She blew his mouth and nostrils, and with two fingers lightly massaged his chest until the mucus began to drain freely. She took a pendant from her ear and put it on the blanket beside him. ‘Tokowaru-i-te-Marama. Ko Tokowaru-i-te-Marama te ingoa o tenei,’ she said. (Grace 36)
The passage above comes from the book Potiki. It’s when granny Tamihana breathes life into Toko and gives him the name of her deceased brother. In Potiki, a novel written by Patricia Grace, we are introduced to a family that is given a special gift. That gift is in a form of a child named Toko. Toko isn’t any ordinary child for he knows all his past stories and has the ability to see future stories. Toko was born by Mary and is cared for by Mary’s brother Hemi and his wife Roimata. In yet another novel, there is a strong presence of mythological icons being incorporated into a book. Grace ties the legend of Maui into the character of Toko. Toko and Maui were both born prematurely. Another similarity Grace ties in with the legend of Maui is the fishing story. Maui goes out fishing with his brothers and brags that he’ll catch a bigger fish than his brothers and Toko’s fishing with his family in the lagoon and catches a big eel. Lastly, Grace links the legend of Maui’s death to Toko’s death. In Potiki, Toko enters the wharenui to bring back Manu who was sleepwalking. Instead a gunshot was heard and Toko was killed. In the legend of Maui, Maui tried to capture death by trying to crawl into the death goddess “hidden source of life” to capture her heart. A bird laughs, which woke the death goddess and closed her mouth. The teeth of the death goddess cut Maui in the center and killed him.
According to Westervelt, “Maui may mean “to live,” to subsists,” and may refer to beauty and strength, or it may have the idea of “the left hand” or “turning aside. (1)” In Potiki, Grace ties in the meaning of Maui to the character Toko. In what way is the birth of Toko and Maui similar and it’s relationship with Westervelt’s definition of Maui? How is Toko’s fishing story similar with the legend of Maui pulling the island of New Zealand and its relationship with Westervelt’s definition of Maui? How is the death of Toko similar to the way Maui dies and how it relates to the definition of Maui?
History has not been kind to Tenskwatawa, otherwise known as Lalawethika or The Prophet. He is inevitably compared to his heroic brother Tecumseh and fails to measure up in both physical and moral stature. He seems hidden in the shade of his brother's name, whereas his brother would never have had the stature he received if it were not for The Prophet's religion of classical Indian heritage. Lalawethika seemed to be plentiful of both physical and social shortcomings. An unimpressive-looking man of below-average height, fond of wearing jewelry, especially small medals, which he hung from his pierced nose and ears. His most striking physical characteristic was his damaged right eye, which was permanently closed after he injured it with a bow and arrow. Lalawethika was not a likable person. He was not accepted by the other Shawnee youths and refused to take part in traditionally prestigious male activities such as hunting and fighting. As a young man he boasted of his abilities but seemed to lack anyambition. He attempted to compensate for his misfortunes but was only counterproductive in making "a truculent, bragging personality that earned him his nickname Lalawethika (The Rattle or Noisemaker)" (p. 73). Two activities Lalawethika liked were drinking and talking. He wasn't as gifted a speaker as his brother Tecumseh, but he was nonetheless manipulative and forceful. Using these qualities he became a medicine man in Tecumseh's village. Lalawethika's transformation from a lazy drunkard into a powerful spiritual leader came after a dream in which he claimed to have been visited by the Great Spirit.
The author uses diction in the passages to signify the effect of the author¡¯s meaning in story and often sway readers to interpret ideas in one way or another. The man in the story arrives to a ¡°[dry] desert¡± where he accosts an animal with ¡°long-range attack¡± and ¡°powerful fangs.¡± The author creates a perilous scene between the human and animal in order to show that satisfaction does not come from taking lives. With instincts of silence and distrust, both of them freeze in stillness like ¡°live wire.¡± In addition, the man is brought to the point where animal¡¯s ¡°tail twitched,¡± and ¡°the little tocsin sounded¡± and also he hears the ¡°little song of death.¡± With violence ready to occur, the man tries to protect himself and others with a hoe, for his and their safety from the Rattler. The author criticizes how humans should be ¡°obliged not to kill¡±, at least himself, as a human. The author portrays the story with diction and other important techniques, such as imagery, in order to influence the readers with his significant lesson.
The novel opens with the imagery and symbolism that is essential effectively telling the story. A grown Louise imagines the ferry ride to Rass Island she will soon take to pick up her newly widowed mother. The only way on and off the island, the ferry represents more than transportation, it is a lifeline between ...
