The Discourse of Home: Analysis of Roughing it in the Bush Roughing it in the Bush is a story that chronicles the hardships and triumphs faced by early settlers in Northern Canada. Susanna Moodie creates vivid portraits of through the way she stresses the degradation relating her status as a gentlewoman, the necessity for manual labour in a new world, and the discrepancy between refined society and the pioneer community. Relaying a cautionary tale, Susanna Moodie uses a straightforward prose filled with hyperbolized descriptions that show a negative bias influenced by her personal hardships and way of life to inform potential emigrants about the realities of living in the bush and to forewarn readers that the pioneer life is not suited towards the upper class and rather, is detrimental to their economic and social status. Harbouring a belief that manual labour was degrading to her status as a gentlewoman was ironic considering Moodie had come to a pioneer country, a country primarily built on labour. Her notion that the pioneer life is built for the working class is evident throughout the text, in which Moodie stated that there “is no middle course for the settler; he must …show more content…
She mentions that Canada “possesses all those advantages of climate, geological structure, and position, which are essential to greatness and prosperity” and even goes so far to say that the winter that she described as being heinous, were beneficial in some way, “gradually endowed them with an unconquerable energy of character”. Moodie sees Canada as a work in progress, stating “the present condition of Canada generally is exceedingly prosperous” and her belief is that “when the resources of the country are fully developed… no rational person can doubt that it will ultimately be as prosperous and opulent as any country in the
From the prologue through chapter one in “Wilderness and the American Mind”, the author emphasizes the affect wilderness had on the Europeans during the colonization of America. In today’s society, we are familiar with the concept of wilderness but few of us have experienced the feeling of being encapsulated in the unfamiliar territory. Today we long for wilderness, crave it even. We use it as an outlet to escape the pace of life. However, we have a sense of safety that the Europeans did not. We are not isolated in the unfamiliar, help is usually a phone call away. Though we now view the wilderness as an oasis because we enter at our own terms, in the early colonial and national periods, the wilderness was an unknown environment that was viewed as evil and dangerous.
‘The Drover’s Wife’ opens with a vivid visual image of the house which becomes a character in itself, the lexical word chain “round timber, slabs, and stringy bark, and floored with split slabs” shows us the poor, rough materials used to build only what is necessary to survive. Thus, we can visualise the simplistic nature of the lives the drover’s wife and her children live in their environment. Strong visual imagery is employed to depict the landscape; “Bush all round – bush with no horizon, for the country is flat. No ranges in the distance… No undergrowth”. The repetition of “no” emphasises the lack of distinguishing features, the land is monotonous and contains “nothing to relieve the eye”. The environment is isolated; they are alone “There is nothing to see, however, and not a soul to meet”. This helps the audience to develop an understanding of the isolation and loneliness of Australians living in the bush during the Colonial
The abandonment altogether of the traditional longhouse in favor of log cabins indicates a massive reorganization of society. The disruption of traditional subsistence patterns caused by the Revolutionary war and the relocation of League Iroquoian people disrupted the matrilineal system (McCarthy 2010, Shoemaker 1991). An increasing economic importance of European-speaking males among the native groups and their insistence on a neolocal residence pattern played a major role in the breakup of traditional longhouses. The movement onto reservations required a less mobile economy and eventually the adoption of cabins on dispersed farmsteads (Snow 2001).
The Jump-Off Creek introduces the reader to the unforgiving Blue Mountains and the harsh pioneer lifestyle with the tale of Lydia Sanderson, a widow who moves west from Pennsylvania to take up residence in a rundown homestead. She and other characters battle nature, finances, and even each other on occasion in a fight for survival in the harsh Oregon wilderness. Although the story is vividly expressed through the use of precise detail and 1800s slang, it failed to give me a reason to care because the characters are depicted as emotionally inhibited.
