Language, amongst others, is the most powerful tool anyone can use. It can be used to make or prevent, violence and peace. When used well, language can promote deep feelings, motivate others, and define relationships. Faulty language is used often to put others down or to oppress. In the novels, Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo, and Kindred by Octavia Butler, language is used to oppress and mistreat others steadily throughout the books.
Oppression is state of being subject to unjust treatment or control. In the book, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, language is used frequently to describe one’s appearance or attitude. This book takes place in a Mumbai Undercity where wealth and education are not common. This is not the case for one character, Manju. She is inspired and the only one to go to college out of her
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The use of them on a daily basis come natural to most every one of us. In the book, Kindred, a girl named Dana goes back in time to see her relatives, but is instantly shocked to find that she is a slave. Slavery was used to mistreat others unfairly just for being different. Dana immediately feels like a piece of property, rather than an actual human being. Dana says: “I was the worst possible guardian for him--a black to watch over him in a society that considered blacks subhuman, a woman to watch over in a society that considered women perennial children” (Butler 68). This society also treated children and women unfairly. Often using whips when behaving badly. Dana asks: “Did you say he used a whip on you, Rufe?”“Yeah. The kind he whips niggers and horses with.” That stopped me for a moment. “The kind of whips...who?” (Butler 26). This passage reflects over the use of strong language by using words such as “niggers” and “whips”. The way these words are tossed around in this novel is devastating and should be used always with caution. Words can be powerful, and in this book