theme.
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Putting it all together: present all your information on the page. Try to
include as much as possible.
 Characters
in the novel find themselves torn
between finding and accepting the truth, and
then doing what is right.
 Truth
and justice, and acting with moral
integrity, present choices for the characters
in Montana 1948. Each deals with his/her
own conscience in making these decisions.
 At
first it is difficult for Wes to believe that
Marie is telling the truth about his brother.
 However,
when Marie explains what has
happened to him. He decides to look further
to see what damage has been done by his
brother. His worst fears are confirmed, and,
even though he would like to do nothing,
Gail urges him on – for justice sake.
 Julian
sees the truth differently again. Truth
is what you make it and how you interpret it
for your own use. It is not truth if the most
powerful man in the County says that it is
not. And, where the Indians are concerned,
there is no truth in what they say if it
concerns a white man. How could it be the
truth for his war-hero, respected doctor son?
 Wes
wonders when Marie accuses Frank of
assault, whether she is telling the truth or
simply misinterpreting what happened. When
Wes learns the truth of Frank’s activities and
discusses it with him, Frank agrees to stop.
Story closed. But when Marie is murdered,
then the truth of Frank’s actions must be
dealt with. Wes is in a quandary at first and
takes not action, but when the law is
definitely broken, he cannot ignore the truth
and must take action. All along Gail insists
that Wes acts on the truth of the situation.
 Wes
finds it very difficult to choose between
family and justice, however, knows that
justice must be served if he is to live with
himself.
 Julian
does not hesitate in choosing between
justice and his favourite son. He feels that
he has the power to decide what is just and
what is not. He does not see the law the
way Wes sees it.
Indians are discriminated against:
 Marie
has a room by the kitchen instead of
the empty bedroom upstairs
 Ronnie isn’t good enough to get a college
sport scholarship, but good enough for the
army and war
 Frank has a liking for ‘red meat’, and this is
seen as a joke rather than as offensive or
racist.
Gail is the one person in the novel who
maintains the moral ground throughout.
 She doesn’t let go and take the wasy way out
when she learns of Frank’s crimes.
 She is the moral fibre that holds Wes
together when he begins to waiver.
 She is willing to protect her family and
justice when she waves a shotgun at Julian’s
men as they come to get Frank.
 We
wonder whether justice is served at the
end of the story with the family feud.
 Frank committed suicide to save his
reputation, however, Wes and his family are
left behind to deal with the reality of Frank’s
actions. They are ostracised by the rest of
the family, forced to leave their home and
Wes’ job as sheriff.
 The real culprit has died and has been buried
with all the honour that a hero would
command.
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Is it better to keep your mouth shut when you know the truth will hurt?
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When do you have to speak out against evil?
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Does justice mean jeopardising your family and future?
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Does power and influence wash you of your crime?
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Should we ignore our moral obligation for a more convenient and easier life?
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Is doing ‘the right thing’ the right thing after all?
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How much does what other people think matter?
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Is it worth it?
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Look at history – are people who stand up for what they believe in rewarded for
their efforts, or crucified by the crowd?
 There
are the weak and there are the strong.
There are the victims and there are the
perpetrators. There are the oppressed and
the oppressors. There are always going to be
people who wield power over those who are
powerless.
Julian is a very powerful man in the text.
People do what he says. No one opposes him.
That’s how he established the Hayden dynasty.
 Many people became his victims, even his own
family. His son Wes wouldn’t even consider
saying no when offered the job of sheriff.
 Julian is the epitome of the tough, wild west
cowboy. He is rude, coarse and physically
overbearing. He treats the Indians with
complete bigotry and thinks nothing of it.
 He sees himself as superior to most other
people. He sees women as the weaker sex, and
believes that they need to be protected and told
what to do.
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 Frank
sees himself as superior and takes
advantage of others.
 He molests and abuses Indian women
because there is no one there to stop him,
and he believes that he is above the law.
 He exploits the powerless – Indians, women
and children.
 Watson
uses the story to create a picture of
the poor underclass in the American Indians,
they were confined to a Reservation and had
little or no power. They were ruled by the
white man who told them what they could
and couldn’t do. Even Wes didn’t like them
because they were ‘ignorant, lazy,
superstitious and irresponsible’. He wouldn’t
let his son wear moccasins. They were
poorly educated and easily made the victims
by anyone with even the smallest amount of
power.
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Women are also an oppressed group. In 1948
women were only beginning to develop their
status in society and take control.
