Well, I've wondered about that. Isn't it odd that black Americans have a comparatively low suicide rate, whereas native Americans have a sky-high one?
I have wondered if maybe at least some suicides are about a disconnect between what you're actually able to do, and what people expect of you.
It's obviously bad if people hate you and expect no good to come of you. But there's an additional horror when you're given an impossible task, and people expect you to do it - indeed, when they're actually genuinely disappointed in you when you can't. It's like in Kafka's "The transformation": the real horror isn't that Samsa wakes up and finds that he's turned into a giant cockroach. It's his family's reaction: how could you do this to us? How could you put us in this situation?
I'm thinking maybe that stereotypical image of the noble, brave Indian with his great wisdom, connection to nature, unbreakable spirit - something you'd want to live up to, who wouldn't? - is especially cruel in the face of the material realities of first nation communities.
I have wondered if maybe at least some suicides are about a disconnect between what you're actually able to do, and what people expect of you.
It's obviously bad if people hate you and expect no good to come of you. But there's an additional horror when you're given an impossible task, and people expect you to do it - indeed, when they're actually genuinely disappointed in you when you can't. It's like in Kafka's "The transformation": the real horror isn't that Samsa wakes up and finds that he's turned into a giant cockroach. It's his family's reaction: how could you do this to us? How could you put us in this situation?
I'm thinking maybe that stereotypical image of the noble, brave Indian with his great wisdom, connection to nature, unbreakable spirit - something you'd want to live up to, who wouldn't? - is especially cruel in the face of the material realities of first nation communities.