Dorothy M. Johnson's short story "A Man Called Horse" transgresses some of the conventions of the classic western genre. In this sense, Johnson's text can be read as a “revisionist Western,” insofar as Johnson does not merely adhere to the dominant norms and clichés of the Western genre, but instead seeks to subvert them so as to create a new perspective within the genre. Accordingly, the tale begins with what could be understood as a classical Western theme: an aristocrat, who is nevertheless somewhat isolated from society, is captured by an Indian tribe, a process through which the young aristocrat comes to belong to the tribe, accepting its vision of the world and thus recognizing the value of Native American culture, thus opposes dominant narratives that Native Americans are a kind of noble savage or the embodiment of primitive evil. By accepting Native American norms, the protagonist as such recognizes Native American culture as a civilization in its own right, thus providing a new indigenous perspective, albeit through the white man's eyes, of the encounter between Europeans and natives who it is so characteristic of the Western genre. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The beginning of “A Man Called Horse” represents a classic approach to the western genre. From the first lines of the story, Johnson establishes that the narrative will be conducted from a white or European perspective. Johnson does this in two ways that emphasize the classical Western archetype: First, by making the main character an aristocrat, he establishes the clear white/European perspective of the story. At the same time, however, it highlights the protagonist's “outsider” status, thus satisfying another convention. Accordingly, Johnson begins the text as follows: "He was a young man of good family, as they said in New England a hundred years ago, and the reasons for his bitter content were not clear, even to himself" (1) . On the one hand, the protagonist is defined as the archetypal “white” American, with solid family roots, thus highlighting the white perspective that Johnson wishes to found the story. On the other hand, the protagonist is at the same time somehow “dissatisfied” with his life, with his position in society. This device immediately defines the protagonist as a form of "outsider", despite his solid social status: here Johnson is gradually moving away from the "white" perspective of the story by introducing this discontent into the protagonist's solid family background, a device that can be said foreshadows the protagonist's eventual "rebirth" in the form of acceptance of Native American culture. It is precisely this departure from the standard tropes of the western genre that will then make the story, despite its openness, as part of the revisionist western genre. These conventional steps in the narrative set the stage for the transition in the story, which will separate it from Western classical motifs and make it entirely revisionist in approach. The aristocratic protagonist is not massacred by his captures by the Native Americans, but instead begins to accept and take on their worldview. What is happening here is a metamorphosis within the story: the reader is initially presented with an entirely white/American/European perspective that gradually changes to a Native American perspective. Johnson does this by first underlining the nobility of Native American life, which recalls the aristocratic origins of the protagonist. Accordingly, “the Indian who had captured himhe lived like a lord, as he had the right to do... He had only two responsibilities: to kill buffaloes and obtain glory. The white man was so beneath his status that the Indian did not even think of envy” (6). This passage is the protagonist's reflection on his Indian captors: they use terms that could easily be associated with a European aristocrat. What happens in this passage is therefore the awareness, from the protagonist's point of view, that even the Native American can be considered in his context a sort of aristocrat. There are specific hierarchies reflected in Native American life, reflected in Native American “responsibilities”: From the Native American perspective, the white man is “beneath him,” in much the same way that the white considers Native Americans to be “under him” (6). This is a revisionist gesture by Johnson, insofar as it is not based on some "noble savage" motif: ferocity is excluded from this representation of the Native American, leaving the Native American on the same level as the European aristocrat who is the protagonist of the story: Johnson presents the Native American as a nobleman. This transition by Johnson sets the stage for the rest of the revisionist character of the narrative. He wants to present Native American culture as having value in itself: he doesn't want to present it, obviously, as a form of evil ferocity; at the same time he does not fall into the clichés of the “noble” savage. The reader is forced to accept the value of the Native American culture itself, attributing to this culture a value that makes it completely equal to the "civilizations" of European origin. This is obviously a gradual process within the story itself, but is anticipated throughout the narrative until its final completion. Arguably, this conclusion of the story is finalized in the words of the protagonist at the end of the story, accepting an elderly female figure in the following way: “he gave her the answer. “Eegya,” he said. “Mother”” (24). The symbolism of the mother is probably crucial here. The enunciation of the term mother in the Native American language potentially signals themes of rebirth, therefore closely linked to the archetype of mother and child. Recognizing his mother as "Eegya", that is, in her terms and in her language, the protagonist understands that he has undergone a metamorphosis and has been reborn within the Native American civilization. Feeling “discontented,” like an “outsider,” at the beginning of the story, the protagonist here has found meaning in Native American culture: to the extent that the Native lifestyle gave him a meaning that his own culture never been able to, Johnson here establishes the value of Native American civilization, capable of guaranteeing purpose and direction to the protagonist. Accordingly, Johnson establishes the deeper meaning and importance of this culture, against its classical Western convention as an evil and savage culture whose demise is celebrated. It is in this sense that Johnson's work is a revisionist western. It maintains the theme of the disgruntled white outsider – this is a classic convention. It also gives the protagonist an “aristocratic” background, further emphasizing the white European point of view that informs conventional westerns. However, Johnson only uses these initial clichés to permanently overturn them. Breaking the classic conventions of Native Americans as “noble savages” or “bad savages,” Johnson essentially presents “A Man Called Horse” as a revisionist Western. To elaborate, the protagonist's gradual shift away from his European worldview is juxtaposed with a growing understanding of Native American culture. However this understanding does not come from the role of a,.