Larry Watson presents a negative view of society through his novel, Montana 1948. Watson presents this through a 12 year old boy named David Hayden who witnesses the racism of his family and the white towns people towards the native American Indians.
A negative view of society was of the racism of the white towns people towards the American Indians. David eavesdrops on his parents' conversation and David thinks to himself, "My father didn't say anything, but I knew what he was thinking: She's an Indian - why would she tell the truth?" which showed his awareness of his father, Wesley's, racism. David had known his father disliked Indians even though he was sheriff of the town and should treat everyone unbiasedly. Wesley wouldn't trust what Marie, their Indian housekeeper, had said because she was of a different race. The racism towards the Indians showed a negative view of society which was presented through Wesley's mistrust of Marie's words.
Another example was of Frank Hayden taking advantage of Indian women. Frank Hayden was a trusted figure of society, a doctor, who has power over the town as he was a 'Hayden'. He molests and rapes Indian women, "He does things to these women," David's mother had told Wesley. This presented a negative view of society through Frank's actions towards the Indian women. Even though as a doctor he should be helping people get better, he takes advantage of them and does things to them that they don't want to do.
