Close Reading of a Short Fiction - Essay Example

She went to the extent of even changing her name just to show her real ethnical identity. The name ZitkalaSa means ‘red bird’ in the Indian language. In writing her autobiographies: School Days of an Indian Child and Impressions of Indian Childhood, we learn more of the kind about her life and experiences. Discussion The publication, The School Days of an Indian Girl, has a purpose of explaining the experience the author had while attending boarding schools meant for teaching and civilizing Indians.

In a much broader outlook, the publication aims at showing the whole world the suppression that the inherent American culture faced after the colonization of the United States. Zitkala uses the power of the pen to express the pains she underwent while trying to keep true to her beliefs and roots. The publication achieved its purpose for which it was written. The plot of the story is well defined, it begins with Zitkala as young girl of eight years, whose curiosity and innocence has given an intense desire for the apple orchards to be educated by missionaries.

The plot develops as we are told of the experiences and suffering she undergoes together with her friends while at the mission school. However, the climax comes when she returns home to meet her mother. There is a sudden twist of events as she does not feel happy being at home; she wants to go back to school. The conflict comes in when her mother does not allow her to go back to the mission school. She goes back to school against the wishes of her mother and this creates a rift between them. The rift makes Zitkala unhappy and it is so unfortunate that the story ends before the rift between them is resolved.

Zitkala is the main character in the publication. She is portrayed as a brave individual who is not threatened by anything despite her young age and small size. Her bold nature is seen in the way she was very adamant to cut her hair. The mission staff had to look for her and grab her by force. She is also emotional, and this is seen in the way she always hid in her room and cried because they were not in good times with the mother. The lady at the mission school is also another character that helps in plot development of the story.

She is a symbol of pain and suffering. She is very cruel and often punished Zitkala and her friends even in situations where they did not misunderstood each other. Zitkala tells in a melancholic way how sometimes they were punished unjustly for the misunderstandings. This made her seek for revenge in some little ways. She narrates how she blames the well-meaning, hardworking and ignorant woman who was inculcating superstitious ideas in their young and pure hearts. In addition to the sadness that those days bring to her, they cast darkening shadows of how her past years had been.

Loss of freedom clearly portrays itself as a main theme in Zitkala’s publication, The School Days of an Indian Girl. Being an Indian, she had got used to self-determination and independence. This is clearly shown when she finds it weird and difficult to cope up with the life at school. The fact that whistles and bells signaled every action that was to be done did not please her at all (Zitkala, pp.35). She was irritated with this kind of life and thus she calls it ‘iron routine’. According to her, all that was testing the chains which had bound her individuality tightly like mummies ready for burial.

She had grown up in Dakota knowing that people did