Essay About Colonial Literature Essay And Author Lee Maracle

Post-Colonial Literature Essay: Ravensong – Essay – rwak
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Post-Colonial Literature Essay: Ravensong
Post-Colonial Literature Essay: Ravensong
Post-colonialism speaks about the human consequences of external control and economic exploitation of native people and their lands. Post-colonial literature often focuses on race relations and the effects of racism, within colonial societies. In the novel Ravensong, the author Lee Maracle addresses the separation between the whites and the Natives. She makes it clear that they are not seen as equals and goes onto further to demonstrate the oppression of the Native people. Lee Maracle’s quote displayed in Canadian Literature “plagued by our colonial condition” has significant meaning regarding post-colonialism and the effects it has on Canadian writers. In the eyes of Lee Maracle, she believes that Canadian writers continue to write literature about the violence, poverty, rape and inequality of the native people. She explains that, “We must move past what is — re-enter our dream space and recreate ourselves. We must get away from the forts door where the scent of pillage and imprisonment still terrorizes our dreams.” (Sugars, 206) In this quote, she explains that the Canadian Native writers need to move forward with a different vision from the past. They should not continue to emphasize the past shortcomings of the community. The focus for change should be on giving the Natives equal rights and opportunities to achieve success. This quote relates the main character of Ravensong, Stacey, as she strives to recreate her image and break away from the stereotype of Native people. This is demonstrated through the main character Stacey, as the audience is able to observe what it is like to exist within both communities and the distinction between both societies. She allows the reader to view the differences between the two communities and how the Native society is treated unfairly compared to the white society. This theme is also present with other Canadian Native Authors like Hayden Taylor, who demonstrates the difficulties Native face living in a white dominant society. As is illustrated with the main character Stacey, the Natives are treated differently because of their race, economic and social disadvantage. As a consequence of post-colonial conditions, it hinders our understanding of how Native writers communicate their experiences and the audiences interpretation of their literature.

In the novel, the character Stacey lives between two worlds, the white world, and the Native world. She is a seventeen year old Native girl that lives half a mile away from a white town where she attends school. Stacey is two months away from graduating high school to go onto university in order to fulfill her dreams of becoming a teacher. She experiences a life changing experience when one of her classmates Polly commits suicide. This tragic event has a profound effect on Stacey that leads her to question what she believes in. Polly was tormented and humiliated because she was exposed in front of her classmates regarding her lack of chastity. Stacey can relate to Polly as they both get betrayed and embarrassed by their peers. The laughter of the students cut deep for Stacey as she revisits how she got laughed at and ridiculed all throughout high school because she was different. Stacey could not believe how mean they were to Polly as they condemned her for doing the same act as half of them had done. This is a devastating moment for Stacey because she realizes that the people she tried to emulate are hypocrites. “I am obsessed with living like these people but I can’t stand them anymore.” (Maracle, 37) Stacey devoted her entire life to the idea of being like the white people, but she realizes that their way of life is nothing like she imagined it to be. This idea of her dream being shattered was emphasized by the quote, “She really wanted to shape a life for herself that was different from her parents’ lives. All the sacrifices she had made in the interest of the dream mocked her.” (Maracle, 26) In addition to this event, she is also burdened by the fact of the epidemic flu breaking out within her community.

The audience is also able to recognize the differences between both communities when it comes to the common issue, of illness. In Ravensong, an epidemic flu enters the community and Stacey must begin to prepare for what is to come. She must put her life on hold to help those that become infected with the flu. In the Native communities, it is not uncommon for women to put their lives on hold and attend to those who are ill. It is rare for the Native community to take a person to the hospital unless it was completely necessary or life-threatening. This contrasted the white society when it came down to any illness as they were quickly rushed to the hospital by their community. One significant difference is the medical treatment that is given to the white people compared to the Natives. In the novel, Stacey

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(2017, 05). Post-Colonial Literature Essay: Ravensong. EssaysForStudent.com. Retrieved 05, 2017, from
“Post-Colonial Literature Essay: Ravensong” EssaysForStudent.com. 05 2017. 2017. 05 2017 < "Post-Colonial Literature Essay: Ravensong." EssaysForStudent.com. EssaysForStudent.com, 05 2017. Web. 05 2017. < "Post-Colonial Literature Essay: Ravensong." EssaysForStudent.com. 05, 2017. Accessed 05, 2017. Essay Preview By: rwak Submitted: May 17, 2017 Essay Length: 1,651 Words / 7 Pages Paper type: Essay Views: 537 Report this essay Tweet Related Essays Post Colonial George, Rosemary Marangoly, and Helen Scott. "An Interview with Tsitsi Dangarembga." Novel (Spring 1993):309-319. [This interview was conducted at the African Writers Festival, Brown Univ., 254 Words  |  2 Pages Post Colonialism in Ernest Hemingway's “indian Camp” Ernest Hemingway attempts to describe the interactions of white Americans and Native Americans in his short story “Indian Camp.” By closely reading this short story 1,799 Words  |  8 Pages Aboriginal Identity in Post-Colonial Australia Aboriginal Identity in Post-Colonial Australia The ‘colonisation’ of Australia by Europeans has caused a lot of problem for the local Aborigines. It drastically reduced their 1,482 Words  |  6 Pages Post Colonial Literature in Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys is the author of many short stories and novels, of which perhaps Wide Sargasso Sea is best known. Rhys is known as a 897 Words  |  4 Pages Similar Topics Literature World Literature Essay Get Access to 89,000+ Essays and Term Papers Join 209,000+ Other Students High Quality Essays and Documents Sign up © 2008–2020 EssaysForStudent.comFree Essays, Book Reports, Term Papers and Research Papers Essays Sign up Sign in Contact us Site Map Privacy Policy Terms of Service Facebook Twitter