“In Search of April Raintree” by Beatrice Culleton is truly a touching story that has taken my mind on an emotional journey.
Each bit of the story influenced me to think and understand with a more open-minded perspective on the Métis. The harrowing ending that has brought tears in my eyes had the most impact on my mind. After reading this novel, I feel sincere gratitude for having the easy life that I have for granted compared to all the Métis teenagers in the past. The turnout of the central irony, which leads to April’s final realization of her true identity through Cheryl’s death, successfully ends the search of April Raintree.
(Monsioner 189-207) Chapter 16-17 Cheryl does not come home for weeks so April decides to look for her with the help of Roger. Finding Cheryl seems hopeless but April gets a phone call from Nancy who used to work with Cheryl. Nancy tells April that Cheryl has been staying in her house, but Nancy is worried since Cheryl has just left suddenly. When April arrives at Nancy’s house, Nancy and her mother tell April that Cheryl might be planning on doing something very irrational. April then remembers that her mother jumped off the Louise Bridge to commit suicide. April fears that Cheryl might be having the same intention, and quickly goes to the bridge. Unfortunately, Cheryl commits suicide just like her mother, and April arrives there too late to stop her (Mosioner 190). After the funeral, while April is cleaning Cheryl’s room, she finds a whisky bottle.
She furiously blames it for the death of her sister, and shatters it to the floor (Mosioner 194). When she has calmed down, she reads through Cheryl’s journal (Mosioner 195). She finds out that Cheryl has actually found their father. However, he was a pathetic alcoholic. Furthermore, April finds out that Cheryl has left her son for April to take care of at Nancy’s house. In the end, April gladly takes the baby from Nancy’s family. Everytime April looks at Henry Lee, she sees her sister Cheryl. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
” Lau Tzu. another quote Cheryl had said is “All life dies to give new life.” this quote is intended to april as Cheryl died and a new life has just begun for April and Cheryl’s son Henry Lee.
Mrs. Raintree and Mrs. DeRosier were two mother figures that had a negative influence on April’s identity. Mrs. Raintree was an alcoholic and had parties that became violent. “It seemed to me that after the welfare cheque days, came the medicine days.
” (Mosioner 2.) This quote indicates that the money that was meant to be spent to help April’s family was wasted on alcohol. April’s mother neglected both April and Cheryl because of drinking. This shapes April into becoming more independent by having to take care of herself and Cheryl.
April’s mother is a cause of why the girls were taken away to foster homes. April ends up being separated from Cheryl when she goes to live with the DeRosiers. Mrs. Derosier is a racist and is cruel to April. Mrs. DeRosier had said, “you half-breeds.
” (Mosioner 26) Mrs. DeRosier neglected April except for when she was needed to do chores. April was treated like a servant at the DeRosier’s household. Mrs. DeRosier would leave with her children and leave April to do all the chores.
“She left me instructions to wash the floors and clean the bathroom after I finished the breakfast dishes.” (Mosioner 29) Both April’s mother and Mrs. DeRosier helped shape April into being ashamed of being Metis.
She learned to hide her true feelings. I thought April Raintree was a very good book and it showed lots of different emotions and how people have to cope with all the problems that life throws at them. I really liked all the twists and turns that was shown in this book and how the two sisters relationship changed throughout the story. This book gave me a better understanding of how some people live in the world and how lucky i am to have the life that i do.
I felt sorry for both April and Cheryl in some parts of the book because of everything that they were having to deal with as young kids and how strong that they had to be to overcome those challenges. I would recommend this to anyone because it gives people a good perspective of how other people live and that you shouldn’t take for granted everything that you have in your life.
