Zoli and Romani Culture

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Women in the Romani culture have faced social discrimination for hundreds of years. These women are seeking a way for their voices to be heard, and, similar to the character Zoli in Zoli by Column McCann will go to extreme measures to be given better opportunities in education and gender relations. The character Zoli’s life is reflected correspondingly to the life of a Romani woman. In the novel, Zoli’s life from early childhood to mature adulthood reflects the same struggles that the Romà and Gypsy culture face to this day. In the beginning of the novel, six year old Zoli Novotna and her grandfather, both of whom are a part of a nomadic Gypsy family, escape from the Nazi Hlinka guards during the days before the violent World War II. Zoli’s grandfather turns out to be her parent figure as her entire family is killed at gunpoint. It is her grandfather who teaches her to read and write, which is an uncommon ability for a Romani girl to have. In the novel, Zoli recalls the first moments seeing her grandfather read, “In the evenings Grandfather sat and read – he was the only person I knew who could read or write or count. He had a precious book I did not know the name of and in truth I did not care, it sounded strange and ridiculous and full of huge words, nothing like his stories” (McCann 22). Through this quotation, it is apparent that her grandfather influenced her curiosity and determination to become a writer later in life. Her grandfather says, “A good book always needed a good listener” (22), which inspires Zoli even at a young age to believe that written words are meant to be spoken for the world to hear. Zoli’s upbringing is relatively different to a typical life of a Romani girl. Zoli is emotionally scarred as a child with the death of her family and the struggles of always being on the move. However, her grandfather is the positive affect in her life. She

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