How Indians and Anglo-Europeans differ in their concepts of time; age; nature; savings and cooperation - Essay Example

Part Question In a paragraph (six to 10 sentences) discuss how Indians and Anglo-Europeans differ in their concepts of Time Age Nature Savings Cooperation Indians and Anglo-Americans have fundamentally different views about life and nature, as is clear from their different understandings of time, age, nature, saving and cooperation. As far as time is concerned, Anglo-Americans perceive of it as short and limited and, thus, make the very most of their time. As far as the American Indians are concerned, however, time is vast and is measured in seasons and the rising and the setting of the sun, as opposed to months, days, hours and minutes. Similarly, Anglo-Americans perceive of age as something to be feared as it implies that a person’s time on earth is coming to an end but the American-Indians respect and revere age, seeing it as a stage in life when a person acquires great wisdom and, in dreams, communicates with the Great Spirit. These very different conceptions of time and age are carried over to strikingly different views on nature. As the environmental problems we are currently facing confirm, Anglo-Americans believe that they own nature and, accordingly exploit and use it. In direct comparison, Indians cooperate with nature and seek to protect and preserve it just as they believe that nature does with them. The Anglo-American tendency to exploit nature reveals a materialistic attitude which influences their obsession with savings, with building and creating portfolios and retirement funds. As the Indians believe that they have all they need for survival in nature itself, they have no use for savings. It could be that their different attitudes towards savings are influenced by their conceptions of cooperation, just as much as they are by their understanding of nature. Quite simply stated, the cooperative spirit which prevails within Indian tribes and which establishes each person within as responsible for the tribe and its members gives the Indians a sense of unity and security. They know that, among the tribe, they will be taken care of. Americans, especially today, lack this notion of cooperation and each person is largely regarded as responsible for him or herself. Accordingly, their security comes from their savings. Part 1 Question 2: How does this tribe feel about the environment? The tribe has a deep and abiding respect for the environment. This means the land, water and everything in them. They know that the environment gives them life and they respect, love and protect it in return. Where did the Suquamish live for thousands of years? The Suquamish lived in Pudget Sound for thousands of years before the arrival of the White Man. Where does the tribe live today? The Suquamish currently live in Northeastern Kitsap country in Washington, on the Port Madison Indian Reservation. Part 1 Question 3: How does the speech represent the literary tradition of the tribe? Chief Seattle’s speech represents the literary tradition of the tribe in its poeticism and its references to nature. For effect, the speech relies heavily on metaphors, similes and personifications, the majority of which are directly related to nature. This is representative of the Suquamish’s literary tradition. Part 1 Question 4: Identify a reference to nature in five paragraphs of the speech. After the example, identify it as personification, metaphor, simile or imagery. Be sure to give the paragraph number for easy reference. Example 1: “Yonder sky that has wept tears of compassion” (paragraph 1). Personification. Example 2: “My words are like the stars” (paragraph 2). Simile. Example 3: “They are like the grass that cover the vast prairie” (paragraph 3). Simile. Example 4: “Revenge with our young braves is considered gain” (paragraph 8). Metaphor. Example 5: “the words of the Great White Chief seem to be the voice of Nature speaking to my people out of the thick darkness that is fast gathering around them like a dense fog floating inward from a midnight sea” (paragraph 21). Simile In paragraph two, how does Chief Seattle vouch for his own credibility? Chief Seattle vouches for his credibility by comparing his word to stars which never dim or set and the unfailing regularity of seasons. He is, in other words, emphasising the impossibility of his ever going back on an agreement, a promise made, or a word given. Chief Seattle claims shared responsibility for what problem in paragraph five? In the fifth paragraph, Chief Seattle refrains from laying the entirety of the blame for the decimation of the tribe and the loss of their ancestral lands on the White Man. Instead, he acknowledges that the Suquamish, themselves, with himself at their head, had contributed to the tribe’s losses. In paragraph eight, he says: "Revenge by young men is considered gain, even at the cost of their own lives, but old men who stay at home in times of war, and mothers who have sons to lose, know better." What do old men and mothers know that the young warriors do not? According to Chief Seattle, unlike their elders, the younger men do not know the dangers of revenge. They allow themselves to be controlled by anger, in which case, their thoughts and actions are dominated by their overwhelming desire for revenge against the White Man. Unlike their elders, they do not know that this is the path towards self-destruction, especially as the tribe has almost everything to loose but virtually nothing to gain from angry confrontations with the White Man. Why does Chief Seattle not believe that the "white man" and the "red man" share a god? Chief Seattle believes that the White man and the Red Man do not share the same god because events indicate that the White Man’s god hates the Red Man. He has, thus, ensures the continued and ever-increasing strength of the White Man, even as he has worked towards the destruction and weakness of the Red Man. The White Man’s god cannot be the god of the Red Man because he has allowed and aided in the destruction of the Red Man. No god or father would