“In the darkness the fields / defend themselves with fences / in vain: / everything / is getting in” (Atwood, 28-33). The man in Margaret Atwood’s poem “Progressive Insanities of a Pioneer” is in a situation similar to the stranger in Douglas LePan’s poem “A Country Without a Mythology.” The man in Atwood’s poem as well as the stranger in LePan’s poem are both unsure of where they are. In “Progressive Insanities of a Pioneer” the man tries to separate himself from his environment; however, in “A Country Without a Mythology” the stranger tries to adapt himself to his environment. By analyzing the content, structure, and meaning of “A Country Without a Mythology” the reader will understand that if the stranger openly accepts his surroundings he will then be able to answer the question that grieves him: “where is he?”
The stranger in the poem “A Country Without a Mythology” is on a journey in the Canadian wilderness to which he is not accustomed to. He is lost with “no monuments or landmarks” to guide him (line 1) and is confused about who is around him, calling the Natives “savage people” who speak “alien jargon” (2-3) which forces the stranger to face the question “where is he?”. Rather than letting nature envelop himself the stranger tries to adapt to his new lifestyle by eating berries and pickerel like an Indian would, “forgetting every grace and ceremony,” and adapting to the Indian lifestyle (7-8). Although he tries to adapt to his surroundings he does not adapt completely. When LePan writes “for all of his haste, time is worth nothing” it shows that the stranger has not yet adapted to the Native lifestyle because he is rushing around trying to find out where he is but is getting nowhere. Once the stranger starts to adapt to...
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"Definition of Alien in English." Definition of Alien in Oxford Dictionary (British & World English). Oxford English Dictionary, n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2014. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/alien?q=alien.
"Definition of Mythology in English." Mythology: Definition of Mythology. Oxfor English Dictionary, n.d. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/mythology?q=mythology.
Kertzer, J. M. "The Wounded Eye: The Poetry of Douglas Le Pan | Kertzer | Studies in Canadian Literature / Études En Littérature Canadienne." The Wounded Eye: The Poetry of Douglas Le Pan. Studies in Canadian Literature, Jan. 1981. Web. 02 Mar. 2014. http://journals.hil.unb.ca/index.php/scl/article/view/7952/9009.
LePan, Douglas. "A Country Without a Mythology." The Harbrace Anthology of Poetry. 5th ed. Toronto: Nelson Education, 2012. 261-62. Print.
As this poem characterizes the view of a native woman expressing feelings of passion relating to her culture, it also criticizes society, in particular Christianity, as the speaker is experiencing feelings of discontent with the outcome of residential schools. It does not directly criticize the faith, but through the use of a heavy native dialect and implications to the Christian faith it becomes simple to read the speakers emotions.
I believe people lack respect for the flag and what it stands for. Although most people are proud to be an American, some don’t understand what it truly means to be an American. The flag has a history, and should be respected because of that history. Although most believe that respect should be earned, our flag has earned this many times over. And I believe that our flag is taken for granted.
Professor and poet Deborah A. Miranda, pieces together the past and uncovers and presents us with a story--a Californian story--in her memoir, “Bad Indians.” Her use of the Christian Novena, “Novena to Bad Indians,” illustrates the irony of using the form of her oppressors as a call out for help, not to God, but to her past ancestors. We tend to think of religion as a form of salvation and redemption of our lives here on Earth, in which we bare down and ask for forgiveness. But by challenging this common discourse using theological allegories and satirical terminology, Miranda turns her attention away from a Deity to call the reader out for help. It is crucial to recognize the struggles that the Native community currently face. Californian Indians are often not given recognition for their identity and their heritage, and are also repeatedly stereotyped as abusive, alcoholic, uncivilized, and “freeloaders” of the United States government. Such generalizations root back from European colonization, nevertheless still linger in our contemporary society. Miranda has taken the first step forward in characterizing few of these stereotypes in her Novena, but she’s given her story. Now what are we going to do with ours? It’s up to us to create our
In Sherman Alexie’s “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona” and “Dead Men’s Path”, the reader is given a glimpse into two different stories but share many similar characteristics of traditions. Tradition is the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information and cultures within a group of people from generation to generation. However, these two stories will reveal that the protagonists in these stories, Michael from “Dead Men’s Path” and Victor from “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona,” will ignore their own traditions that they face throughout the story. In other words, the protagonists are westernized and have forgotten their own culture, which reflects the theory of the melting pot. The ignorance of ancestry and traditions brings the worst fates into the lives of the protagonists in each story.
