Analysis Of Skraeling By Qitsualik

Everyone has been in a situation where they’ve judged someone before ever even getting to know and understand them. Many Native Americans feel that they are often misjudged, and this is often reflected in their literature, as in Rachel A. Qitsualik’s “Skraeling”. Qitsualik’s story involves racism and discrimination. In “Skraeling”, Qitsualik shows the reader that the Vikings, Tunit, and Inuit had no basis for the prejudice between them. Siaq refused to return to the Inuit because she no longer felt as though she’d belonged. Siku has an Inuit mother and Viking father, but he still sticks with the Tunit. Lastly, Kannujaq helped the Tunit even though he is Inuit. Firstly, shortly after the conflict between the Vikings and Tunit had ended, Siaq said that she wanted to stay with the Tunit instead of the Inuit. This is shocking information at first glance on account of the Tunit leader, Angula, who enslaved her. Qitsualik uses point of view to put events into Siaq’s perspective. She switches from a narrative

Kannujaq’s telling of his first encounter with Siku (a Tunik) leaves the reader afraid of the Tunit and in suspense. Qitsualik uses tone to emphasise this better. “Now he would be ripped apart by Tunit” (Qitsualik, 41) is what the narrator says as Kannujaq approaches the Tunit camp. Shortly thereafter, however, he (and the reader) realises that there was nothing to fear and the little boy just needed help. This view indeed relates to most readers since the majority of people have been in a situation they thought would end poorly only to realise that there was worried for nothing. Again, had Kannujaq been able to put his differences aside, he could have better assessed the situation with Siku. Had Kannujaq set his prejudices aside, he’d have noticed that his initial fears were ridiculous and had no basis upon which he could have judged Siku from the