In "The Rez Sisters" by Tomson Highway, the play greatly demonstrates the themes of love, compassion, and honour, showing us how these virtues can help heal the earth and each other. The story revolves around a group of Indigenous women on a reserve in Canada, each dealing with their own struggles and dreams. Through their obstacles and journeys, the play focuses’ the importance of love, compassion, and honour in fostering healing and unity within the community. The Rez Sisters is not just a story about individual goals, but a deep look into the connection between human bonds and nature. Love is a main theme in "The Rez Sisters," as the characters navigate relationships, family interactions, and personal growth. The bond between the sisters on the reserve shows the power of love in overcoming challenges and supporting one another through difficult times. For example, Pelajia Patchnose's dream of going to Toronto is not just for her own benefit, but also a way to bring something back to her community. The love and support among the sisters is clearly portrayed when they rally together to raise money for their trip. Pelajia says, "We have to do this together." We have to help each other." This collective …show more content…
Marie-Adele Starblanket's battle with cancer and her hope to provide for her children obtain deep compassion from her sisters. The other women, aside from their own struggles, show lots of empathy towards her dilemma. Annie Cook, for example, expresses her worry and support by saying, "Marie-Adele, we're here for you, no matter what." These acts of compassion create a supportive network that helps the characters cope with their individual and group challenges. By showing compassion, they not only heal each other's emotional scars but also help towards the healing of the earth through peace and
"’Except the bad thing is, the real humdinger, see, is that I tried for CO status, being a Christian and all. And weird things happened. And…well…I didn’t get it." Page 358
As Mother’s Day approaches, writer Penny Rudge salutes “Matriarchs [who] come in different guises but are instantly recognizable: forceful women, some well-intentioned, others less so, but all exerting an unstoppable authority over their clan” (Penny Rudge), thereby revealing the immense presence of women in the American family unit. A powerful example of a mother’s influence is illustrated in Native American society whereby women are called upon to confront daily problems associated with reservation life. The instinct for survival occurs almost at birth resulting in the development of women who transcend a culture predicated on gender bias. In Love Medicine, a twentieth century novel about two families who reside on the Indian reservation, Louise Erdrich tells the story of Marie Lazarre and Lulu Lamartine, two female characters quite different in nature, who are connected by their love and lust for Nector Kashpaw, head of the Chippewa tribe. Marie is a member of a family shunned by the residents of the reservation, and copes with the problems that arise as a result of a “childhood, / the antithesis of a Norman Rockwell-style Anglo-American idyll”(Susan Castillo), prompting her to search for stability and adopt a life of piety. Marie marries Nector Kashpaw, a one-time love interest of Lulu Lamartine, who relies on her sexual prowess to persevere, resulting in many liaisons with tribal council members that lead to the birth of her sons. Although each female character possibly hates and resents the other, Erdrich avoids the inevitable storyline by focusing on the different attributes of these characters, who unite and form a force that evidences the significance of survival, and the power of the feminine bond in Native Americ...
In the early 1900’s, women and African Americans did not have any rights. When standing up for their rights they were sometimes punished for their views. It was also undesirable for women to speak in public. However, that did not stop Sarah and Angelina Grimke, because they believed in their rights and that they could change these social statuses. They were the first prominent female abolitionists. They faced hardships like sexism and traitors because they were both women and against slavery.
The play The Rez Sisters is written by one of Canada's most celebrated playwrights, Tomson Highway. Highway was born in 1951 in northwestern Manitoba. He went on to study at the University of Manitoba and graduated from the University of Western Ontario, with honors in Music and English. Native Literature is inspired by 'contemporary social problems facing native Canadians today; alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, wife battering, family violence, the racism of the justice system, loneliness, rejection, youth awareness, as well as modern-day environmental issues.';(P. 172 Native Literature in Canada.) Highway once said, 'We grew up with myths. They're the core of our identity as people.';(P. 172 Native Literature in Canada.) I am going to focus on the image and identity of Native people as seen through the play The Rez Sisters.
... However, through the narrators partial freedom she more importantly finds a new compassionate/humane path on her journey to womanhood. Also, this new path in itself acts as a sort of self-healing for the grief experienced by the narrator. Though only partial freedom was found and cultural boundaries were not shattered, simply battered, the narrator’s path was much preferable to that of her sisters (those who conformed to cultural boundaries).
