In many cases, an important part of one’s coming of age is the gradual realization of the oppression and prejudice aimed towards them. At this point, the adolescent starts to find their voice, yet at the same time really starts to discern how they will need to deal with certain struggles as their lives go on. In the short stories “Girl,” by Jamaica Kincaid and “Indian Education,” by Sherman Alexie, both narrators start to understand how they are being subjected to preconceived notions and expectations as they mature. In “Girl,” a young girl is being taught how to fulfill the role of a perfect woman- that is, the person who does the domestic work to support the men in her family, and conforms to the ideal of a proper lady; in “Indian Education,” …show more content…
Alexie recounts his days as a student, and the obstacles that are set forth for him by his peers and teachers due to his ethnic background. Both stories demonstrate how one’s transition into adulthood can often coincide with the realization of their social disadvantages. Alexie’s story uses an occasionally sarcastic, yet all the more serious tone to highlight just how influential stereotypes and bias can be in one’s adolescence and coming of age, just as the perspective of a young girl being told what to do and what not to do in Kincaid’s story adds meaningfulness to her writing. The use of tone in "Indian Education" indicates the hurtfulness and great effects that the mistreatment from his peers has on Alexie.
In one section, Alexie talks about reading the newspaper after he contributes to losing a game for his school basketball team, coincidentally named the Indians, when he describes, "...I pick up the sports page and read the headline: INDIANS LOSE AGAIN. Go ahead and tell me none of this is supposed to hurt me very much" (179). In using this tone, Alexie manages to show the irony and shame in that phrase in such a way that it speaks for itself. Instead of merely explaining the centuries of oppression and the personal humiliation that it holds for him, he captures it flawlessly with his sardonic tone. In the context of his people’s history, Native Americans had constantly been On a personal level, he feels he has failed his people by being unable to help lead his team to victory. As he explains prior to displaying the headline, he missed several free shots that could have won the game for his team. Many may have doubted his ability due to his ethnic background, and he felt he had the chance to not only prove them wrong but make his entire race proud, and he felt as if he blew it. Alexie manifests his frustrations and shame over the racial stereotyping towards him in his uniquely grim and sarcastic
tone. In addition, the point of view in “Girl” adds great power and emotion to the story. In the piece, a girl is being told by what could be a motherly figure, or perhaps recalling herself, what she, as a girl, can and cannot do. One rule in which she is told to abide by is to not be a slut, as is communicated numerous times in the passage, when she is told, "...try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming... this is how to hem a dress when you see the hem coming down and so to prevent yourself from looking like the slut I know you are so bent on becoming... this is how to behave in the presence of men who don't know you very well, and this way they won't recognize immediately the slut I have warned you against becoming..." (320-321). The perspective of the young girl herself is what makes the passage maintain its power and its message. While it might be blatantly obvious that the message of not being a "slut" or a certain type of woman is not a good message to send to adolescent girls, it becomes much more concerning once that message is seen from the perspective of a teenage girl herself. The girl in this story internalizes what has been repeated to her on many occasions and realizes the expectations set forth for her in a very poignant manner. Additionally, the young girl in the story is told to fake being someone she is not, when told to fulfill all of the domestic work, and also when told, "...this is how you smile to someone you don't like very much; this is how you smile to someone you don't like at all, this is how you smile to someone you like completely..." (320). This demonstrates how the girl knows the great deal expectations set forth for her and they are finally starting to resonate with her. "Girl" displays how gender roles are extremely prevalent, even at a young age. Therefore, being a minority or a young woman can have a great impact on growing up. While the harassment towards a woman and a Native American and the expectations put forth for them will be damaging towards their sense of self worth, it also can help them find their voice, and shape them into the people that they become in both positive and negative aspects. Sherman Alexie's "Indian Education" uses a grim, ironic and sarcastic tone to demonstrate how upsetting the prejudicial ideas directed towards him and his people can be. Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" turns what would otherwise be a list of stereotypes into a moving and powerful story through telling it through the eyes of a young girl. Overall, both stories show the repercussions that come being in a marginalized group as a young adult.
