Empowerment and Recognition: A Look into WASP

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Sherri Smith had several purposes in writing the novel. The first one is to recognize the women who were a part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). In the author’s note, she actually addressed this was indeed one of her purposes. They became a part of the army in 1942, and had many valuable accomplishments to it.One that they wrote about being B-29 Superfortress, that two women test flew. The men called it a ‘Widowmaker.’ They made several trips before having to stop by a male commanding officer. Eventually the WASPs were allowed to become officers. The next purpose was to prove that you may have hurdles to achieve your dreams. Ida Mae, the protagonist, was both black and female ‘two strikes against her,’ as the book puts it. However, …show more content…

Women, at that time and age, were underrated and considered unimportant as well. When Jackie Cochran began the WASP, there were lots of complaints about women and that they shouldn’t have been allowed in the army (The Air Force was not a separate thing yet). However, as I mentioned earlier, without women, they probably would have not accomplished a number of things, such as ending the war. Many of the women in the WASP sacrificed by giving up their time and families. For example, from the book, Lily Lowenstein was to be married to the love of her life, Harry Cohen. However, when Harry became a doctor for the army, Lily decided she couldn’t sit around and do nothing, so she became a pilot. They both did something valuable for their country, and got married. I believe I covered both the first one and the last one here, so continuing. Ida, Patsy (a minor character), and Lily all faced their share of hurdles. Lily is getting married, Ida didn’t know how to swim, and Patsy stunting off a headstrong flight instructor. They also all face their share of tragedies as well, with Ida blocked out from her mother and her brother going missing. Lily becomes pregnant near the end of the book and not being able to be a pilot, and Patsy eventually burns up in an airplane. They all, however, pushed forward and pursue their dreams, despite this

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