Preview

Symbolism In The World On The Turtle's Back

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
670 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Symbolism In The World On The Turtle's Back
The World on the Turtle’s back is an appealing story written by an Iroquois; is about a woman and what could happen when if she did not do what she was supposed to do. But most importantly the story is to teach and inform the younger people how the people were in Native American times. One way he showed how they were is by using literary devices in his short story, or in other words: creation myth. First and foremost, the Iroquois use allusions to Native American tradition gender roles in order to teach the younger generation how to be proper Iroquois husband and wives. For instance, the Iroquois warns that if young girls have curiosity or nag their husbands, they will get summarily pushed out of their protective society just so quickly as the “husband fed up with all [the demands] [his wife] has made on him, pushed her.” These allusions create substantial fear in the younger generation, enough to educate and change behavior. Second of all, the Iroquois used a royalty allusion in the short story because of what happen to the woman. For example “Great Sea turtle came and agreed to receive her in his back.” I believe Iroquois is portraying that Great Sea turtle represents a king and is “receiving [her] in his back” which means castle. This …show more content…
The Iroquois portrays women had no say in what would happen to them. When the “West Wind” surprises the young girl, she automatically “faints” leaving her unable to consent to anything. In spite of this the West Wind despicably takes advantage of her and “reached into his quiver, and he took out two arrows, one sharp, [the other] blunt, and he laid them across the body of the girl and quietly went away. The Iroquois is explaining that women had no right to say or do anything, like if he wanted her to be pregnant, she would get pregnant, whether she wanted to or
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    A Critical Analysis of “My Kiowa Grandmother, ” and “Take My Saddle from the Wall: a Valediction”
    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages

    A Critical Analysis of “My Kiowa Grandmother, ” and “Take My Saddle from the Wall: a Valediction”

    The purpose of N. Scott Momaday’s essay, “My Kiowa Grandmother,” is personal self-expression, because he attempts to define his own values and judgments through an exploration of the memories and stories he has of his grandmother and ancestors. The title of Momaday’s essay sets the stage for the rest of his words. “My Kiowa Grandmother,” becomes an exploration of who she was and the values that she lived by as part of the last generation of true Kiowa Indians. The essay that ensues is about Momaday collecting his interpretations of her life and analyzing the stories to find the values that the Kiowa honored and followed. Through his exploration, Momaday establishes a system of values that he chooses to try to follow himself. The essay’s content is divided not by a beginning, middle, and an end, but rather through a series of episodes and recollections that are slightly disconnected but belong to a larger picture. The essay is filled with descriptions of the land the Kiowa dwelled on and the manner in which they lost that land, thus forcing them onto a reservation. He discusses the journey his ancestors took as he himself travels in their footsteps a century later across North America, from Montana to Arkansas, where the Kiowa lived for many decades. He then begins to offer a more personal view of…

    • 1815 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles In Theda Perdue
    • 102 Words
    • 1 Page

    Gender Roles In Theda Perdue

    During the seventh to nineteenth century, the Cherokee underwent a time of gender and cultural change. In her well-written Cherokee Women: Gender and Cultural Change, 1700-1835, historical professor Theda Perdue rewrites the history of the Cherokee people both by placing women at the center and by examining their gender roles. Throughout the novel, Theda Perdue successfully argues previous narratives and offers a different reading of history. In order to support such an alternate history, the author offers a detailed timeline of the events that created a substantial shift in the gender roles of the Cherokee between the years of 1700 and…

    • 102 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did Native Americans Affect The Culture Of Appalachia?
    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Did Native Americans Affect The Culture Of Appalachia?