Manifest destiny has been idealized in America since the budding of the nation, and in the late 1800s it went hand in hand with the American Dream. It was government funded and railroad approved, as both ruling powers promised immigrants and citizens a prosperous life in the West. Americans weren’t apt to allow anything to keep from recognizing their dream, and unfortunately Native American tribes in the West proved to be roadblocks for American settlers. Thus began the dissolution of tribes and the belief that colonization of the Native Americans would be anything but destructive. Though these actions may have been met with relief from American settlers, the implications of cultural immersion and forced education proved to be disadvantageous to Native Americans residing in the West.
In “Girl,” Jamaica Kincaid’s use of repetitive syntax and intense diction help to underscore the harsh confines within which women are expected to exist. The entire essay is told from the point of view of a mother lecturing her daughter about how to be a proper lady. The speaker shifts seamlessly between domestic chores—”This is how you sweep a house”—and larger lessons: “This is how you smile to someone you don’t like too much; this is how you smile to someone you don’t like at all…” (Kincaid 1). The way in which the speaker bombards the girl overwhelms the reader, too. Every aspect of her life is managed, to the point where all of the lessons she receives throughout her girlhood blur together as one run-on sentence.
The author faces both gender and religious oppression in her home. At first, the author seems like she was a young and immature child, getting an occasional whipping every so often, that she is “used to.” This was partly due to the fact that the author did not act like what a girl should. The author states that she was
How White people assumed they were better than Indians and tried to bully a young boy under the US Reservation. Alexie was bullied by his classmates, teammates, and teachers since he was young because he was an Indian. Even though Alexie didn’t come from a good background, he found the right path and didn’t let his hands down. He had two ways to go to, either become a better, educated and strong person, either be like his brother Steven that was following a bad path, where Alexie chose to become a better and educated person. I believe that Alexie learned how to get stronger, and stand up for himself in the hard moments of his life by many struggles that he passed through. He overcame all his struggles and rose above them
What do the following words or phrases have in common: “the last departure,”, “final curtain,” “the end,” “darkness,” “eternal sleep”, “sweet release,” “afterlife,” and “passing over”? All, whether grim or optimistic, are synonymous with death. Death is a shared human experience. Regardless of age, gender, race, religion, health, wealth, or nationality, it is both an idea and an experience that every individual eventually must confront in the loss of others and finally face the reality of our own. Whether you first encounter it in the loss of a pet, a friend, a family member, a neighbor, a pop culture icon, or a valued community member, it can leave you feeling numb, empty, and shattered inside. But, the world keeps turning and life continues. The late Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers and of Pixar Animation Studios, in his 2005 speech to the graduating class at Stanford, acknowledged death’s great power by calling it “the single best invention of Life” and “Life’s great change agent.” How, in all its finality and accompanying sadness, can death be good? As a destination, what does it have to teach us about the journey?
Adjusting to another culture is a difficult concept, especially for children in their school classrooms. In Sherman Alexie’s, “Indian Education,” he discusses the different stages of a Native Americans childhood compared to his white counterparts. He is describing the schooling of a child, Victor, in an American Indian reservation, grade by grade. He uses a few different examples of satire and irony, in which could be viewed in completely different ways, expressing different feelings to the reader. Racism and bullying are both present throughout this essay between Indians and Americans. The Indian Americans have the stereotype of being unsuccessful and always being those that are left behind. Through Alexie’s negativity and humor in his essay, it is evident that he faces many issues and is very frustrated growing up as an American Indian. Growing up, Alexie faces discrimination from white people, who he portrays as evil in every way, to show that his childhood was filled with anger, fear, and sorrow.
In the short story, “Girl,” the narrator describes certain tasks a woman should be responsible for based on the narrator’s culture, time period, and social standing. This story also reflects the coming of age of this girl, her transition into a lady, and shows the age gap between the mother and the daughter. The mother has certain beliefs that she is trying to pass to her daughter for her well-being, but the daughter is confused by this regimented life style. The author, Jamaica Kincaid, uses various tones to show a second person point of view and repetition to demonstrate what these responsibilities felt like, how she had to behave based on her social standing, and how to follow traditional customs.
