Throughout the three stories, Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, Everyday Use, by Alice Walker, and The Children's Story, by James Clavell, each character acts a particular way. Each is also faced with a certain problem. In some way, even though the stories and characters are complete opposites, all can connect to the motif of “distorted cultural identity.” Meaning that each character or plot has an issue with identifying or connecting with their culture. It is distorted in some way and how each story is faced with their issues, and how they connect is quite interesting. In the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, mother and her child, Maggie, live in a small clay house. Her other daughter, Dee does not live with them. Dee lives presumably …show more content…
Little Marjane is like any other girl. She loves to play with friends, play games, explore, and do normal girl things. She is smart, and has smart parents that know how things work, and are almost independent from the rest of the country. They are a group of “rebels,” and what they're rebelling against is the veil. The veil is a piece of fine material worn by women in the Islamic religion to protect or conceal the face. The reason this veil is being rebelled against is because it had just became mandatory for women of all ages to wear, and follow, the Islamic religion, obiding by all rules put forth. It was known as the “Islamic Revolution.” Marjane thought this was all very different. At home, her and her parents are not highly religious, are they do not like the new Islamic rules. When the veil was put into effect, Marjane was just ten years old, in 1980. Many of the children did not like the veil either, clamming it was too hot out, and just played around with them. It became really serious when they actually had to wear the veil. Marjane and the children are pictured, sitting solumly with the veil placed on them. No longer are they happy, energetic children, but now sad, and blank-faced. Marjane says, “I really don't know what to think about the veil, deep down I was very religious but as a family we were very modern and avant-garde.” (Satrapi, N.D, p.6). The veil distorts
Alice Walker, John Updike, and Tom Whitecloud write stories in which culture plays an important role in many aspects of the conflict. In each story, a particular ethnic, occupational, social, gender, or age group's culture may be observed through characters' actions, thoughts, and speech. The decisions the characters make to resolve these conflicts in Everyday Use, A & P, and Blue Winds Dancing are affected by the characters cultural experiences. In fact, the conflict itself may be about clashing cultures or entirely generated as a result of cultural experiences. A character's culture continues to guide him as he tries to resolve the conflict. In short, culture heavily affects the three stories' conflicts.
“Mariam had never before worn a burqa...The padded headpiece felt tight and heavy on her skull, and it was strange seeing the world through a mesh screen.” (pg 72). The burqa in this book is a symbol of how Mariam, Laila were forced against their will to wear a piece of cloth that stole their identity from them. Burqas are a way to hide women so that husbands are reassured that their wife is not looked at by other men. It is a way for men to control their wives and become dominant. This is not always true for all women, but for the women in this book it is.
Furthermore, Haydar expresses that she has been able to embrace the modesty in veiling and that it allows her to be seen as a whole person. She addresses the fact that “many Americans see veiling as an oppressive tool forced on Muslim women by the men in our culture” (414). Yet, Haydar informs the readers that veiling isn’t specific to the Islam culture and is also a choice for many women. She even points out that many other religions promote and advocate for modesty in
“Often fear of one evil leads us into a worse”(Despreaux). Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux is saying that fear consumes oneself and often times results in a worse fate. William Golding shares a similar viewpoint in his novel Lord of the Flies. A group of boys devastatingly land on a deserted island. Ralph and his friend Piggy form a group. Slowly, they become increasingly fearful. Then a boy named Jack rebels and forms his own tribe with a few boys such as Roger and Bill. Many things such as their environment, personalities and their own minds contribute to their change. Eventually, many of the boys revert to their inherently evil nature and become savage and only two boys remain civilized. The boys deal with many trials, including each other, and true colors show. In the end they are being rescued, but too much is lost. Their innocence is forever lost along with the lives Simon, a peaceful boy, and an intelligent boy, Piggy. Throughout the novel, Golding uses symbolism and characterization to show that savagery and evil are a direct effect of fear.
Poverty and homelessness are often, intertwined with the idea of gross mentality. illness and innate evil. In urban areas all across the United States, just like that of Seattle. in Sherman Alexie’s New Yorker piece, What You Pawn I Will Redeem, the downtrodden. are stereotyped as vicious addicts who would rob a child of its last penny if it meant a bottle of whiskey.
