Moana Discovery

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Personal discovers emerge from a sense of curiosity and desire, creating new perspectives and understandings, causing us to question our abilities and focus on our future. The film Moana, directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, explores this through the emotional and spiritual self-discovery of the main character, Moana. Her spiritual discovery is most prominent, as she conflicts between the views of her family and her ancestors, wanting to follow her culture and destiny but also wanting to protect her people. During the opening, the Ocean presents a young Moana with a small, yellow and pink conch shell. More appear, leading her further into the ocean to pick them up. This reoccurring symbol of shells are significant features, causing her …show more content…

The poem “Still I Rise”, written by Maya Angelou, explores this concept, featuring the emotional and spiritual self-discovery of the author. Angelou expresses that she will not succumb to discrimination towards her African-American heritage, but rather show pride and understand her true value and worth. This passion and fervour can also be seen in ‘The Awakening’, with Edna’s unapologetic view of women causing her to break social norms and go against society at the time. Angelou’s spiritual discovery is represented through the repetitive motif of mining imagery, such as oil wells, gold and diamonds. Angelou relates this to her experiences as an African-American woman, using domestic settings such as the living room and the backyard, coupled with attributes such as sexiness and sassiness. The characteristics mirror those of the mining resources - they must be ‘mined’ in order to fully discover the true nature and essence of these women. These powerful and rare riches are placed within domestic settings, allowing such profound and personal discoveries to revitalise these environments as well as presenting possibility for change, even throughout ordinary

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