Alan R. Velie argues that many white Americans believe Winter in the Blood by James Welch is a “protest novel” (141) due to being written by a “bitter” (141) Indian himself. However, through characterization and tone, this novel would be best understood as being a “comic novel” (142). Taking a book that is intricate and convoluted, and diminishing its contents to make for a “simplistic melodrama” (141) corresponding to racial stereotypes of both white oppressors and indigenous people is labeling a book as a protest novel. While many think that this is the case, Welch approaches his novel with a comic undercurrent by creating characters that are being held up to ridicule by their description or in the situation they are in, and through the