do that to his children. What are the basic religious differences between the Anglo-Europeans and the Native Americans? In listing the religious differences between the Anglo-Europeans and the Native Americans, Chief Seattle maintains that they are as dissimilar as night and day. Native Americans honor their dead and their dead continue to love the living and the earth, even after their passing. In comparison, the White Man does not honor his ancestors and seemingly forgets about his dead, just as his dead forget about the living and, instead move to some place beyond the stars, after their passing. In addition, the Red Man’s god comes to his children and communicates with them while the white Man’s god is silent and incommunicative. He is an angry god who wrote his commandments with fire on tablets of stone. The White Man’s religion is based on these tablets while the Red man’s religion derives from their ancestors, their heritage and traditions. There are, according to Chief Seattle, numerous differences between the two religions but these are some of the most basic ones. Chief Seattle says, "Day and night cannot dwell together" (paragraph 20). What is he referring to? Chief Seattle is referring to the White Man and the Red Man. He is arguing that the differences between the two races are so extreme that the White Man and the Red man cannot become one and cannot live together. In paragraph 24, Chief Seattle says, "...for even the White Man whose God walked and talked with him as friend to friend...." Who is the God who walked with man? Although Chief Seattle does not specify the identity of the White Man’s god, the god who talked and talked with his people, it is possible to infer that the reference is to Jesus. What is Chief Seattles final message in paragraph 30? Chief Seattle’s final message to the White Man is a warning against injustice. Acknowledging that the Red Man is probably living his final days, Chief Seattle argues that the death of the Red Man is not the salvation of the White Man. This is because, even when dead, like all their ancestors, they will have powers over the living and will respond to the injustice they suffered. In other words, his final message is a note of warning to the White Man. According to Chief Seattle, what is the relationship between man and nature? Chief Seattle believes there to be a very intimate relationship between the Red man and nature. As a matter of fact, nature represents what they are and houses their spirits and souls upon the death. Nature, in other words, is a highly respected power with which the Red Man shares an unbreakable relationship. According to Chief Seattle, what is the relationship between God and the "white man" as opposed to the relationship between God and the "red man"? The Red Man shares a unique relationship with his God. The red Man’s God, the Great Spirit, is not a distant entity but an intimate and communicative one. When the old men of the tribe dream, the Great Spirit comes to them and talks to his children. He is a kind and fatherly God. In direct comparison, the White Man’s God is an angry and vengeful one. In the past he came to his people and talked to them as a friend but that intimate relationship no longer exists. In other words, while there is a close and communicative relationship between the Red Man and his god, there is a distant and silent one between the White man and his god. What does Chief Seattle predict for the "white man"? Chief Seattle predicts that just as the Red Indian race passed away, so will the White Man’s race. He believes this to be the common destiny of all men and races. According to Chief Seattle, how do the Native Americans relationships with their dead differ from the Anglo-Europeans relationships with their dead? The Red man honors his ancestors and looks to them for guidance. There is a strong and mutually loving relationship between the Red Man and his dead, especially since the dead do not leave the earth and the living but stay on even after their physical body has died. The White Man, in comparison, forgets about his dead and does not have a relationship with them, no matter how close they were on earth. Part 2: Oratory The terrorist attacks on the United States were like a cold and violent winter’s storm in the midst of a sunny day. Americans had been peacefully slumbering, certain in their knowledge of their own power and inviolability. September 11th, 2001, showed our country and people otherwise and, in so doing, woke us all up. The United States woke up, full of rage and blinded with anger. It was intent upon the destruction of all its real and imagined enemies. Even though a terrorist group, Al Qaeda, aided and supported by the Taliban government of Afghanistan, had been responsible for the 9/11 massacre, the United States turned the full force of its anger and wrath against Iraq. Its bombs and missiles rained down on Iraq and the Iraqis as fire from the skies, destroying all that stood in its path. Our country has exacted vengeance upon Iraq for real or imagined reasons. In so doing, however, young men, in the bloom of their youth, were sacrificed. They were uprooted from their land and sent to another to die. Were America’s sons sent to fight in defense of their country, their sacrifice would be justified. The question, however, remains: was Iraq a threat to the United States? If it were not, why was American life sacrificed? Analysis In my oratory, I selected a topic which I felt very passionate about. This topic is the value of life and the senselessness of war. I tried, in composing my speech, to communicate my passion. I did so by using figurative language, as did Chief Seattle, which would help readers in visualizing my words. In the first paragraph, I compared 9/11 to a winter’s storm in the midst of summer, in order to communicate the violence of the event and the depth of the shock which Americans felt. In the second paragraph, I compared the United States’ air attack upon Iraq to fires of rain and, in the third, American soldiers to the young blooms of nature which appear during the springtime. Read More