ipl-logo

The Code Talker Essay

1473 Words6 Pages

An Underestimated Group of Heros
A Navajo sacred language, once forbidden to speak, will now be used in the war. The Code Talker, written by Joseph Bruchac, A novel containing the realistic fiction story of the Navajo marines that served the very country that discriminate their sacred language, and heritage. The novel is relevant to today’s society because of the sparking controversy amongst racial groups, and other organizations. The history of the United States is written in books, and it cannot be changed. The Novel shows first hand white man cruelty to Navajo, but in return the Navajos use their sacred language to win the war. Being sent away to a strange school was expressed as an honor, when the soon to be Ned Begay arrived, it seemed pleasant. The individuals were greeted in their own language, and brought inside. Later to be striped of their heritage. The Whites spoke only english punished for all things That pertained to their language. Ned soon strived to do good at school, accepted into high school, continued his education to the point where a marine in a wonderful uniform came to spoke, one year later Ned enlisted. The Navajos were …show more content…

A warrior of faith, culture, and our country. Although he was degraded, and beat in boarding school, Ned had a dream, his dream was to live and thrive as an Navajo indian. He was to serve our country no matter how unfair he was treated, he was to thrive in school, not take that opportunity of learning for granted was difficult. A Navajo is not just an indian, a Navajo is a group of people that have been taught by generations of great natives of the land we call home. A forbidden language, was our biggest advantage, in World War 2, Korea, and

Show More
Related
704 Words | 3 Pages

The Code Talker is a book about the Navajo Marines of War World Two. It Starts off with a man telling his Grandchildren about how he recived lots of medals for his service in the WW2 . Ned Begay the grandfather was born the Navajo Land, but went to a school to learn English.

Read More
564 Words | 3 Pages

Who were they? 29 Navajo men originally served as code talkers, by the end of the war over 400 Navajo men were enlisted as code talkers. Of these men the ages ranged between mostly 18 to 25. What was the purpose?

Read More
156 Words | 1 Pages

During World War II, United States Marines who fought in the Pacific possessed a powerful weapon that was also unbeatable: Navajo Code Talkers. Creating a secret code, Code Talkers sent and were translating vital military information. Four hundred twenty Navajos memorized the code and it was used by them. It consisted of both common Navajo and there were also about 400 invented words. For example, Code Talkers used the Navajo words for owl, chicken hawk, and swallow to describe different kinds of aircraft.

Read More
255 Words | 2 Pages

The way that they are represented in the novel provides an insight into modern day native American culture unparalleled by any history book. The way women, children, men, religious figures, and senior citizens are represented in the book allow readers to see the way native Americans interact with others. These interactions allow us to see how native

Read More
1074 Words | 5 Pages

Their drill sergeants called the Navajos "Chief" and "Geronimo," and expected them to be eagle-eyed with a bow and arrow. But while the Navajos had long ago put aside bow and arrow, they proved to be model marines (Watson and Kawano, 6). With few exceptions most of the Navajo felt that the marine corps treated their people with “100 percent respect” (Nez and Avilla, 51). The Navajo had proven they had what it takes to earn their place in the US military, the first group of Navajos became the 382d Platoon, USMC, and were ordered to create the code which would help the US win the

Read More
469 Words | 2 Pages

His cultural aspects and renewed self-worth are grown by the war and help him along the way. Ned’s cultural Navajo identity is affected by World War II. For example, Ned says that he, "Pray[s] that none of you have to go to battle as I did. I also pray that you will fight to keep our language, to hold on to it with the same warrior spirit that our Indian people showed during that war.” (214) Ned’s language is an important aspect of his culture.

Read More
190 Words | 1 Pages

During World War I, the Choctaw language was used to communicate and the Germans could not figure out what they were saying. During World War II, the Navajo language was used for the same reasons what happened during World War I. Twenty-nine Navajo people were gathered and helped to develop the Navajo Code. The language was so rare and hard to understand that it was perfect for code talking. Philip Johnston was a World War I veteran heard about the successes of the Choctaw telephone squad. Even though he is not an Indian, he grew up on the Navajo reservation.

