September 12, 2012
Barriers can blind
our perspectives and cloud our vision. As seen in The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera revolves this blinded vision around
Kahu and the gender barrier that is
holding back relationships in the family. This gender barrier is
creating divergences in this dynamic. This gender barrier theme is also seen in
other works of literature and in poetry. Yosef Kommunyakaa also expresses a
gender barrier in his work titled Slam,
Dunk, & Hook. This gender barrier is also revolved around the female
gender. This work of literature attempts to break down this barrier as the
women play basketball and feel “beautiful and dangerous.” A barrier parallel
can be seen between Frost and Ihimaera as well. This barrier is shown through a
neighbor’s fence in the work Mending
Wall. These hindrances are seen throughout the stated works of literature.
Another common aspect seen between The
Whale Rider and Common Ground is
nationalism for ones culture. This parallel is shown through the cultural pride
that each of these works expresses. One could compare “the digital divide” in The Service of Faith and the Promotion of
Justice with the collision of the traditional past with the present time
frame in The Whale Rider. I believe that
the Jesuit higher education resembles Nanny Flowers in a way because they both
“embrace new ways of learning.”
The barrier that
is created in The Mending Wall is symbolized in the division of property due
to this fence. The speaker does not see any use for the wall and believes there
is no reason as to why it is still standing. The neighbor on the other hand
believes there is a need for the wall. Just as the neighbor repeats, “good
fences make good neighbors,” Koro refuses to let down the gender barrier that
he holds true for Kahu. These two characters are exemplifying an outdated era
where a barrier is not needed.
In the work of
literature Slam, Dunk, & Hook, the
women feel strong and independent as they “dribble, drive to the inside, feint,
& glide like a sparrow hawk.” This can correlate to what Kahu feels like in
The Whale Rider as she attempts to be
the leader of the Maori community or when she communicates to the whales and
other sea creatures. Another parallel between the themes that were presented in
class and another work of literature is seen in the work Common Ground. This poem characterizes people seeing the beauty in
your culture just as all the characters in The
Whale Rider did in their own way.
In conclusion, a
common theme shown throughout all the aspects of literature discussed is barriers
and cultural pride. There are all parallel aspects of pride in an acitivty or a
barrier creating in a divergence in relationships in Common Ground, Mending Wall, Slam, Dunk, & Hook, and Peter-Hans
Kolvenbach The Service of Faith and the
Promotion of Justice in American Jesuit Higher Education.
No comments:
Post a Comment