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Comparing Bethia And Caleb's Crossing Over To Puritan Culture

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Caleb, much like Bethia, crosses a great divide after his world suffers greatly. However in Part II, Caleb voices his reasons for crossing over to Puritan culture; these reasons are not at all positive or hopeful, but instead reveal that Caleb considers his crossing as surrender for the greater good of his people. From the beginning of the story, Caleb started to learn about the Puritan culture and their religion. Bethia and Caleb developed a meaningful and educational friendship. During their frequent meetings, Bethia teaches Caleb about her religion and written language, while Caleb teaches Bethia the Wampanoag language. However, soon Caleb comes under the tutelage of Pastor Mayfield, Bethia’s father. Here his culture is aggressively suppressed …show more content…

He had a boiling zeal to see it gone. My ‘barbarous deformity,’ he called it”(246-eBook). Even though it was Pastor Mayfield who invited and converted Caleb to Christianity, he still detested many aspects of Wampanoag culture; as a result, Bethia’s father instilled hatred of these aspects of culture, which he arbitrarily deemed Satanic, into Caleb. Along with Joel, who makes a similar journey, Caleb is rapidly molded into a typical Puritan. This sad occurrence is epitomised when Caleb angrily complains, “So many things I loved, I have had to learn to hate”(246-eBook). Caleb was first forced to cut his hair, then wear uncomfortable, restricting clothing that was utterly inconvenient for constant labor and movement. All of this, he explained, was to help save his people. He realized that the greedy, conceited Europeans will never stop coming and they will conquer his people. For this reason, he chose to join white culture and hopefully prosper so that he might succeed and lead more of his people to succeed in white culture, which would eventually eclipse that of the Wampanoag. Caleb is not angry with white people, but sees their increasing numbers as a tragedy for nature and the …show more content…

They crush the life from us”(248-eBook). From this quote, the reader can clearly see the tragedy of the Wampanoag situation. They are dying in large numbers, while more Englishmen arrive each day. Their culture and pure way of life is being choked out and they have no way to push back. Caleb is choosing to give in to white culture now, knowing he will be forced to accept it sooner or later. From a religious perspective as well, Caleb sees his tribe’s suffering as a sign of the Christian god being more powerful than the many gods of Wampanoag culture. “We must find favor with your God, or die. That, Storm Eyes, is why I came to your father”(248-eBook). Caleb feels defeated and weak, but being the son of Nahnoso, he was still trying to succeed and help his people as best as he could. This is the opposite of what Tequamuck believes. He believes bending, and giving in, is for cowards. Tequamuck believes in defying the truth that white people will eclipse his culture. Like many pioneers after him, Caleb is trying to be the first Native American, among his people, to thrive in white culture. If he does that, he feels as if it will cause more Wampanoags to follow his example and his people can survive in the new

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