Read More
986 Words | 4 Pages

The Navajo Code Talkers and Their Everlasting Legacy Throughout recent United States history (post civil-war), discussion of Native American struggles and triumphs has lessened greatly. This is primarily due to the decline in wars and conflict between the government and tribal groups. Although this sort of activity has declined, Native American groups have impacted United States history on many occasions during this time period. One of events that is particularly interesting to research is the Navajo Code Talkers intervention of World War II. Essentially, the Navajo people were utilized by the United States government during the second world war in order to disguise their military codes through another language.

Read More
741 Words | 3 Pages

Understanding Others in Code Talker Have you ever heard of the story of the Navajo code talkers that served in the U.S. Marines during World War II? Well the book Code Talker explores the life of a young Navajo named Ned who was taken away from his family at the age of 6 and joined the Marines when he was 16 as a code talker. He is then sent to several islands in the Pacific Ocean to fight the Japanese and send messages in the secret Navajo code. In this essay I will show you how the author of the book, Joseph Burchac displays understanding others through the character, Ned.

Read More
1908 Words | 8 Pages

The Navajos were better suited to the style of fighting. Much of the fighting involved sneaking around in small groups and fighting, much like the old Indian style (Paul, 2003). Maneuvering in the darkness was also easier for the Navajos, because they were used to the absence of light on the reservations (Paul, 2003). The tougher life that the Navajos lived on the reservation was a huge benefit during the war. Many parts of the reservation life helped the code talkers in the

Read More
865 Words | 4 Pages

Remembering how difficult the language was to speak and understand he urged military leaders to use the language in a code. Leaders finally took a chance and recruited 30 Navajos to test out the code.(McCabe) Because the Navajo people didn’t keep birth records many of the Navajos were able to lie about their age and enlist with the original 30, people as young as 15 were enlisted. During training one Navajo dropped out due to undocumented reasons. In the 19th century the US government persecuted the Navajos, forcing the children to stop speaking and learning the language in boarding schools designed to eradicate the Native American culture.(Kirkus Reviews)

Read More
872 Words | 4 Pages

This was a big life style change for them by joining the Marine Corps due to the discipline that was required of them by obeying order, marching, and keeping their quarters clean. At first, when arriving at training the Navajos was having to adjust, however, they settled in and got to work. Their first very first task was given to them; create a simple code in their tribal language that would be impossible for the enemy to crack. Before long they had established a two- part code. After a couple of short weeks they had the codes down path.

Read More
1757 Words | 8 Pages

Navajo Code talkers were heros to our country and have waited years to be properly acknowledged for their heroic deeds. The unbreakable code based around the Navajo language and the language is one of the hardest to learn. The code had 411 terms that the Navajos turned words into military terms. The code was never broken even after the War. The Navajos life before the war consisting them never leaving there reservations.

Read More
750 Words | 3 Pages

Once European men stepped foot onto what is now known as North America, the lives of the Native Americans were forever changed. The Indians suffered centuries of torment and ridicule from the settlers in America. Despite the reservations made for the Natives, there are still cultural issues occurring within America. In Sherman Alexie’s, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, the tragic lives of Native Americans in modern society are depicted in a collection of short stories taking place in the Spokane Reservation in Washington state. Throughout the collection, a prominent and reoccurring melancholic theme of racism against Native Americans and their struggle to cope with such behavior from their counterpart in this modern day and age is shown.

Read More
777 Words | 4 Pages

In Sherman Alexie’s short stories (and poems), there usually three central themes that the story rotates. In this paper, I will be exploring how he (Alexie) explores the themes losing culture, a cycle of regret, and using drugs (mainly alcohol) to escape. In Indian Education, the short story, Alexie seems to show that whenever young Victor tries to express himself through his culture, he is punished. Take the section “First Grade” for example. In first grade, Junior (the main character and narrator) says that “The little warrior in me roared to life that day..” and makes comparisons to traditional Native American warriors, such as describing the brusies on the other boy’s face as “war paint” or how Junior chants “it’s a good day to die”, which is phrase typically associated with Crazy Horse, who was a Native American chief.

Read More

More about The Code Talker Essay

Related Topics

Open Document