Despotic Chiefs Of Kau Analysis

A world without literature is an illiterate world. Literature is an art and the word itself is “derived from the Latin litteratura meaning "writing formed with letters," literature most commonly refers to works of the creative imagination, including poetry, drama, fiction, nonfiction, journalism, and in some instances, song” (Lombardi, Esther). “World literature as we know it today would not exist without the nourishment of oral traditions” (Puchner, Martin). Oral traditions are stories of which were not written down; instead they were stories that were told orally- either by spoken word or by performances. A couple of examples of oral traditions that are world known today are Homer’s Iliad and Walt Disney’s Snow White. But how did stories …show more content…
The government plays a huge role in society today and even back in 1810 in Hawaii. A woman, by the name of Mary Wiggen Pukui, told traditional stories such as The Despotic Chiefs of Kau - which is a story that depicts the government of society. The government is the governing body of a community or nation. In The Despotic Chiefs of Kau, Pukui “explores the weak and wrong forms of government - “chiefs must fear and respect the people that they govern and cannot impose a merely arbitrary rule” (Puchner, Martin). Just as the Tea Act in Great Britain caused the Sons of Liberty to revolt in the Boston Tea Party, the unfair chiefs of Kau caused workers to revolt in violent actions. In part one, titled Halaea, a chief is killed by fisherman due to his greedy, selfish ways. The rule for the fisherman was to spend their whole day catching fish for the chief “without ever having any to take home to their families” (Pukui Wiggen, Mary). Because of the unfair government the fisherman, one day, killed the chief by literally drowning him with fish. The moral of all three parts of The Despotic Chiefs of Kau, as mentioned earlier, is “chiefs must fear and respect the people that they govern and cannot impose a merely arbitrary rule” (Puchner, Martin). When one bans something from another, or imposes a rule, the person will rebel. Pukui’s stories deal a lot with morals and government; or the right vs the wrong thing to do. The fisherman and everyone under the chief’s rule acted as they did because they did what they felt is right - which is morality. Pukui captures the culture of morality and society and even “became a hero for Hawaiians who were beginning to reclaim local history, language, music and stories in what is often called the ‘Hawaiian Renaissance’” (Puchner,