The speaker in “Five A.M.” looks to nature as a source of beauty during his early morning walk, and after clearing his mind and processing his thoughts along the journey, he begins his return home feeling as though he is ready to begin the “uphill curve” (ln. 14) in order to process his daily struggles. However, while the speaker in “Five Flights Up,” shares the same struggles as her fellow speaker, she does little to involve herself in nature other than to observe it from the safety of her place of residence. Although suffering as a result of her struggles, the speaker does little to want to help herself out of her situation, instead choosing to believe that she cannot hardly bare recovery or to lift the shroud of night that has fallen over her. Both speakers face a journey ahead of them whether it be “the uphill curve where a thicket spills with birds every spring” (ln. 14-15) or the five flights of stares ahead of them, yet it is in their attitude where these two individuals differ. Through the appreciation of his early morning surroundings, the speaker in “Five A.M.” finds solitude and self-fulfillment, whereas the speaker in “Five Flights Up” has still failed to realize her own role in that of her recovery from this dark time in her life and how nature can serve a beneficial role in relieving her of her
This extract emphasises the lonely, outworld feeling that would have been felt living in such settings. This puts into perspective the feeling that will be felt during the coarse of the plot development.
Throughout Marilynne Robinson’s works, readers are often reminded of themes that defy the status quo of popular ideas at the time. She explores transience and loneliness, amongst other ideas as a way of expressing that being individual, and going against what is deemed normal in society is acceptable. Robinson utilizes traditional literary devices in order to highlight these concepts.
This darkly satiric poem is about cultural imperialism. Dawe uses an extended metaphor: the mother is America and the child represents a younger, developing nation, which is slowly being imbued with American value systems. The figure of a mother becomes synonymous with the United States. Even this most basic of human relationships has been perverted by the consumer culture. The poem begins with the seemingly positive statement of fact 'She loves him ...’. The punctuation however creates a feeling of unease, that all is not as it seems, that there is a subtext that qualifies this apparently natural emotional attachment. From the outset it is established that the child has no real choice, that he must accept the 'beneficence of that motherhood', that the nature of relationships will always be one where the more powerful figure exerts control over the less developed, weaker being. The verb 'beamed' suggests powerful sunlight, the emotional power of the dominant person: the mother. The stanza concludes with a rhetorical question, as if undeniably the child must accept the mother's gift of love. Dawe then moves on to examine the nature of that form of maternal love. The second stanza deals with the way that the mother comforts the child, 'Shoosh ... shoosh ... whenever a vague passing spasm of loss troubles him'. The alliterative description of her 'fat friendly features' suggests comfort and warmth. In this world pain is repressed, real emotion pacified, in order to maintain the illusion that the world is perfect. One must not question the wisdom of the omnipotent mother figure. The phrase 'She loves him...' is repeated. This action of loving is seen as protecting, insulating the child. In much the same way our consumer cultur...
Similarly, Sinclair Ross depicts the theme of alienation through the character named Ellen, in the story “The Lamp at Noon”. We learn that the alienation in this story is also self-inflicted but to a different extent. One major difference is that in this case that she has become alienated from society due to geographical isolation. We learn that Ellen once came from a rich family and it seems as if the shift from city to rural lif...
