The nurses felt the same anger as the other women prisoners at their own lack of power and the same repugnance to be sex servants, and as women in the military they had additional worries. They were conscious of their duty not to assist the enemy, and by appearing to cooperate with the Japanese could have faced degrading enquiries and court charges in the after the war; they knew the Japanese as the soldiers who had inflicted terrible injuries on the Australians they had nursed in the crowded temporary hospitals of Malaya and Singapore and as the murderers of 21 of their fellow nurses on the beach; and they feared that even if they survived the experience and were not formally charged with any offence their personal and professional lives after the war would be destroyed. If things came to the worst, they wondered if an individual nurse could attach herself to a particular Japanese in the hope that he might protect her from the others, and if they could ensure silence among themselves as a group. When the Japanese told Sister Win Davis what she had to do or be killed, she said that she chose death. At the time it was not an unlikely alternative.
These detachments have a massive impact on prisoners who are left with little to be hopeful for. Julie Poehlmann of the University of Wisconsin has concluded that as visits from children to their incarcerated mothers decreased, and a relationship disconnection occurred, maternal depression sharply increased (350). Ensuring the mental health of prisoners is critical to proper rehabilitation. Families are an important source of hope and often a prisoner’s sole connection to the outside world they’ve been forced to leave behind; therefore, it is important for the justice system and prison administrators to appoint trained professionals and hands on programs to urge inmates to maintain and strengthen family connections for proper rehabilitation and to ensure acclimation once released. Hope for the future is a powerful tool in the rehabilitation process.
These ideas are also explored through Gary Ross’ film, Pleasantville as the protagonists fight against oppression of society’s expectations and the power of art as a way of escaping this and finding a purpose and a sense of hope. The distinctive experiences of the female prisoners of war within the oppressive confinement of a Japanese war camp are explored through Misto’s use of mixed media to visually stimulate the audience. He recreates historically accurate images of the women confined in the camps to startle the audience and make the horrific experiences these women endured realistic for the audience. The projected images of the emaciated, impoverished women POW’s on dirty beds highlight the women’s oppressive confinement at the hands of the Japanese, “They are in a shocking state... now skin and bone”. Thus forcing the audience to acknowledge the horrific conditions the women faced.
Also by using an interview form, he shows not only how the main character feels in her own words, he gives his audience a first- hand look into her situation. The fear and uncertainty that she lives in is unimaginable to me. Not being able to fully understand things like instructions for medication, labels for food, or welfare papers make it hard to take care of the everyday needs for her children. The living conditions that she describes put her family in constant danger physically and medically. I found this writing to be a very heartbreaking insight into the plight that Laura faces.
In the novel, April Raintree by Beatrice Culleton, there is a wide variety of discrimination, self-identity, and moral development. The main characters, Cheryl and April Raintree, who are Métis, grew up in an environment where they were not accepted by their foster parents, society, and relationships. These two sisters experience a tough life when faced with the heavily prejudiced world around them. April and Cheryl both equally face racial discrimination inside and outside of their homes. Every human being likes the feeling of being accepted and respected by society.
Mary Rowlandson witnessed and experienced firsthand a much darker side of life within a colony. Indian raids on settlements became more common due to the increased number of settlers and the increased acquisition of their native lands. Consequently, Rowlandson was captured during one of these raids, and endured horrors she later she wrote about which described her experiences and feelings during captivity. Even though she refers to the Indians as hell hounds and butchers whom offered no compassion to her or her dying child she never lost her faith. She had no comfort or help and relied on reading passages of her bible as a source of inspiration to survive as well as using her sewing and culinary skills to barter within the tribe for supplies and food to survive
In the story, “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson,” by Rowlandson, Rowlandson, breaks down the cruel experiences she had to go through in order to survive all the hardships. She was captive in a war, where she had no way to escape. Rowlandson states, “Now is the dreadful hour come, that I have often heard of (in time of war, as it was the case of others), but now mine eyes see it.” By sharing this comment, she is able to show us how life was really like during the war, and how much people suffered. Not only did she suffer while the war was occurring, but the fact that she had lost her baby in the war devastated her. She felt as she had lost a part of her life.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester’s alienation is presented through the harsh treatment she receives before she is even introduced in the novel. Through Hawthorne’s shifting narrative perspective in Chapter 3, readers are given an indication of the dislike felt towards Hester for her sin. Hawthorne presents readers with the perspective of the women in society to reveal the amount of hatred and subsequent isolation that Hester will experience once she is released from prison. Furthermore, the constant use of negative descriptions such as “malefactress” and “naughty baggage” (Chapter 2) by the women of Boston society provide further evidence to show the Hester’s exclusion from the Puritan community as she
Because of discrimination against women rights, and how society view women is nothing much than their sex slaves, Elizabeth suffered from great loss of family and love. From her experience of giving a birth to a dead baby to the point of becoming a sex worker, it perishes her hope of living in a comfortable and pleasing life. The absence of love for Elizabeth causes her to suffer from grief and catastrophe. Society against women rights prevents Elizabeth to speak up for her tragedy because she has no place and no one to blame to. Instead, she has to endure all the horrifying loss from both society and
The tyranny civilians felt was surreal. In “Aint I a Woman”, Sojourner Truth anxiously talked about how and why African-American women did not have the same rights as white men had and why there was no equality between them. Bell Hooks’, “Talking Back” also shares significance with what Truth had to express. Hooks conveys that even though women have the right to speak, they are not being listened to and what they say does not make a difference in the matter. Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Government”, has many similarities with Martin Luther King Junior’s letter.