Sophie Wyck Colonialism
The Effect of Colonialism on Indigenous Culture
By: Maher Jibrini
In Klee Wyck, by Emily Carr, colonialism is an important issue that is brought up throughout the book. Colonialism creates divisions between natives and eventually erases their culture. In Sophie, Carr utilizes specific language to create a feeling of empathy with the First Nations people, emphasizing her view of colonization as a tool to erase the Indigenous culture.
Carr’s views for colonial issues can be seen in the very beginning of the story with Sophie stating, “I got baskets” (Carr, 27). In this context, baskets can be seen as a symbol of Indigenous culture, since the baskets were “made by [Sophie’s] own people” (27). When Sophie attempts to sell her baskets to Carr, the implication is that Sophie is selling her culture. Carr’s word choice of “basket” specifies the current state of the First Nations people by choosing something that can be quickly identified as part of Indigenous culture. From there parallels can be drawn to show that colonialism is one of the major causes for Sophie to be selling baskets. Before the colonial …show more content…
Carr utilized Sophie’s position as a mother to indicate grief by stating that “almost every year [Sophie] buried one [of her children]” (28). However, after all of Sophie’s children died, “she took to drink” (28). Carr’s decision to include drinking plays a large role in invoking empathy for Sophie’s loss. The feeling of empathy for Sophie poses a line of questions. Why did Sophie drink? To grieve for her children who died. But then why did all of the children die? The implicated response is that the colonial project caused the early onset of their deaths. The repression of the Indigenous culture caused many natives like Sophie to become unable to take care of children as colonial ideologies were implemented, effectively erasing an entire generation of First Nations
By: Maher Jibrini
In Klee Wyck, by Emily Carr, colonialism is an important issue that is brought up throughout the book. Colonialism creates divisions between natives and eventually erases their culture. In Sophie, Carr utilizes specific language to create a feeling of empathy with the First Nations people, emphasizing her view of colonization as a tool to erase the Indigenous culture.
Carr’s views for colonial issues can be seen in the very beginning of the story with Sophie stating, “I got baskets” (Carr, 27). In this context, baskets can be seen as a symbol of Indigenous culture, since the baskets were “made by [Sophie’s] own people” (27). When Sophie attempts to sell her baskets to Carr, the implication is that Sophie is selling her culture. Carr’s word choice of “basket” specifies the current state of the First Nations people by choosing something that can be quickly identified as part of Indigenous culture. From there parallels can be drawn to show that colonialism is one of the major causes for Sophie to be selling baskets. Before the colonial …show more content…
Carr utilized Sophie’s position as a mother to indicate grief by stating that “almost every year [Sophie] buried one [of her children]” (28). However, after all of Sophie’s children died, “she took to drink” (28). Carr’s decision to include drinking plays a large role in invoking empathy for Sophie’s loss. The feeling of empathy for Sophie poses a line of questions. Why did Sophie drink? To grieve for her children who died. But then why did all of the children die? The implicated response is that the colonial project caused the early onset of their deaths. The repression of the Indigenous culture caused many natives like Sophie to become unable to take care of children as colonial ideologies were implemented, effectively erasing an entire generation of First Nations