Quote:
“They [Indians] gave them such as they had to eat. They did not hold out their hands and say: “You can’t have anything to eat unless you pay me.” No,-no such word was used by us savages at that time” (Winnemucca, 504)
Summary:
This extract from Chapter I of Life Among the Piutes, is Sarah Winnemucca comparison between her people and the white people that settled in America. She is basically saying that whites would ask for money before helping others, while her people would help white people freely.
Response:
In this extract Winnemucca is clearly comparing both races, and she is basically saying that her people are better in what are common sense and human values. She is basically exposing her truth and she is sort of reproaching the fact that white people’s values were so twisted, even though the Indians were the ones considered savages.
I find a clear irony in what she is saying because, she is using a narrative technique that would make people think Indians were really good “people”, which was one of her objectives. Plus, she is using the word “savages”, a word that would be common to be used by white people, and she uses it to her own convenience. She is basically saying “you whites are the real savages”, thus, she is giving these indirect messages that show she had an immense courage while standing in front of people who were mostly white; however, I think these messages passed somehow unnoticed by people who were not really paying attention to her when she was doing her speech.
Furthermore, I do think this message passed unnoticed because, any white men who is paying attention to her speech would have reacted to this statement and would have done something to her, since after all she was only an Indian. Therefore, she is getting away with insulting white men, a thing I think would be very reasonable for her to do, while trying to convince her “audience” that Indians were kind and civilized.
“They [Indians] gave them such as they had to eat. They did not hold out their hands and say: “You can’t have anything to eat unless you pay me.” No,-no such word was used by us savages at that time” (Winnemucca, 504)
Summary:
This extract from Chapter I of Life Among the Piutes, is Sarah Winnemucca comparison between her people and the white people that settled in America. She is basically saying that whites would ask for money before helping others, while her people would help white people freely.
Response:
In this extract Winnemucca is clearly comparing both races, and she is basically saying that her people are better in what are common sense and human values. She is basically exposing her truth and she is sort of reproaching the fact that white people’s values were so twisted, even though the Indians were the ones considered savages.
I find a clear irony in what she is saying because, she is using a narrative technique that would make people think Indians were really good “people”, which was one of her objectives. Plus, she is using the word “savages”, a word that would be common to be used by white people, and she uses it to her own convenience. She is basically saying “you whites are the real savages”, thus, she is giving these indirect messages that show she had an immense courage while standing in front of people who were mostly white; however, I think these messages passed somehow unnoticed by people who were not really paying attention to her when she was doing her speech.
Furthermore, I do think this message passed unnoticed because, any white men who is paying attention to her speech would have reacted to this statement and would have done something to her, since after all she was only an Indian. Therefore, she is getting away with insulting white men, a thing I think would be very reasonable for her to do, while trying to convince her “audience” that Indians were kind and civilized.
1 comment:
20/20 It's a savagely difficult task, don't you agree?
Post a Comment