Two Old Women by Velma Wallis - Book Report/Review Example

Two Old Women by Velma Wallis Worldwide, the problems faced by the elderly people within their private and public domains are considered as important. At the same time, folk tales and myths, symbolic of the oral tradition of literature, provide ample importance to the problems faced by the elderly people. Within this context, the folk tales and myths in Alaska unearth the scope and importance of moral values in human life. Thesis statement: The report based on the novel Two Old Women by Velma Wallis proves that the author made use of the Alaskan folk tale of betrayal and reconciliation to unearth the scope of courage and survival instinct in human life and to expose the problems faced by elderly people in general. Report: This section is broadly divided into three, including: the tale of betrayal and reconciliation, courage and survival instinct, and problems faced by elderly people. A tale of betrayal and reconciliation In the novel, the tale of betrayal begins when two elderly women (say, Sa and Chidzigyaak), who belong to Athabaska tribe, are abandoned. The one and only reason for the abandonment is that the tribal leadership considered both the women as burden because they were old. In the work Two Old Women by Velma Wallis, the narrator opined that, “In those days, leaving the old behind in times of starvation was not an unknown act, although in this band it was happening for the first time” (5). One can see that the tribal leadership betrayed the women because food supply was not sufficient to sustain all the members of the tribe. Still, this argument is totally invalid because both the women cannot consume all the food stored by the tribe. On the other side, Sa and Chidzigyaak are ready to obey the decision taken by the tribal leadership. At the same time, they were not ready to give up and proved in the end that desertion helped them to be self-sufficient. In the end, the members of the Athabaska tribe came to realize the fact that desertion cannot solve the problems faced by the whole tribe. But Sa and Chidzigyaak were not ready to trust the members of their tribe. Still, they were aware of the fact that they can share their food with others and can provide valuable lessons on survival. So, the members of the tribe realized their fault and both the women were ready to co-operate with others, including their family members. Courage and survival instinct In the novel, Sa and Chidzigyaak are portrayed by Velma Wallis as the symbol of courage and survival instinct. To be specific, both the women were aware of the fact that their tribe is going to abandon them. Still, they did not show any hesitation because they were ready to subdue to their fate in life. One can see that the inherent courage in the minds of Sa and Chidzigyaak helped them to attain the decision to lead an alienated life. They never complained because they considered life a long journey with ups and downs. Now, they face some problems in their life, but they need to survive and prove themselves as worthy. To be specific, survival instinct inherent in human beings helped Sa and Chidzigyaak to withstand the critical condition in their life. In the novel, the narrator stated that, “Now they realized that because the two women had lived so long, surely they knew a lot more than The People had believed” (118). As pointed out, their decision was to survive the winter by any means. This decision helped them to be successful in the end. The problems faced by elderly people In the novel, the novelist makes use of the Alaskan myth/folktale of two women to expose the main problems faced by elderly people. To be specific, both the women are forced to undergo the harsh decision taken by the tribal leadership. One can see that the alienation faced by Sa and Chidzigyaak is applicable to all other members of the tribe. For instance, being young is not a permanent stage in life and one will face the same problems faced by Sa and Chidzigyaak. On the other side, Chidzigyaak’s grandson was ready to visit her and shares his feelings with her. He was aware of the fact that elderly people cannot be considered as burden to the tribe. In the end, Chidzigyaak’s daughter and all other members of the tribe reassess their decision to abandon both the women. In the novel, the narrator stated that, “All that had stood between them seemed to vanish with the touch” (123). The novel ends with the moral lesson that the life experience of the elderly people is valuable and advantageous to the tribe. In short, the novelist makes use of the characters like Sa and Chidzigyaak to shed light into the problems faced by the elderly people in Alaskan context. Summing, one can see that the novelist makes use of the main characters (Sa and Chidzigyaak) to retell the folk tale of betrayal and reconciliation. At the same time, the novelist tries to prove that courage and survival instinct can help human beings to withstand critical conditions in life. Besides, the novelist makes use of the Alaskan folk tale to expose the hardships faced by human beings and their attempt to withstand the same. In short, the novelist utilizes the landscape of Alaska and its rich tradition of oral folklore as the background to unveil the scope and importance of reconciliation in life. Works Cited Wallis, Velma. Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage, and Survival. Canada: Epicenter Press, 2004. Print. Read More