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Gail is a person who is on the cutting edge. She
works (very few women/mothers did), and takes
positive and protective action for her family.
She tries to protect Marie and the other women
who Frank has hurt by insisting that Frank be
brought to account. But she is only one.
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Grandma Hayden is weak – she does not stand up
to her husband (but she does keep in touch with
her son when the rest of her family will have
nothing to do with him).
 Gloria
takes a background role, even when
Frank is accused of sexual abuse and then
murder. Her only response to this is to run to
Julian for help.
 Finally, there are all the Indian women Frank
abused. Frank’s preference for Indian
women is well known and accepted as an
idiosyncrasy. Who cares? They are only
Indians and women. They are powerless to
do anything about it and suffer as a result.
 This
novel gives us this view of power and
oppression, however unpalatable it is. Our
world is not perfect, and this story is just a
reminder to us that the strong can dominate
the weak and the powerful can rule over the
powerless. It speaks of the reality of life,
and the decisions and choices people make
when in control.
This novel is built around the Hayden family, a
strong, powerful family, both in the
community, and in the family unit.
 Julian rules the family like he rules Mercer
County, selfishly and with a firm hand.
 Wes would have never thought to say no to
the position of sheriff when his father
offered it to him.
 The Hayden family worded well as a family
unit – as long as everyone did what Julian
wanted. He was tough and rugged, a true
patriarch.
 He
held the family together, allowing his sons
to be wild in their youth and figures of
responsibility as adults.
 He tries to protect his hero son (Frank) from
his obviously deranged brother (Wes), whose
badge and uniform has taken his sense of
loyalty to his family.
 He doesn’t demonstrate responsibility to his
family, he controls it, expecting his children
to obey and succumb to his wishes.
This family unit is strong.
 Wes and gail as a separate unit work together to
do what is right and teach David right from
wrong.
 Wes lets David be the little cowboy and allows
him space to be a boy, while Gasil protects him
from all diseases and tries to have a civilising
effect on him to keep him from going wild.
 David grows up to be a good person (even after
the trauma of his twelfth summer) because he
had the support and love of his parents and
family.
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Wes is torn between doing the right thing and being
loyal to his family.
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At several times in the novel he is willing to ‘let
things go’. E.g. when Frank agrees to stop molesting
the Indian women. This will maintain the family
peace and give him peace of mind. He owes a lot to
his brother and doesn’t want to hurt anyone. He
would like to be his father – tough and a cowboy as
we say in Minneapolis in the restaurant with ‘the
Hayden boys and their old man’, yet his conscience
will not let him. He knows right from wrong and
even his loyalty to his family cannot change that. We
have to respect Wes in his fight for justice because
he suffers in losing his family as he follows the law
and his conscience.
David was allowed to be a child, given space to
start the difficult road to adulthood.
 He learns most of the story about his Uncle
Frank from eavesdropping. He longs to be
brought into the picture by his parents, and,
when he finally is, behaves more like a child.
 Sees things the way a twelve-year-old see things.
He wants to kill Uncle Frank by the river, he
thinks all the families problems are solved when
Uncle Frank commits suicide, he regrets leaving
Bentrock, not because he will miss it, but
because he has to go with his parents. He lacks
the understanding of an adult.
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 David
was forced to leave his childhood
behind as he found out about Uncle Frank’s
actions. He was thrust into adulthood by
having the information about Uncle Frank,
not fully understanding what it meant, and
not being able to discuss it or relieve any of
his own pain with others because they didn’t
know that he knew. Even though David was
in a loving, protective family environment,
his rite of passage was lonely and almost
self-destroying.
 Len
knew “when to look and when to look
away”. Why is it so difficult for Wes Hayden
to do this?
 David
says “now I could unburden myself”.
Does David ever let go of his burdens?
 David
states “I wanted to be included…I
wanted adult status”. Was he really ready to
be considered an adult?
 Julian
states that “Frank’s always been
partial to red meat”. How is this statement
indicative to people’s feelings towards the
Indians?
 Julian
says to Wes “Ever since Frank came
home in a uniform and you stayed here,
you’ve been jealous”. Was Wes really
jealous of Frank?
 After
Frank confesses, Wes states to Gail, “I
can’t let him loose. Not and live with
myself”. At this point in the novel, there can
only be tragedy for the Haydens. Discuss.
 David
believes “that Uncle Frank’s suicide
had solved all our problems”. How wrong
was he?
 Marie
says to David in speaking about Ollie
Young Bear “He won’t be happy until he’s
white”. What did she mean?