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A Study Guide for Frank Herbert's "Soul Catcher"
A Study Guide for Frank Herbert's "Soul Catcher"
A Study Guide for Frank Herbert's "Soul Catcher"
Ebook43 pages32 minutes

A Study Guide for Frank Herbert's "Soul Catcher"

By Gale and Cengage

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A Study Guide for Frank Herbert's "Soul Catcher," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 14, 2016
ISBN9781535833868
A Study Guide for Frank Herbert's "Soul Catcher"

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    A Study Guide for Frank Herbert's "Soul Catcher" - Gale

    1

    Soul Catcher

    Frank Herbert

    1972

    Introduction

    Soul Catcher is a tragic, eye-opening novel about the mistreatment of Native Americans and one man's vengeful attempt to even the cultural score. First published in New York in 1972 when the American Indian Movement (AIM) was just hitting its stride, the book has received surprisingly little critical or popular attention and, in fact, is currently out of print. This may have more to do with the author's other books, however, than with the quality of Soul Catcher. Frank Herbert, known worldwide as the author of the immensely popular novel Dune and its sequels, is revered as one of science fiction's greatest authors; Soul Catcher was his first and only non-science-fiction book that concerned Native Americans, a fact that might have turned off his readers and critics.

    Still, the book warrants reading. In the story, Charles Hobuhet, a Native American university student who becomes possessed by the spirit, Soul Catcher, kidnaps David Marshall, the thirteen-year-old son of a powerful politician. Hobuhet has the intention of killing David in revenge for the wrongs that have been visited on Native Americans. He also faces an internal struggle between his tribal identity and the identity that he has acquired in the white—hoquat—world. At the same time, David learns more about his captor's Native American beliefs and way of life, and the two develop a relationship. The powerful themes, which include Native-American religious beliefs, sacrifice, and the meaning of innocence, collectively help to underscore the centuries-old plight of the Native American.

    Author Biography

    Frank Herbert was born on October 8, 1920, in Tacoma, Washington. After attending the University of Washington, Seattle, from 1946 to 1947 Herbert continued working as a reporter, photographer, and editor, work that he had started doing in 1939 at the age of nineteen. Herbert pursued his journalism career for thirty years with many West Coast newspapers, including the Glendale Star (California), the Oregon Statesman, the Seattle Star, and the San Francisco Examiner. During this time, Herbert also worked a number of odd jobs and began to sell his first science fiction. His first short story was published in 1952, and his first novel, The Dragon in the Sea, was published in 1956.

    Although these initial efforts introduced Herbert to science fiction audiences, it was his second novel, 1965's Dune, that immediately established Herbert as one of the masters of the field and that spawned a series of books, starting with the sequel, Dune Messiah (1970). Dune was the first book ever to win both the Hugo (1966) and Nebula (1965) awards, science fiction's two highest honors. The book was also one of the first science-fiction novels to address ecological issues, inspiring other writers to do the same. In 1970, Herbert's interest

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