Growing up on a reservation where failing was welcomed and even somewhat encouraged, Alexie was pressured to conform to the stereotype and be just another average Indian. Instead, he refused to listen to anyone telling him how to act, and pursued his own interests in reading and writing at a young age. He looks back on his childhood, explaining about himself, “If he'd been anything but an Indian boy living on the reservation, he might have been called a prodigy. But he is an Indian boy living on the reservation and is simply an oddity” (17). Alexie compares the life and treatment of an Indian to life as a more privileged child. This side-by-side comparison furthers his point that
Adolescents experience a developmental journey as they transition from child to adult, and in doing so are faced with many developmental milestones. Physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes are occurring during this tumultuous stage of life, and making sense of one’s self and identity becomes a priority. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian addresses the challenges of adolescence in an engaging tale, but deals with minority communities and cultures as well.
This paper argued that the mother in Jamaica Kincaid’s short story “Girl” is loving towards her daughter because the mother is taking time to teaching her daughter how to be a woman, and because she wants to protect her in the future from society’s judgment. Kincaid showed that the mother cared and loved her daughter. The mother wants her daughter to know how to run a home and how to keep her life in order to societies standards. Alongside practical advice, the mother instructs her daughter on how to live a fulfilling
All over the world, people have always sought for power, they have struggled to defend their culture; they have worked beyond imaginable to obtain economic prosperity and political freedom. A matter of fact equality is something that nowadays we are still fighting to obtain. Education has always been the key to power. In the twenty-first century education means a way to obtain the American dream, in other words, to achieve success. However, schools were never intended to empower people to think for themselves or to help them succeed. At the beginning of the American school, different groups of people wanted different things to come out of schooling, one of those things was to facilitate reading the bible in the text it states that “Schooling became important as a means of sustaining a well- ordered religious commonwealth” (Spring 22).
Racism, stereotypes, and white privilege are all concepts that affect all of us, whether we believe it or not. If an adolescent of a minority can distinguish these concepts in his society, then we all should be aware of them. These concepts are all clearly demonstrated in “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian”. Anyone and everyone could clearly understand this novel, but the intended audience is middle school to college level students. The novel’s goal is to help white students understand the effects of white privilege in an easier, more understandable way.
The mother cautions her daughter endlessly, emphasising on how much she wants her to realize her role in the society by acting like a woman in order to be respected by the community and the world at large. Thus, Jamaica Kincaid’s work argues that traditional gender roles are learned because at a young age children are taught how to act masculine and feminine. According to Carol Baileys article on Performance and the Gendered Body in Jamaica Kincaid’s ‘Girl’ “The poem is a fictional representation of the double-edged tendencies which involve child-rearing practices in many Caribbean societies: as the mother provides guidelines for living, the moments of care are constantly weakened by the severity evident in what the mother is actually saying and the fact that her daughter is lectured with little room for discussion” (Carol Bailey 106). The instructions in the poem “Girl” reveal an effective performance of gender roles assigned to women in the Caribbean societies, which shows significant acts in domestic, social, and other spheres.
“Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie is narrative in which he captures the essence of being an Indian and which the story is told from his perspective and he expresses his personal sentiments of what he endures being an Indian attending school. Alexie maintains a clear narrative order by using headings which are classified by each grade starting from Kindergarten to Senior year. Alexie does not use clear and succinct transitions but he ends each narrative with a sarcastic or thought-provoking statement or thought and it refers or concludes that paragraph for what he is initially talking about in that heading. These food for thought statements that Alexie ends his paragraphs with gives us insight into Alexie’s style as a writer and has a symbolic meaning to the overall narrative and sentiment expressed by Alexie towards
The short story, Girl, by Jamaica Kincaid, can very easily be related directly to the author’s own life. Kincaid had a close relationship with her mother until her three younger brothers were born. After the birth of her brothers, three major values of her mother became apparent to Kincaid. In turn, Kincaid used the three values of her mother to write the short story, Girl. Specifically, these values led to three themes being formed throughout the story. It appears in the short story that the mother was simply looking out for her daughter; however, in all reality, the mother is worried about so much more. Kincaid uses the themes of negativity towards female sexuality, social norms and stereotypes, and the significant