“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people” (Martin Luther King, Jr.). This quote by Martin Luther King, Jr has proven to carry throughout history and possibly well into the future as seen in the novels, Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Each author wrote a unique novel, with one thing in common, the main characters, along with the group of people they identify with, are oppressed by a higher authority that takes their lives for granted. It is not until towards the middle of the novel, that the characters realize how appalling their conditions under which they are living are. In the
…show more content…
Anna Frith is a strong, independent, for the most part, woman who, according to society, needs a man . Anna loses her husband and sons early on in the novel, leaving her on her own to fend for herself as the plague wipes out almost an entire population. She knows that people are becoming more scared as more people die, which tears them apart from one another. Michael Mompellion, the rector and the strong masculine figure in Anna’s life, says, “In the Delf, friends, we may stand at a safe distance from one another, so that the ill do not infect the well,” which shows how afraid everyone was of one another, afraid that the person standing next to them carries the plague unknowingly (Brooks 167). This connects with part of the quote by Paulo Freire, where he said, “The pursuit of full humanity, however, cannot be carried out in isolation or individualism, but only in fellowship and solidarity; therefore it cannot unfold in the antagonistic relations between oppressors and the oppressed” (Walker Handout) . Just as Michael Mompellion and Paulo Freire said, in order for everyone to feel comfortable with each, that no one is oppressed, and to achieve full humanity, everyone must work in unison. Along with women being oppressed by men in the 1600s, African Americans in the 1960s were oppressed beyond words. Works Cited
Brooks, Geraldine. Year
Anna Frith is a strong, independent, for the most part, woman who, according to society, needs a man . Anna loses her husband and sons early on in the novel, leaving her on her own to fend for herself as the plague wipes out almost an entire population. She knows that people are becoming more scared as more people die, which tears them apart from one another. Michael Mompellion, the rector and the strong masculine figure in Anna’s life, says, “In the Delf, friends, we may stand at a safe distance from one another, so that the ill do not infect the well,” which shows how afraid everyone was of one another, afraid that the person standing next to them carries the plague unknowingly (Brooks 167). This connects with part of the quote by Paulo Freire, where he said, “The pursuit of full humanity, however, cannot be carried out in isolation or individualism, but only in fellowship and solidarity; therefore it cannot unfold in the antagonistic relations between oppressors and the oppressed” (Walker Handout) . Just as Michael Mompellion and Paulo Freire said, in order for everyone to feel comfortable with each, that no one is oppressed, and to achieve full humanity, everyone must work in unison. Along with women being oppressed by men in the 1600s, African Americans in the 1960s were oppressed beyond words. Works Cited
Brooks, Geraldine. Year