Attempt a character analysis of Rita Joe to show how her life represents the general apathy of urban White society towards Native Indian Canadians-who are now referred to as the First People

In Ryga’s handling of character there is a touch of the allegorical method. The play is constructed like a parable. Rita is the heroine. She suffers the most. She can’t and (almost) won’t be helped. She protests but nobody listens. She has her own dreams and longings but everything comes to a naught with her ultimate mass-rape and death.

She is partly lost and partly unbending but most of it is beyond her control anyway. Her father David Joe is weak and helpless and so are a few others. Evil forces dominate and these are represented (among others) by the murderers. The Teacher is a victim of the state of the education-system and her own limitedness.