In fact, the graphic novel opens with Marjane professing the fact that she and her friends did not understand the meaning of the veil newly imposed by the Islamic Republic; they only knew it as a change from the time before, when they did not need to cover their hair. This alerts us to the fact that for a child born into this new rule, the rule will seem perfectly normal, just as not wearing a veil felt normal for Marjane before the Revolution. Children, to such a degree, take their cues about what is normal in the world from the adults around them, and Marjane and her friends throughout Persepolis emulate in reality or imagination the roles of soldiers, torturers, demonstrators, prophets, heroes, and political leaders. Rather than thinking rationally or sophisticatedly about all the different players in this societal moment of crisis, Marjane at first follows or reveres anyone with power and popular
The idea of the veil being widely hated most likely came from her parents due to the fact they are both against it. She does not have her own, original ideals, but she begins to demonstrate based on how she challenges her parents’ beliefs. She is not as naïve as before, but she still is to an extent because she believes what goes on in her household is how the government and society should work. She emphasizes her substantial knowledge, but she does not understand some women want to wear the veil. Marjane continues to create her ideas off of other people, so she is not completely able to make her own
In "Two Kinds" by Amy Tan and "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker, the authors utilize physical protests as central purposes of the conflicts between the moms and their little girls. In "Two Kinds" the protest is a piano, and in "Everyday Use" it is a pair of heirloom quilts…………………………….. In Alice Walker's short story, the more seasoned little girl, Dee, abandons her nation home. She rehashes herself through instruction and life in the city. She changes her name from Dee to Wangero, and wears attire she connects with her African foundation.
In the years after the establishment of the obligatory Veil, Marjane’s mother is demeaned and called a whore in the streets for “bad hijabi,” and Marjane realizes that the Veil affects both one’s physical and personal identities as well. In an image from the novel, Marjane’s mother’s feelings are expressed (Page 74). Furthermore, Marjane notices the Veil's effect on women’s personal identities when she participates in protests against the Veil. Marjane recalled, “For the first time in my life, I saw violence with my own eyes,” (10. 75.). Men for the Veil attacked and demeaned the female protesters, showing that as long as the Veil is required, women will not be allowed to express their political, physically, or recreational identities anymore unless they wish to be harassed and scolded.
The veil became a requirement for women to wear after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. It became obligatory to wear the veil at school, although, Marjane was not sure what to think of the veil. “We don’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to.” (Satrapi, pg 1) Characters such as Marjane and her mother were women who chose not to wear the veil, rebelling against religious persecution. Unlike today, where someone has the choice to wear what they want, being able to choose to wear the veil during the time of the Muslim Regime was not accepted.
There are many different views towards Muslim choice of clothing especially wearing the veil. “I wear it believing it is necessary, but someone else can be wearing it believing that she is doing something extra” said Hamna Ahmed. One of the many reasons a Muslim can be wearing the veil are their own personal decisions too. Hamna has been wearing it for seven years now, despite her mother and three of her four sisters staying uncovered. Socially this causes an issue with the meaning of the veil and conflict with other groups. With many different consumptions of religion, what it means, what is considered to be practicing and what is not can lead to negative misunderstandings. Ultimately the decisions are up to the individuals although; there is likely to be misinterpretation between the meaningfulness of religion to family and society. On an even bigger scale of things this could also impact society and it...
The religion of Islam was imposed upon Iranians, whether they liked it or not. Marjane and her classmates “...didn’t like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to”(Satrapi 3). The young girls were against wearing the veil because they were not practicing
n “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, we hear a story from the viewpoint of Mama, an African American woman about a visit from her daughter Dee. Mama along with her other daughter Maggie still live poor in the Deep South while Dee has moved onto a more successful life. Mama and Maggie embrace their roots and heritage whereas Dee wants to get as far away as possible. During her return, Dee draws her attention to a quilt. It is this quilt and the title of the piece that centers on the concept of what it means to integrate one’s culture into their everyday life.
The main character Siham has mixed emotions towards her veil. Which then highly compares to how I feel about how I was raised. She both appreciates and disowns it, similar to how I shun and I praise my way of being raised. Siham was taught to keep herself covered from all men to gain respect and to maintain respect.
...a woman trying to find an identity through her heritage. All of these stories give us examples and show us what life in this period would be like for the characters. They give details that show the readers the world around them.