As the audience already knows that there are many tales that are told in the story. These stories are the base for what has to come later in the sections. These stories have lessons and hidden meanings that will show through the mothers and daughters. For example, the first part of the book is “Feathers from a Thousand Li Away” is intended to teach the reader about hope, which is symbolized by the swan. One of the mothers in the story has a feather from the swan and in hopes, one day give it to her daughter and tell her the struggles that the family had to go through to have a better life. This wish is a very difficult one to come true because of a
“And though she breathes the way we breathe, with scarcely perceptible movements of her chest, sometimes instead she pumps her throat ruminatively, like a pipe smoker sucking and puffing.”
She tells the story of an elderly blind woman whom is known and respected in her community for her wisdom and knowledge. Morrison explains that "Among her people [the old woman] is both the law and its transgression" (Morrison 1993). On one occasion, the woman is approached by some young people who are intent on taking advantage of her blindness. They say, "Old woman, I hold in my hand a bird. Tell me whether it is living or dead." After some time the woman replies, "I don't know. I don't know whether the bird you are holding is dead or alive, but what I do know is that it is in your hands. It is in your hands." (Morrison 1993)
...er screaming in agony as she watched the horror unfold at sea. As her tears fell down her cheeks she recalled the gitano’s prophecy. ‘My love is gone, my father has been taken, I am forsaken’ she exclaimed and wept.
For a parent it must be a horrible experience to see their children die, and for Ayah it was worst because “it wasn’t like Jimmie died. He just never came back”. She might still being waiting for her sun to return. Ayah hoped that her son would take charge of the family and continue the traditions, “She mourned Jimmie because he would have worked for his father then;” But he was dead now, he could no longer learn and teach the ways of his culture. Somethi...
Marcel bit his lower lip as he closed his eyes, trying to remember where he had set down Cammi. Those two...this fog that might as well have been a massive blanket...this day! A deep breath in. A deep breath out. The silence crouched over to huddle down with the family.
“Easy, Ji-hye, easy,” Unti chuckles, tightening his grip on her as he walks on over to Su’s bedside. When he speaks again, his voice has fallen to a mere whisper. “And try to keep your voice down, the baby’s ears are sensitive.”
During the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom as part of the Okinawa Prefecture in 1879. The Senkaku Islands became the Sino-Japanese boundary between the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Qing empire. In 1885, the Japanese Governor of Okinawa, Nishimura Sutezo, asked the Meiji government to take control of the islands. However, Inoue Kaoru, the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, commented that the islands had been given Chinese names already. Yamagata Aritomo, the Minister of the Interior, eventually turned down the request to incorporate the islands after listening to Kaoru's advice. 50%
Miscommunication and misconstrued intentions can happen when familial divides are prominent. Highlighting this concept, Tan states, “for a long time now the woman wanted to give her daughter the single swan feather and tell her, ‘This feather may look worthless, but it comes for afar and carries with it all of my good intentions’” (Tan 3). All mother’s contain aspirations reflecting upon children, but detachment inhibits the immeasurable pressure felt from reaching children. However, the appearance of worthlessness may overshadow underlying ideals mothering generations seek. Providing the feather reveals love and care a mother longs to provide for her daughter, “the feather stands for the meaning of a mother’s life that she is desperate to convey to her daughter; the daughter, for her part, must, for reasons of her own, turn away and retreat” (Bloom). The tale demonstrates disconnect’s challenges as one may initiate conversation, whereas, another speaker may shut down. Truthful to humanity, people miss the “feather” of hopes parents desire to share. The feather wives tale told, expresses a realistic circumstances all parents face when connecting with children. Furthermore, when displaying familial pride, “I will use the sharp pain to penetrate my daughter’s tough skin and cut her tiger spirit loose. She will fight me, because this is the nature of two tigers. But I will win and give her my spirit, because this is
In the book, he uses imagery to describe the scenery around him and his neighborhood. “Above, the surface of the water was a green mirror. And the pearl lay on the floor of the sea...And the music of the pearl drifted to a whisper and disappeared (page 87)”. Thi part of the story explains when he gives up on the pearl and he realized
Through time it has been said that a parent’s love is a magical thing, without it a child would not develop correctly. In the novel “The Jar” by Isak Dinesen, the readers are introduced to the lovely characters Lady Helen and the old Englishman, also known as Helen’s Papa. Lady Helen and Papa traveled the sea to numerous lands looking for her father’s beloved ‘ancient blue china’. On a steady night travelling the Chinese sea, their ship caught on fire. Lady Helen and a young sailor was abandoned by her father and his crew with no supplies, but a forgotten lifeboat; allowing them to escape the fire and sail the sea for 9 days until rescued. At this moment, the townspeople found that Helene’s mind suffered from her journey and now, like her father, she cared for nothing but to
Ekwefi begins to question her fate when nine out of ten of her children die during infancy. After each one of her children are born, the names Ekwefi gives them are deeper in despair than the one proceeding. The first child being named Onwumbiko, meaning, “Death, I implore you” (77), suggests Ekwefi’s grief and shows her hope that maybe fate will