Black Elk’s visions convey integrity, dignity, and respect for the natural world and its inhabitants. The written words are beautiful, and no less beautiful are the meanings taken from these words. In The Gift of the Sacred Pipe, we understand his reverence of life: “Every Dawn as it comes is a holy event … and all people who stand upon the earth are sacred and should be treated as such” (168). I think that Black Elk had these visions and that the content as stated is accurate and authentic. However, the writing seems to flow with a rhythmic cadence and images that are aesthetic pleasing. I wondered if Black Elk spoke this way, or if Neihardt rendered a stylized version of his words and visions.
There was some criticism of Neihardt for changes he made when writing Black Elk Speaks (Silvio). There are letters containing Black Elk’s actual writing and they were “translated literally without aesthetic editing” (Thiel). There is a distinct religious quality in the letters. Black Elk was deeply spiritual, and he may have been as strongly Christian as he was Lakota Holy man. However, by the time Neihardt met with him, perhaps it was impossible to separate the two distinct cultures within the man. In any case, Neihardt clearly intends to communicate Black Elk’s story. There is plenty of interesting authentic material to fascinate nonnative readers without embellishment.
Satire shines in Sultana’s Dream, a simple tale that spotlights social injustice. It is all but impossible to keep from smiling as the story unfolds. In the beginning, the role reversal somehow seems preposterous but becomes more fitting and reasonable as the tale progresses. Why would women imprison men behind walls? Sister Sara blithely answers this question saying: “They are in their proper places, where they ought to be” (324).
Houssain deftly builds Ladyland to suit women, just as men have built their world to suit themselves for centuries. The patriarchal world men have built is nothing like utopian Ladyland. Women rule the country and make all the rules. Men accept their place by choice. By order of the Queen, women are well educated and unable to marry before they turn twenty-one. Women are productive and do not waste time on housekeeping. The men do all the easy work like cooking and cleaning. This is perfectly acceptable as “they are fit for nothing” else (326).
Nevertheless, his life becomes much more facinating when the fact is introduced that Black Elk converted to Catholicism and even became a catechist, afterwards. This completely does not fit into the sterotype of the frustrated reservation Indian, who spent his time with alcohol and gambling. Therefore, one question is emerging. How could Black Elk balance Native American spirituality with Western Christianity? This question directly leads us to the spiritual level of Black Elk’s life. As can be seen in the following, his religion changes in a natural development from his native Lakota religion to Catholicism.
In this essay I will be doing a brief overview of the book Lame Deer Seeker of Visions, by Richard Erdoes. Within this book a monumental task has been achieved, which turns out to provide unparalleled information and a concrete depiction of the Native American Indian. This aspect has been portrayed through the eyes of a Sioux medicine man throughout the book and to many individual’s dismay, paints an accurate picture of both events that occurred and how Native American Indians were being treated at the time. Capturing the true essence of hours of in depth interviews, which have both been written out in detail and videotaped, years of friendship between Richard and Lame Deer, we are able to read upon a magnificent
Like the Good Other Woman, the Evil Other Woman often spends much of her life hidden away in the castle, secret room, or whatever, a fact suggesting that even a virtuous woman’s lot is the same she would have merited had she been the worst of criminals. The heroine’s discovery of such Other Women is in the one case an encounter with women’s oppression-their confinement as wives, mothers, and daughters-and in the other with a related repression: the confinement of a Hidden Woman inside those genteel writers and readers who, in the idealization of the heroine’s virtues, displace their own rebellious
...that actually experienced it. The author gives a good background of the relationship white settlement and Indian cultures had, which supported by the life experience. An author depicts all the emotions of struggle and happiness at the times when it is hard to imagine it. And it actually not the author who is persuasive, but the Black Elk himself, because he is the one that actually can convey the exact feeling and images to the reader.
... are the most powerful nation so we can make the decisions that benefit our country the most. Since the white settlers in the 1800’s were more powerful than the Indians, they should take their land. This explains why species evolve and change over time. Many people feel that these changes are a good thing. It is possible that the stories told by Black Elk have been altered since his story was passed down for so many years. Any text that has been through the process that Black Elk Speaks has raises questions of authenticity.
The author's views on women may never be fully revealed, but it is clear that he believes in male superiority and that insurgent females ought to be suppressed. Like Wealhtheow, females should only exert minimal power and influence, but they should always keep the drinks coming.
Society continually places restrictive standards on the female gender not only fifty years ago, but in today’s society as well. While many women have overcome many unfair prejudices and oppressions in the last fifty or so years, late nineteenth and early twentieth century women were forced to deal with a less understanding culture. In its various formulations, patriarchy posits men's traits and/or intentions as the cause of women's oppression. This way of thinking diverts attention from theorizing the social relations that place women in a disadvantageous position in every sphere of life and channels it towards men as the cause of women's oppression (Gimenez). Different people had many ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities amound women, including expressing their voices and opinions through their literature. By writing stories such as Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic that took a major toll in American History. In this essay, I am going to compare Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” to James’ “Daisy Miller” as portraits of American women in peril and also the men that had a great influence.