In a desperate attempt to discover his true identity, the narrator decides to go back to Wisconsin. He was finally breaking free from captivity. The narrator was filling excitement and joy on his journey back home. He remembers every town and every stop. Additionally, he admires the natural beauty that fills the scenery. In contrast to the “beauty of captivity” (320), he felt on campus, this felt like freedom. No doubt, that the narrator is more in touch with nature and his Native American roots than the white civilized culture. Nevertheless, as he gets closer to home he feels afraid of not being accepted, he says “… afraid of being looked on as a stranger by my own people” (323). He felt like he would have to prove himself all over again, only this time it was to his own people. The closer the narrator got to his home, the happier he was feeling. “Everything seems to say, “Be happy! You are home now—you are free” (323). Although he felt as though he had found his true identity, he questioned it once more on the way to the lodge. The narrator thought, “If I am white I will not believe that story; if I am Indian, I will know that there is an old woman under the ice” (323). The moment he believed, there was a woman under the ice; He realized he had found his true identity, it was Native American. At that moment nothing but that night mattered, “[he], try hard to forget school and white people, and be one of these—my people.” (323). He
Connie Fife is a Saskatchewan, Cree poet who writes using her unique perspective, telling of her personal experiences and upbringing. This perspective is revealed to her audience through the poems “This is not a Metaphor”, “I Have Become so Many Mountains”, and “She Who Remembers” all of which present a direct relationship to her traditional background and culture (Rosen-Garten, Goldrick-Jones 1010). To show the relationship of her experiences through her poetry, Fife uses the form of dramatic monologue, as well as modern language and literal writing to display themes about racism presenting her traditional viewpoint to her audience.
There is a tendency for humans to be trapped by their own preconceptions and to resist anything that goes against those pre-established beliefs with denial, contempt, or outright (and often) violent rejection. In Margaret Atwood’s poem “Progressive Insanities of a Pioneer” and Euripides’ The Bacchae, central characters refuse to accept and believe in the truth and instead decide to side with their individual delusions and beliefs. In particular, Pentheus (in The Bacchae) and the Narrator (in Progressive Insanities of a Pioneer) fail to accept and see Nature. Ultimately, both characters are blind to the power of nature and cannot see what is in front of them. There are several similar stages either character face in each work: an encounter, denial, resistance, underestimation, and finally, acknowledgement of nature.
...wever, in “The Tuft of Flowers,” the concept of aloneness aids the readers to be cognizant of the idea that humans are all connected somehow. In addition, the speakers in “Mending Wall” and “The Tuft of Flowers” do not choose to be alone, whereas the speaker in “Acquainted with the Night” does. In “Mending Wall,” the speaker wants to get rid of the wall, because it blocks the opportunity of communicating with the neighbor. In “The Tuft of Flowers,” the speaker mentions, “as all must be,” (9) which gives the impression that the speaker has no other choice but to be alone. In sharp contrast, in “Acquainted with the Night,” the speaker purposely avoids human contact and takes a walk at nighttime to be in solitude. Therefore, the concept of loneliness and isolation in the three poems analyzed is used to enhance and make known the poem’s theme in different circumstances.
Robert Frost once said "In order to know who we are, we must know opposites." Few of his poems demonstrate this sentiment as well as "Directive" and "Desert Places". On the surface, the poem "Directive" details a person returning to an old rural town to find it deserted and in the process of being reclaimed by nature. The poem is told by someone who is either omniscient or very close to the main figure of the poem. The narrator of the poem can be seen as some sort of guru, priest, or spiritual guide. In "Desert Places," the poem is told by someone who is passing by a field on their way somewhere and reflecting on loneliness and their isolation. In both of these poems, the speakers takes the subject of the poem on a journey that details the conflicting relations of man's natural world and instinct and his modern constructed world and civilizations. According to "Directive," in order for the subject to be whole, he must recognize that man cannot change the natural world or the true nature of himself just as the people in the now deserted town could only change the natural condition of the land temporarily. Reconciling this fact, like when the man sips from the man-made but naturally altered cup, is the only way in which one may accept the true nature of themselves and receive salvation. "Desert Places," the earlier of these two poems, does not supply as definite of a resolution as "Directive" does, but it does imply that isolation and self-exploration are necessary for one's psychological survival. Both of these poems relay survival techniques for the individual living in the modern, industrialized world using natural imagery and symbolism.
Two such authors, searching for…well, searching for that certain enlightenment and repose that can only be found in nature, were Henry Miller and Jack Kerouac. And despite the fact that Big Sur, California, is the chosen destination for revelation for both authors and that both authors are torn between the introspective qualities of being ‘secluded,’ and the desire for connectedness to society, they were from (moderately) different lifestyles and backgrounds and viewed the revelations that nature bestowed to them individually quite differently. By contrasting the situations and temperaments of the two authors, one can begin to see why their experiences differed so greatly.