In the 19th Century, women had different roles and treated differently compared to today’s women in American society. In the past, men expected women to carry out the duties of a homemaker, which consisted of cleaning and cooking. In earlier years, men did not allow women to have opinions or carry on a job outside of the household. As today’s societies, women leave the house to carry on jobs that allow them to speak their minds and carry on roles that men carried out in earlier years. In the 19th Century, men stereotyped women to be insignificant, not think with their minds about issues outside of the kitchen or home. In the play Trifles, written by Susan Glaspell, the writer portrays how women in earlier years have no rights and men treat women like dirt. Trifles is based on real life events of a murder that Susan Glaspell covered during her work as a newspaper reporter in Des Moines and the play is based off of Susan Glaspell’s earlier writing, “A Jury of Her Peers”. The play is about a wife of a farmer that appears to be cold and filled with silence. After many years of the husband treating the wife terrible, the farmer’s wife snaps and murders her husband. In addition, the play portrays how men and women may stick together in same sex roles in certain situations. The men in the play are busy looking for evidence of proof to show Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. As for the women in the play, they stick together by hiding evidence to prove Mrs. Wright murdered her husband. Although men felt they were smarter than women in the earlier days, the play describes how women are expected of too much in their roles, which could cause a woman to emotionally snap, but leads to women banding together to prove that women can be...
In The Rez Sisters by Cree playwright Tomson Highway, the family road trip promotes each woman’s understanding of their relationships by creating an environment for personal growth and discovery. The road trip, with the help of Nanabush, helps reconnect the sisters and strengthen their bond so they are prepared for Marie-Adele's death. The inter-family conflicts show how the sisters encourage each other to be better people, survive the struggles of living on the rez, and support each other through hard times.
The play “God and the Indian”, written by Drew Hayden Taylor, is a story of reconciliation told through dialogue between two people. The main characters are Johnny, a middle aged Cree woman who grew up in a residential school and George King, who is an Archbishop and was a teacher at the residential school. The title of the play is relevant because the character Johnny doesn’t see how God could have allowed the horrible things to happen to the children and probably wonders where God was. The major theme of this play was reconciliation between a child who had been abused and the person she accuses of abusing her. The play describes some of the abuse of the children in residential schools and the long term effects on one of them.
She hopes that her sister will find love, not like the “love” of her parents, but real love. And
In the book named “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams display many perspectives of cultural and morality difference. William shows the vulnerability of the female role in this play Stella and Blanch find happiness through the dependence on men even if they treat them nicely or insult them in anyway. William showcases the setting by institution and attitude in the setting of the postwar American where restrictions are held against women and this is shown through Stella and Blanche’s treatment from men in the play. Blanche and Stella sustain on the men to bring themselves up and create a perfect on self-image in their mind of themselves because they believe what they are told by the men. This idea is stated because they show the stereotypes in the postwar era where the show the domination of their opinion on gender.
Mariam and Laila are considerate, bold and protective while all their rights as humans are being oppressed. They can be courageous when there is everything to be afraid of, yet they take the risk, because they know it is right. Both will protect when they haven’t been protected from the danger of oppression. Laila and Mariam can be sympathetic in an inconsiderate world. Together, Mariam and Laila exemplify the hidden defiance against oppression, a burning fire counterattacking the darkness.
The oppression of women dies with Aunt Jennifer. Rich used the words “terrified,” “ringed,” “ordeals” and “mastered,” in the final stanza, to revisit the suffering these women felt, trapped in an unfulfilling mold of good wife and mother. In the lines that follow, “prancing,” “proud” and “unafraid,” provide a contrast to the misery, displaying a sense of perseverance. The tigers, the very spirit of feminism, will outlive
The leading female protagonist, Blanche Dubois, serves as an allegory for the loss of the Old South, representing the genteel society of Southern plantation owners through the nineteenth century. The DuBois sisters serve as remnants of Southern aristocracy. After the loss of Belle Reve, all that remains are idealistic pretensions. It is these pretensions that Blanche uses as a foundation to construct a new reality for herself. In contrast the character of Stanley suggests that the reality of a changing society is not a kind or merciful one.
This argument showcases an issue in today's society, where people are skeptical of rape accusations and choose to ignore or turn their head to the topic of sexual harassment and domestic abuse. Society alludes to the idea that women put themselves in vulnerable situations for men to take advantage of them. With the realistic plot and dynamic between Stanley, Stella, and Blanche, the rape and abuse scenes are highly predictable. This candor in the play brings recognition to talk about the issue of what consensual sex means today. However, the play depicts explicit scenes of what a relationship is, which will lead to an inaccurate understanding of sex and violence, where woman are forever inferior to men.
The women in the novel always stay together besides her differences. The bond of sisterhood is seen through the novel in the characters of Nellie and Celie, Sofia and Odessa, Tashi and Olivia, Celie and Shug (sisters and lovers), and even between Mary Agnes and Sofia, who share the same love interest (Harpo). Their bond is so tight that Mary Agnes is a victim of rape by her white uncle in order to get Sofia freed from jail. In the same way, when Mary Agnes decides to be a singer on tour it is Sofia who looks after her daughter, Suzie Q. Even the Olinka women bond together,