    European immigrant males discovered that the Native American men and women’s roles in domestic culture differed from their traditional ways. The Native American women maintained the home place and the male role was to hunt and fight, to the degree that the males would mostly live in the woods. The European women soon learned to what degree the Native American women were held to and found that the Native American woman’s life was more appealing than their own oppressive life. There were many European women that eventually migrated to this Indian culture and refused to return to their traditional lives with European men. This way of life also appealed to younger European men, who had to toil under the direct supervision of their fathers. The freedom of the woods seemed much more appealing to them. There was also a cultural change for the Cherokee male in that after becoming accustomed to trading with the Europeans, their role turned from hunter to income producer. These cultural changes defiantly had an impact on both the Europeans and the Native Americans as well. I believe that the European women that refused to return to their traditional ways and decided to live with the Native Americans could have been the very beginnings of the women’s movement for equal…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Book Review on Custer Died for Your Sins
    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Book Review on Custer Died for Your Sins

    In the first chapter of his manifesto, called Indians Today: The Real and Unreal, Deloria outlines the truths and purposeful deceptions on how American Indians were perceived by the white society in the 1960s. One of the most prevalent deceptions that the white people often abused was the notion that they had an Indian ancestor, most commonly an Indian grandmother of royal descent. Deloria explains that this false lineage may be due to a variety of reasons, but is likely an extension of the fact that white people believe that Indians are so easy to understand. Jokingly, he describes that he “once did a projection backward and discovered that evidently most tribes were entirely female for the first three hundred years of white occupation.” The author explores a serious topic of the underestimation of his people through ironic humor. It is this aspect of Deloria’s writing that makes it so unique and captivating at the same time. He is able to deal with serious issues and keep the reader interested. Overall, he expressed that his people suffer from this stereotyping and lack of true understanding because white people tend to believe they already understand Native Americans, labeling them as Indians, the lost tribe of Israelites and as wild animals, without taking the time to gain an understanding through true…

    • 1300 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    An Indian Father's Plea Analysis
    • 236 Words
    • 1 Page

    An Indian Father's Plea Analysis

    In the story “An Indian Father’s Plea”, the story shows how culture is oftenly affecting how one views others and the world by showing what Wind-Wolf did as a child before he went to school. For example, throughout the story, the father of Wind-Wolf shares to his teacher what Wind-Wolf was exposed to as a child, “. Because of this, Wind-Wolf’s educational setting was not only a “secure” environment, but it was also very colorful, complicated, sensitive, and diverse.” This can show that the child is exposed to his Native-American culture and later in the story, the father talks what the child does spiritually with his mother and what he experienced in his tribe. “Wind-Wolf was with his mother in South Dakota while she danced for seven days straight…

    • 236 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing The Creation Story 'The World On A Turtle's Back'
    • 96 Words
    • 1 Page

    Comparing The Creation Story 'The World On A Turtle's Back'

    The creation stories “The World on a Turtle’s Back” of the Iroquois and “The Golden Chain” of the Yoruba help to define what they see as their place in the world and what they value most. Values of the Iroquois include nature, balance, and natural cycles. Key values of the Yoruba are diversity, nature, and productivity. Both the Iroquois and the Yoruba tell tales encompassing the importance of nature and its purpose; however, their views on the roles of people on Earth and on new ways of thinking differ from each other, distinguishing the two…

    • 96 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Native American Iroquois Women's Roles
    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Native American Iroquois Women's Roles

    Divorce was very rarely an option for them and if it was the husband usually got everything including children over the age of seven. “If an Iroquois woman felt that a man was not being a good husband to her or a good father for her children, she could ask him to leave their dwelling and essentially divorce the man. The iroquois woman’s husband would normally live in the home of the wife’s clan and if the husband was asked to leave the family, the children remained with their mother.” The men owned their weapons, the clothes on their backs, and a few personal belongings; while women owned the farm equipment, cooking equipment, long houses and land that they…

    • 981 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Diversity In Traditional Tales Essay
    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Diversity In Traditional Tales Essay

    Female roles have been depicted differently under different culture background. From the example I list above, we can see how culture background has shaped the imagines of roles differently in traditional tales, and how those traditional tales impact children’s life in the same…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Expected Heroine Analysis
    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Expected Heroine Analysis

    The most fascinating aspect about any given folktale is that each story is somehow passed on to other countries and cultures, where the indigenous peoples modify it to make it their own. Even though they are able to add their own flavor to the story, the gender roles seem to hold the shape. Usually we see the hero as a male that ventured out to the unknown and by some trial he matures and returns the respected head of the household. Women on the other hand, only leave their parent’s household when her father has found a husband that he feels suits the family the best. The woman is then expected to fill the needs and desires of her husband all the while maintaining the household chores. A pleasant breaking of this gender…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Research Paper
    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Research Paper

