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Symbolism In The Secret Path

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The Stranger is the most significant song in the Secret Path because it highlights the trauma forced upon the residential school students using symbolism. In addition, the song emphasizes the theme of hope in adversity using contrasting imagery. “The Stranger” is the most significant song because it uses symbolism to highlight how residential school students have been robbed of their identity. In addition, the song uses figurative language to describe how the appalling measures effectuated in the residential schools were disregarded. In the chorus, “I am the Stranger/You can’t see me” , the diction reveals Chanie Wenjack speaking of himself and labelling himself ‘the Stranger’ and further saying ‘you can’t see me’(Downie) ‘The Stranger’ …show more content…

The crow represents his Indigenous culture It appears throughout his journey which represents reminders of his old life (his family and Indigenous life) As it flys away it shows how he has been alienated by the school since his Indigenous identity has left and instantly switches to his hair being shaved off (the feathers are pieces of his identity being shaved off) After reminiscing about his past life, Chanie looks up to see a crow. As the crow flies away it leaves a feather, and as Chanie is looking at it, it becomes a lock of Chanie’s hair that was shaved off at the residential school. This transitions to the evocation of the events at the residential school. Animals play a very important role in Indigenous culture and are often seen as symbols. Likewise, the crow symbolizes Chanie's Indigenous identity in this song and appears after the memories to show their relation. In other words, Chanie seeing his past self served as a waking reminder of the trauma he had experienced. When it flies away, his identity flies away with it, which represents how Chanie has been alienated by his residential school. The feather that had fallen from the crow is a piece of his identity and it transitions to a lock of his hair being shaved off. Thus indicates that pieces of his identity were being shaved off as

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