The Education of Augie Merasty

(Summary)

Starts off the 26th of August, 1935 hen A gie fa he belie e i i ime o end him o
Sturgeon Landing where he would attend a residential school (St. Therese Residential
School
Augie Merasty
o Born in 1930 at Sturgeon Landing
o Two sisters: Annie & Jeanette, One brother: Peter
o Began schooling earlier than most children as traveling through the harsh winter
would be difficult for a young child
He begins discussing the first couple individuals he encounters while at the start of his
time at the school. It seems as if times were easier and less harsh at the start
o Father Bernard Pommier was one of the nicest principles that filtered through the
school and Augie recalls when children would be sent to him, he was
reasonableand rarely punished the students
o Sister St. Alphonse, Augie recalls her to be one of the nicest nuns at the school
When students would be disobedient, she would lightly tap them with a
ruler and even this slightest punishment would cause her to become
visibly upset
o Si e S . Famille, he a he chool bake and a e kind and loving
indi id al a A gie a e
o He mentions a few other sisters, the nurse and sewing instructor, who were
incredibly sympathetic towards the students and showed genuine care towards
them
o Big Brother Beauville and Brother Leopold were two of the men in the school
who also showed compassion towards Augie at the beginning time at school
After this first section, Augie begins to dive into the difficult side of residential schools
o He describes how he lost track of how many times we was punished for such
minor offences such as whispering in line or speaking his native language
o An example he brings up is how he once was forced to walk 20 miles in -40
weather
o Sister St. Mercy was someone who, as Augie puts it, enjoyed inflicting pain on
them for such minor infractions and when he thinks back, his head hurts and eyes
water from the pain
o Every morning the students were served bread as hard as cardboard and rotten
porridge, as they watched all the white staff receive fresh food
o On page 15 Augie makes a interesting reference as to how the school is constantly
pushing the proper way to act through the catholic church, but are constantly
treating the students as if they are a waste to human kind
o Sister Felicity was the first encounter where Augie experienced a formal of sexual
contact with one of the staff, except this one was different from those to come
The first recall Augie makes of Father Lazzardo is when he pushed him down the stairs,
which sent him to the infirmary and left him with a large gash on his head
o School kept him from going to the hospital as they were worried that Augie would
inform the authorities of what happened
 o He had trouble controlling his sex drive and Augie recalls time when young girls
o ld be en o hi lace o clean and this is where we read about more of the
sexual abuse that was occurring
Page 43 is another example of the horrific abuse that was inflicted on these children for
the simplest things
o Augie says how one night a sister hit him in the face with the corner edge of the
strap in the face because he was talking in his sleep
o He a hei mo o a Hi fi , alk la e
Brother Lepeigne is the most horrific person Augie refers to in this book and relates him
in the context of Hitler
o He states how he waited for him to become of school age so that based on the
Ca holic hie a ch le he co ld do ha e e he an ed legall
o Augie recalls times where Lepeigne sexually assaulted him in one of the
bathroom stalls and held him by the throat until he promised not to tell. This fear
forced Augie to remain trapped in guilt and never mentioned the story till now
o As many years past Augie discusses the point in time where he was able to seek
revenge on Brother Lepeigne
Him and his friend Jason grabbed him by the scuff of his neck into an
abandoned room and reminded him of all the physical/mental harm he
caused them
They shoved a bottle of alcohol down his throat and acted as if they were
going to kill him
Lepeigne got on his knees and began to beg for mercy and for the boys to
act as proper Roman Catholics
A gie Pg. 58 o didn emembe an commandmen of God
hen o o ed fo almo 5 ea
At the end of the book, David Carpenter fights to track down Augie
o He finds him in Prince Albert where he is continuously in and out of a Detoxic
center for alcohol abuse, he is constantly on and off the streets with no support
o When Ca en e lef , he efe ed o A gie a mo e han j a man. More like a
he o g. 73
o With the attention of the book shinning such positive light on Augie he as become
a local celebrity
o He has gotten of the streets, stopped drinking, and now has the support of his
daughters that was missing for so long