Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. This is ABC Radio National. I am Sorakthun Ly, running literature exploration of the week. This week’s theme of our literature analysis is oppression. We have chosen to discuss this topic because media often portrays issues in a distorted way and based on one-sided perspectives. The aim of this dissection is to divulge the way in which oppression is represented in the novel, and how language and plots are manipulated to shape the picture of oppression. The texts which we are going to be scrutinising today are ‘The Secret River’ and ‘The Flowers’. These two texts communicate with the reader relying on the cultural assumptions, attitudes, values and beliefs. Nevertheless, before digging into the novels, let us first study the definition of oppression.
Oppression is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as, “a situation in which people are governed in an unfair and cruel way and prevented from having opportunities and freedom”. Martin Luther King Jr once said, “The ultimate …show more content…
Walker utilises a very effective way in giving a picture of oppression. In contrast to The Secret River which employs literal elucidation, the implication of oppression in The Flowers is conveyed through the plot of the story. This is illustrated in the part when the protagonist, Myob, stumbles upon a skeleton of an African-American, whose nationality is not exposed straightforwardly by the writer. The explanation of this scene is the slaughter of an African-American man by his Anglo-American boss is very acquainted because his existence is deemed trivial. The resistant reading of this text is comparable to The Secret River. It is rooted in the cultural assumptions, values, attitudes and beliefs of the audience. For instance, African-Americans reading the text would be more emotionally involved than
Oppression is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as, “a situation in which people are governed in an unfair and cruel way and prevented from having opportunities and freedom”. Martin Luther King Jr once said, “The ultimate …show more content…
Walker utilises a very effective way in giving a picture of oppression. In contrast to The Secret River which employs literal elucidation, the implication of oppression in The Flowers is conveyed through the plot of the story. This is illustrated in the part when the protagonist, Myob, stumbles upon a skeleton of an African-American, whose nationality is not exposed straightforwardly by the writer. The explanation of this scene is the slaughter of an African-American man by his Anglo-American boss is very acquainted because his existence is deemed trivial. The resistant reading of this text is comparable to The Secret River. It is rooted in the cultural assumptions, values, attitudes and beliefs of the audience. For instance, African-Americans reading the text would be more emotionally involved than