April Raintree Thesis

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Recommended: Reflection on personal identity

Who am I? Many people struggle to find the answer to this question. Identity defines us. It comes from the way people are raised, their beliefs, their family structure, and the community around them. It’s a personal struggle that people fight with every day to try to figure out. April Raintree was one of those people. In the book “In Search of April Raintree” by Beatrice Culleton Mosionier, April ran from who she really was, a Metis. April struggled with her identity as a fair skinned Metis. She was ashamed of her native heritage, she wanted to live like a white person. April had almost a fairy-tail like idea of how the white culture lived, she thought they lead the perfect lives. “To me, I imagined they were very rich and lived …show more content…

25). Life changed for April. She was given nice clean clothes, had a warm comfortable bed to sleep in, and had friends that she only dreamed about. April experienced a new world. One that had structure and was free of alcohol and fighting. April was able to be a child and not have the responsibility of raising her sister. She really had a taste of what it was to be a kid and not have the worries of an adult. This foster family didn’t care that April was Metis. All they saw was a child that needed and deserved to be loved. Unfortunately for April, her foster mother became ill and April had to be placed with another …show more content…

They saw April as a dirty native from a family of drunks. “I felt sorry for myself. Mrs. DeRosier had said “you half-breeds”. I wasn’t a half-breed, just a foster child, that’s all. To me, half-breeds was almost the same as Indian” (p. 38). “The younger boy and the girl eyed me contemptuously. The boy said to Mrs. DeRosier, “Is that the half-breed girl we’re getting? She doesn’t look like the last squaw we had.” The girl giggled at this comment” (p. 38). They treated April poorly and used her as their personal slave. April’s life with this family made her once again want to deny who she was. She was confused as to how this white catholic family could be so different from the last family she was with. April was again treated based on the color of her skin. The inner feelings of being inferior was now being expressed directly to April by the DeRosier family. April once again was ashamed of who she

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