2. What does Esther mean by the last two lines of the story, speaking about murder? "They account for it by the fact that I am a Redskin. They seem to have forgotten I am a woman."
Esther wanted to deliver the message that Father Paul and the other missionaries did not consider her as a human being, but as a redskin, an uncivilized, and a person from inferior culture.
Esther was not treated fairly as white people because she was not white; even her request for marriage was declined by Father Paul because she dared to marry white man. In other words, she could not be with who she wants to be with, and be happy, only by the reason of her un-white origin. Father Paul, the white missionary, seemed to care her and love her wholeheartedly. She believed he did so, until she overheard the conversation between him and Laurence. He told Laurence that she is not pure enough to marry the white guy with fair-blonde-hair, due to her origin. She was from Cree first nation, and was separated from her home when she was young as the Father Paul thought she should be educated and devoted to the god.
She had been through desperate racism. She not only underwent the minor discrimination, but also not regarded as a decent human being or a woman. Her demand was all unaccepted. It is not written in given passage, but it is described in the book that she was declined several times when she said she was longing to visit her home. It means Father Paul, who represents the missionary society, does not accept her desire due to her origin is "evil pagan". She thought she was betrayed, so she killed her lover, then she ran away. Father Paul suspected Esther as long as she was absent. She stated "They account for it by the fact that I am a Redskin. They seem to have forgotten I am a woman". They assumed that she killed him due to her cursed origin, so uncivilized that even killed a person. However, the real reason why she killed him is that she loved sincerely. However Father Paul dared not to ask if she did so due to her thwarted love because he did not thought she was a woman, just like white little Ida McIntosh, but as a redskin to be enlightened.
Hi, I'm Seonghwan from same class. I want to see a writing about the second topic. Everyone chose the first one, haha. Trough your writing, I can understand the last two sentence more easily. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHello, I'm Sangwon Park. I think you are extraordinary person. Because when nobody answered about question number 2, you just did it! Your thought are very interesting. Actually, I even can't imagine the last two sentence's meaning(maybe I have a hardened heart). Thanks to your writing, now I can understand the last two sentences! Well, It's not about your writing skill. But I think if you increase the size of your essay, it will be more great to read! Thank your for sharing. I really have fun when I read your essay!
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