Hi everybody! I'm back with a brand new topic right from the
rez! This time we will be having a look at the representation of
sexism in The Rez Sisters. Apart from all the other things we
have been talking about, it can be mostly seen in Pelajia and her
apparently “inability” to rule the reservation.
The character of Pelajia, as well as the others, but we are talking
about her, right?, experiments a big change after the trip to
Toronto.
At the beginning of the text, Pelajia complains about the reserve
and her life there, for her everything is gray and static, and she
seems to have turned part of the landscape “Ah, but I'm just plain
old Pelajia Rosella Patchnose, and I'm here in plain, dusty, boring
old Wasaychigan Hill … Wasy … waiting … waiting … “ (3)
She also talks about her children and her husband working far from
the reserve, feeling like she is the only one left behind.
Pelajia and Nanabush |
Then, Pelajia is always complaining about the dusty roads and how
the chief promised to pave them and how they are still full of dirt.
“Pelajia: When I win me that jackpot next time we play bingo in
Espanola... (…) I'm going to put that old chief to shame and build
me a nice paved road right here in front of my house. Jet black.
Make my lawn look real nice.
(…)
An if that old chief don't wanna make paved roads for all my sisters
around here … “ (8)
At this point, Pelajia is just talking, not really thinking of
actually doing anything. But after the trip she experiments a big
transformation and challenges the chief's authority with the support
of the other women.
“Pelajia: It's these dirty roads (… ). If I were the chief
around here, that's the very first thing I would do.
Philomena: Oh go on. You'll never be chief.
Pelajia: And why not?
Philomena: Because you're a woman.
Pelajia: Bullshit! If that useless old chief of ours was a woman,
we'd see a few things get done around here. We'd see our women
working, we'd see our men working, we'd see our young people sober
on Saturday nights, and we'd see our Nanabush dancing up and down
the hill on shiny paved roads.
Annie: Pelajia for chief! I'd vote for you.” (113-114)
Pelajia seems to really care for the reserve and has ideas about
what it should be done to improve people's lives. Unfortunately,
she's unable to achieve that position in which she could act because
she is a woman.
Here Pelajia encounters once again one of the big problems depicted
in this play, that is, the clash of white and native culture. But we
will see how and why this happens later on, in another entry.
What do you think about Pelajia? Do you like her as much as I do? Do
you think she would be a good chief and get shiny paved roads? Should
we already create the 'Pelajia fan club'?
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