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
The small community of Hallowell, Maine was no different than any other community in any part of the new nation – the goals were the same – to survive and prosper. Life in the frontier was hard, and the settlement near the Kennebec Valley was no different than what the pioneers in the west faced. We hear many stories about the forefathers of our country and the roles they played in the early days but we don’t hear much about the accomplishments of the women behind those men and how they contributed to the success of the communities they settled in. Thanks to Martha Ballard and the diary that she kept for 27 years from 1785-1812, we get a glimpse into...
The struggles that many face while experiencing poverty are not like any other. When a person is experiencing poverty, they deal with unbearable hardships as well as numerous tragic events. Diane Gilliam Fisher’s collection of poems teaches readers about labor battles within West Virginian territories, at the beginning of the twentieth century. Some of these battles include the Battle of Matewan and Battle of Blair Mountain. The collection of poems is presented in many different manners, ranging from diary entries to letters to journal entries. These various structures of writing introduce the reader to contrasting images and concepts in an artistic fashion. The reader is able to witness firsthand the hardships and the light and dark times of impoverished people’s lives. He or she also learns about the effects of birth and death on poverty stricken communities. In the collection of poems in Kettle Bottom, Fisher uses imagery and concepts to convey contrast between the positive and negative aspects of the lives of people living in poverty.
Mingling amongst the "lame and the old," Ginger Coffey saw reflections of himself as a New Canadian everywhere. He had learned that life was the victory, and that going on was the victory. The little triumphs in life have liberated him. Coffey, in his adjustment period as an immigrant, has found materialism to have a negative impact on his life. Concerned with the welfare of his family, Coffey was able to discover his tender-most self. Certainly, the weak and the poor have acted as the best guides for Ginger Coffey who, through a tumultuous journey, found himself at last.
Sandra Rollings-Magnusson, Heavy Burdens on Small Shoulders: The Labour of Pioneer Children on the Canadian Prairies. Edmonton: The University of Alberta Press, 2009.
People in these Montana prairies had an isolated life where “Every generation relearns the rules its fathers have forgotten”, cursed nature when it threatens their livelihood, yet realized that “This land owes you nothing” [p. 60]. This was a time and region where the difference between what was expected of men and women was paramount. Children grew up working hard, knowing their place in their society and grew up quickly as a result. Being somewhat of a tomboy, Blunt could handle farm equipment and chores as well as her brother, yet was still expected to learn how to cook, clean and care for the men. As with previous generations, it was expected that she follow a planned path to becoming a rancher’s wife. But Judy Blunt always felt there was something more to this hard, bleak life and began a long journey towards breaking clean from the constraints of her upbringing.
The underlying theme of Brown’s writing is the overall inappropriate and poor treatment of Native Americans during the late 1800’s, as the US government began to attempt to take over all of the land that the Native Americans were living on. The events of the book are a good representation of the historical background of the time in which the book is written. Dee Brown essentially is writing a chronology depicting the existence of Native Americans in early America. The book opens with a discussion of the early years of Native American inhabitance, and their relationship with settlers up through the mid-1800s. Early on, the relationship was peaceful, and Brown discusses the time period when the Pilgrims began to arrive, and how the Native Americans helped those Pilgrims survive on the new land and especially how to survive the winter. However, as the late 1600’s and early 1700’s came, settlers – mostly white from Europe, began to encroa...
LaDuke, Winona. All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1999. Print.
While Rowlandson’s narrative was highly read throughout the American colonies, the narrative of the Native became her description of them. Rowlandson’s words are considered to reflect “triumph of faith over adversity,” while at the same time solidifying the preconceived notion that Natives are uncivilized savages. This narrative gives rise to her credibility as an author, and at the same time ensures that the voice of women moved further from the realm of the oppressed, and into that of the oppressor. My second insight was how stereotypes and misconceptions in literature are a powerful means by which to change the fate of an entire
Kugel, Rebecca, and Lucy Eldersveld Murphy. Native women's history in eastern North America before 1900: a guide to research and writing. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007.