    There is most certainly a sense of an imperfect balance between the feminine roles and the masculine roles in Things Fall Apart which the point of view helps distinguish. In some ways the roles seem to be balanced, however, in certain events it is clear that feminine roles are considered to be of less importance. For example, Okonkwo and other tribesmen think it is weak and womanly to show any emotion other than anger and feel that the “only thing worth demonstrating was strength” (Achebe 28). The mostly omniscient point of view helps to identify certain aspects of both feminine and male roles in Umuofia’s culture. It delves both into the thoughts of the tribesmen and also, into the thoughts of the wives and women.…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Navajo Culture
    • 2375 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Navajo Culture

    The relationships in Navajo society are very strong. Their system is organized in roles and expected role behavior which is shared by their whole society. Every role open to man is also open to women leaving little possibility for economic domination of one partner over the other.…

    • 2375 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Western Gender Roles
    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Western Gender Roles

    For example, in several Native American cultures, showing attributes of the opposite sex is not considered unnatural; many Native American cultures actually celebrate it. Various Native American cultures have two-spirit people who adopt the behavior and appearance of another sex. The difference between gender identity and sexual orientation is not recognized by western society, which is why there is a tendency to stereotype gender characteristics. Erdrich unearths contrasting ideas about gender characteristics. Nearly all the Native American characters in “The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse” challenge preconceived western gender ideologies. If a woman portrays masculine qualities, she is not shunned, but rather valued for having an important set of skills. For instance, Margaret Kapshaw often portrays behaviors of the opposite sex. Margaret’s masculine features and powerful presence is threatening to men, yet entices them. “She could chop wood, haul water, drop a wild goose from the sky by clipping off its head with one shot. Nobody bested her and nothing intimidated Margaret. She was a challenge that Nanapush could not resist” (Erdrich, 103). . Hunting and chopping wood are classified as masculine tasks, but Margaret’s masculine features are what make her successful as an Ojibwe woman. She enthralls Nanapush, her husband figure, and is often in control in their relationship. Margaret is also one of many wives who play…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Cherokee Removal
    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Cherokee Removal

    In this society, task division can be seen between genders. For example, women would farm and men would hunt. There was a townhouse where men and women would gather, it was a palace for debating and talking about important issues, and conduct ceremonies. The leader of the society was with one whom people would respect and follow him, rather than just a person who has born to office (p.3). There were reasons that white men considered Native Americans “uncivilized.” Cherokees or Native Americans were people who would live as a tribe, they had a leader and they would share the land that they were using for hunting. There were some laws and organizations. They had men who would fight and women who would farm and take care of the rest of the family. Their cloth was different than white people’s they wouldn’t cook their meat, they weren’t Christian, and they didn’t have any education. They believed it was up to them to keep everything around them in balance and when one of them was killed they thought it was their responsibility to retaliate their death. Also, they believed men balanced women and hunting…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cherokee Motherhood
    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Cherokee Motherhood

    Perhaps the Cherokee nature of adapting western culture for their own benefit can be traced back to Cherokee Mothers and their decisions to enroll their children into Missionary schools set up by Americans. These mothers sought to best equip their children, and their community for the increasingly western world, and by educating the next generation in English, they sought to raise powerful individuals capable of straddling both worlds while strengthening the Cherokees traditions and way of life (Smith 2010:404).…

    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Informative Speech On Native American Culture
    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Informative Speech On Native American Culture

    Introduction: As most of us know, Native American’s have a rich history of struggle and also triumph. Many modern Native American traditions reflect the story and struggle Native American’s experienced. These stories are filled with tradition closely tied to Mother Nature. I’m sure many of you have seen Native American art and objects, such as teepees, totem poles, and moccasins. These are articles that tied together Native American life. I’m going to share with you the meaning behind these symbols and traditions, and how they affect modern…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics