Reading Notes Part B: Great Plains: The Indian Who Wrestled The Ghost

This story was definitely more different than I thought it was going to be.  When I came upon this story, I thought it was going to be about a person who had to wrestle a ghost to survive but man was I wrong.  I did enjoy the plot twist that there were a couple of ghosts the main character came upon and not just one.  When they introduced the old woman and she pulled out a knife I was wondering if that was who was going to have to wrestle but alas, I was wrong.  it was kind of a pity that when our hero sprang to action she just ran away.  I was under the impression that ghosts were supposed to be scary haunting people not skittish.  Anyway, when the next ghost came out, I finally got the wrestling match the title promised.  It was definitely underwhelming.  The action was not very plentiful, the young man was constantly losing and only when the sun came up did, he wins.  I was under the impression that ghosts were not super strong so why was the man struggling. Also, why did the young man have to wrestle to ghost to ensure that he defeated his enemy? Is the ghost saying that if they did not wrestle that the young man we have been following would die after fighting his enemy? When it says at the end the man stole some horses it made me wonder if this man was even good because a good person/hero does not steal.  Overall, I enjoyed the story and it was a good read, but it was lacking and confusing.

Ghost Dance. (1891)

James Boyd. Source: Wikipedia

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Great Plains: The Indian Who Wrestled The Ghost. Great Plains: The Indian Who Wrestled The Ghost.