The experiences of the three main characters are used to represent different aspects of colonial oppression- the colonizer, assimilation, punishments for defiance, and fighting back to reclaim stolen identities- in an effort to demonstrate how oppression can drive the oppressed to do crazy, violent things.
The rich white man in the story, Bubba, represents the colonizer. He takes what he wants, when he wants it. He sees the young narrator in his house and decides that he wants her, so he lies to her to get her to go home with him and subsequently rapes her. He continues this for two years, despite the fact that he has a wife and children, and despite the fact that the girl does not like him. In an attempt to fix this he pushes his thoughts …show more content…
As mentioned earlier, Bubba, the colonizer, pushes his ideals onto the narrator. The narrator is violated by Bubba similar to how Aboriginal children put in residential schools were often violated by the nuns working there. This happens so often that she begins to believe that this is just how the world works. All she wants is to be loved and appreciated, she wants someone to call her beautiful. When Bubba does this for her she starts to believe his lies and lose herself in his world. Her mother beats her for being close to the white man and the narrator runs crying back to Bubba, who she grows to feel more comfortable with. Many Aboriginal children, after being treated badly by people in residential schools, return home, happy to return to their families. Upon return, they are rejected and cast out by their families because they no longer speak the language. Like the narrator, they have been assimilated into the lifestyle of the colonizer and may feel more comfortable in that world than with their families who reject them. The narrator submits to assimilation and is rewarded with gifts and money, her mother on the other hand does not assimilate and is punished. Her mother has lived her whole life being oppressed, even now she works as a maid, getting paid 6 dollars a day, reminiscent of the work of a slave. She has grown to hate her oppressors, she does not believe …show more content…
She wakes up from the dream-like state she had been living in and realizes that Bubba has been abusing her and her mother. She tries to reason with him to get her mother out of the insane asylum but he refuses to do it, the same way governments have refused to apologize or return the land of the people they oppressed in the past. Her mother ends up dying in the insane asylum, pushing the narrator over the edge. In retaliation, she kills Bubba with his own gun and steals enough money to pay herself through college. She felt that there was nothing else to do, no other punishment that would be enough payback for the pain he had caused her. Bubba’s death represents the narrator’s new found freedom after a life of being oppressed, and stealing his money is the first step to her fresh start. The narrator says that “he was going to send me to college: I didn’t see why he shouldn’t do it”, Bubba put her through hell and taking his money to get into college was a way for her to discover herself and get a fresh start, she felt that he owed her that for all the pain he had caused. All in all, the narrator resorted to violent measures to finally get her freedom and reclaim her identity.
In conclusion, this text reveals that the oppressed can be so trapped beneath their oppressors that it at times can drive them mad. Colonial oppression shows us that there is
The rich white man in the story, Bubba, represents the colonizer. He takes what he wants, when he wants it. He sees the young narrator in his house and decides that he wants her, so he lies to her to get her to go home with him and subsequently rapes her. He continues this for two years, despite the fact that he has a wife and children, and despite the fact that the girl does not like him. In an attempt to fix this he pushes his thoughts …show more content…
As mentioned earlier, Bubba, the colonizer, pushes his ideals onto the narrator. The narrator is violated by Bubba similar to how Aboriginal children put in residential schools were often violated by the nuns working there. This happens so often that she begins to believe that this is just how the world works. All she wants is to be loved and appreciated, she wants someone to call her beautiful. When Bubba does this for her she starts to believe his lies and lose herself in his world. Her mother beats her for being close to the white man and the narrator runs crying back to Bubba, who she grows to feel more comfortable with. Many Aboriginal children, after being treated badly by people in residential schools, return home, happy to return to their families. Upon return, they are rejected and cast out by their families because they no longer speak the language. Like the narrator, they have been assimilated into the lifestyle of the colonizer and may feel more comfortable in that world than with their families who reject them. The narrator submits to assimilation and is rewarded with gifts and money, her mother on the other hand does not assimilate and is punished. Her mother has lived her whole life being oppressed, even now she works as a maid, getting paid 6 dollars a day, reminiscent of the work of a slave. She has grown to hate her oppressors, she does not believe …show more content…
She wakes up from the dream-like state she had been living in and realizes that Bubba has been abusing her and her mother. She tries to reason with him to get her mother out of the insane asylum but he refuses to do it, the same way governments have refused to apologize or return the land of the people they oppressed in the past. Her mother ends up dying in the insane asylum, pushing the narrator over the edge. In retaliation, she kills Bubba with his own gun and steals enough money to pay herself through college. She felt that there was nothing else to do, no other punishment that would be enough payback for the pain he had caused her. Bubba’s death represents the narrator’s new found freedom after a life of being oppressed, and stealing his money is the first step to her fresh start. The narrator says that “he was going to send me to college: I didn’t see why he shouldn’t do it”, Bubba put her through hell and taking his money to get into college was a way for her to discover herself and get a fresh start, she felt that he owed her that for all the pain he had caused. All in all, the narrator resorted to violent measures to finally get her freedom and reclaim her identity.
In conclusion, this text reveals that the oppressed can be so trapped beneath their oppressors that it at times can drive them mad. Colonial oppression shows us that there is