Black Elk Speaks is a novel based on the memories of Black Elk that he shared with a poet John Neihardt. Black Elk was an Oglala Sioux religious leader that had become a medicine man when he had had a vision in his teen age. Black Elk had already catholicized when he met Neihardt and was a catechist in reservations. He told Neihardt the story of his life so that it got eternalized and the future generations had the possibility to get to know the history of the Sioux.
In Heinrich Von Kleist's The Marquise of O. and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper, the female protagonist is terribly mislabeled. The inaccuracies in treatment, administered by seemingly authoritative and knowledgeable characters -- family members and a medically certified spouse, respectively -- result in tragic deterioration of the state of mind of both the Marquise and The Yellow Wallpaper's narrator. The delineation of each character's weakness is comprised of blatant references to an applied infantile image and approaching unstable mentality. In The Marquise of O, the Marquise is thrust unwillingly into the external world; in The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator is locked away unwillingly in an interior world. Though both are persecuted because of their gender, in The Marquise of O, the Marquise is troubled by the symbolic rebirth of her womanhood; while in The Yellow Wallpaper, the narrator is troubled by the symbolic death of her womanhood.
As insinuated through her poem’s title, “A Double Standard,” Frances Harper examines a double standard imposed by societal norms during the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the different effects this standard foisted upon those of different genders. Harper’s poem is narrated by a woman who has been derided by society for her involvement in a sexual scandal, all while her male counterpart experiences no repercussions. By describing how her situation involving the scandal advances, delineating the backlash she receives for her participation, and reflecting on the ludicrously hypocritical nature of the situation, the speaker discloses the lack of control women had over their lives, and allows for the reader to ponder the inequity of female oppression at the turn of the 19th century.
Restraints are set by parents on their children to aid with the developmental process and help with the maturity level. Restrictions and the ability to control exist in our society and our lives. We encounter restraints daily: job, doors, people, and the most frequently used and arduous become intangible. In the following stories tangible and intangible scenarios are presented. Autonomy, desires, and talents spurned by the husbands in John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums and Charlotte Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The authors share views regarding a similar theme of male domination and imprisonment. “The Yellow Wallpaper” involves the treatment of a depressed woman who is driven insane in a male imposed detention in her own room. On the other hand, Elisa Allen in the “The Chrysanthemums” struggles internally to find her place in a fully male dominated society with definite gender roles. The mirror-like situations bring upon a different reaction for both the women in different ways. The importance of symbolism, control from their husbands, and the lack of a healthy marriage will be discussed in this paper in two stories.
The movement for female right is one of the important social issue and it is ongoing reaction against the traditional male definition of woman. In most civilizations there was very unequal treatment between women and men with the expectation being that women should simply stay in the house and let the men support them. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, and Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, are two well-known plays that give rise to discussions over male-female relationships. In both stories, they illustrate the similar perspectives on how men repress women in their marriages; men consider that women should obey them and their respective on their wives is oppressed showing the problems in two marriages that described in two plays. Therefore, in this essay, I will compare two similar but contrast stories; A Doll's House and Trifles, focusing on how they describe the problems in marriage related to women as victims of suppressed right.
In a nation brimming with discrimination, violence and fear, a multitudinous number of hearts will become malevolent and unemotional. However, people will rebel. In the eye-opening novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini, the country of Afghanistan is exposed to possess cruel, treacherous and sexist law and people. The women are classified as something lower than human, and men have the jurisdiction over the women. At the same time, the most horrible treatment can bring out some of the best traits in victims, such as consideration, boldness, and protectiveness. Although, living in an inconsiderate world, women can still carry aspiration and benevolence. Mariam and Laila (the main characters of A Thousand Splendid Suns) are able to retain their consideration, boldness and protectiveness, as sufferers in their atrocious world.
Historically, women have been treated as second class citizens. The Napoleonic Code stated that women were controlled by their husbands and cannot freely do their own will without the authority of their husband. This paper shows how this is evident in the "Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin and " A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner. In both stories, the use of literary elements such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and significant meaning of the titles are essential in bringing the reader to an unexpected and ironic conclusion.
The prejudice the women tolerate is evidenced by their tendency to dress in men’s clothing in order to be heard or considered (Olson). As women, their voices are inhibited or disregarded; they are overshadowed and overlooked by society. Portia, for example, has little choice but to consent to being the prize in her “loving” late father’s lottery. All decisions are made in regard to her future and life is influenced by men. The fact that the father is deceased does not diminish his power. In fact, his status a...