The Role Of Gender In Leslie Silko's Yellow Woman

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It is not uncommon in today’s society to be opinionated. Today, people use the First Amendment to the United States Constitution daily. Such as, in any type of argument that may arouse, any difficulty that pops up, and even when we are walking down the street. We use Freedom of Speech as our back bone when we discuss sensitive topics or issues of the world. Examples being, if you are walking through the grocery store, talking on your cell phone and someone asks you to talk quieter, we quickly become offended and resort to the First Amendment, that we are able to talk as loud or quiet as we please. From that, as a reader, we develop a “lens” to look at the world through. Since we all have our own opinions, it influences the way we read texts, and how we interpret it. I personally bring American culture into the classroom and use it to influence my ideas and understanding. I am a huge history buff and when I reference back to how hard American’s fought for this country, I am deeply appreciative and reflect on it frequently. I am personally influenced by …show more content…

As I understood, Yellow Woman was having an affair with another man, while her husband and family sat at home, wondering where she was at. Although, this text is seated upon the area of spirits and spiritual forces, the role of gender for the female character was not ideal. In a majority of the works of literature that we have read, the female roles are weak and unstable, such as in Hamlet. This is the same for this text. Yellow Woman completely trusts Silva, a strange man who informs her that she is the spiritual female that is passed along by folktales of Native Americans. Yellow Woman puts all of her trust into Silva and anything that he says, until he no longer returns, and she is able to return to her real home. It is a twisted and astonishing work of literature that I wish was was