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Racism And Feminism In 'The Invention Of Wings'

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Lonestar Montgomery Community College Breaking Free Meredith Averitt General Psychology 2301 Raquel Henry April 24, 2017 Sue Monk Kidd is an author with many award-winning novels under her belt. She is very passionate about both racism and feminism, as it is the subject matter of bestseller Secret Life of Bees. It would only make sense for her to return to women who defy stereotypes of gender and race with her next novel: The Invention of Wings. The Invention of Wings is a powerful and uplifting story about standing up for what you believe in. The novel takes the readers on a journey of struggle for Sarah and Nina Grimké, nineteen-century abolitionists, and Sarah’s slave, “Handful”. The story starts off with ten-year-old slave …show more content…

The first example would be when Sarah remarks the Graveyard of Failed Hopes is “an all-female establishment”; ironic since she would become a driving force of change for the better. Sarah is discouraged to be a jurist by her family, even told essentially to give up her dreams and go husband hunting. Around the time Sarah Grimké was around, I’m sure a lot of women faced gender stereotypes such as that. Not only were they slaves to their family’s expectations, but also the rules of society. The world was very biased against females in all aspects back then, some of those prejudices still live on today. Take a look at the Eastern Asian cultures – they are expected to marry and start a family in their twenties. If they are thirty and still single, it is very frowned upon. They will be told to settle for less, or that they are too …show more content…

It represents Charlotte’s history: the experiences and hardships she and her family have endured. The feathers inside the quilt symbolize flying away and being free. The feathers and black triangle she always puts on her quilts represents the blackbirds from Charlotte’s story. When Miss Mary saw the story quilt, she saw the struggles they had to go through, and was ashamed. The quilt frame that hung above Charlotte and Handful’s bed symbolized a safe place or a home. Charlotte’s story quilt, the money, Sarah’s booklet, and Sarah’s letter telling Handful about the promise she’d made to free her were all hidden in the quilt

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Treated unfairly, beaten and put down slaves, had no rights in the novel The Invention of Wings. Sue Monk Kidd explained abolition at its greatest point of effectiveness. Abolitionists despised slavery and did everything in their power to abolish it. It took courage to be an abolitionist because an abolitionist had to take the harder path and stand up to the people who opposed ending slavery. In the novel the characters face hardship, sorrow and loss, but it is through their ability to be courageous that helps them learn best what they must do to survive.

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Waxen Wings is a story that talks about a main character named Birdie. Birdie’s life is not the ideal life, and it seems like she has failed at everything she has ever tried. This story really makes the reader feel bad for Birdie, and she is seen as the victim of the story. The tests that she goes through are things that would make most people give up, but she does not give up. That fact alone makes this story somewhat inspirational.

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The depiction individuals have of women has changed drastically over time. From being seen as a lower class gender, to having women politicians today, they have come a long way. Back in the 10th century when An Ancient Tale: When the Sun Was God took place, the role of women differed immensely compared to the way women are portrayed today. Throughout the film, women are depicted as a weaker gender within society, although they can be rulers within their own families.

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The Secret Lives of People The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, is an interesting story that connects human lives to bees. The story takes place in 1964 during the Civil Rights Movement and fourteen year-old Lily Owens leaves her abusive father and her home in Sylvan, South Carolina to go to Tiburon with hopes to find information on her mother. Throughout the story, Lily struggles with many internal conflicts and also meets several mother figures along the way.

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Societal Expectations are not Barriers Two inspiring pieces of literature called Macbeth by William Shakespeare and “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkings Gilman share one eminent theme, which is the suppression of the female gender. Societies often place barbaric labels on those who seem unworthy rather than fight the judgments that are concrete and see for themselves. Social ideas during the two diverse time periods demonstrate how women are not seen as powerful figures and insanity progress within those who are stereotyped. Women are seen as creatures that are ineligible to think for themselves in.

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She then suggests to Mrs. Peters that she should take the unfinished quilt home to “’take up her mind.’” This leads them to search for Mrs. Wright’s patches and sewing accessories. They discover a “pretty box” and assume it is where she keeps her scissors (Glaspell 1417). This is when they discover a dead canary wrapped up in a piece of silk; it was the missing bird. Right away they notice the bird's neck

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Instead, they are encouraged to marry whenever they find someone they want to spend the rest of their lives

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Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters would have never figured out what happened if they had not stayed in the kitchen – the “woman's place” – and looked through Mrs. Wright's quilt scraps. It seems this unimportant woman stuff was not just trifled

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