Memories of Childhood - Notes

1. . “Then I lost my spirit.” What are the incidents that led Zitkala-Sa to feel this way?
Zitkala-Sa experienced several incidents that led her to feel defeated and lose her spirit. One of the most traumatic
was when she was dragged from under the bed by the authorities at the Carlisle Indian School. This was part of the
larger process of stripping her of her Native American identity. She was forcibly tied to a chair, symbolizing her
powerlessness and helplessness. The most symbolic and painful incident was when her hair, which held cultural
significance for her, was shingled (cut short), a practice that was done to erase her heritage. This loss of her hair, a
symbol of strength and defiance in her culture, left her feeling humiliated and stripped of her identity. These
incidents signified mourning and cowardice in her eyes, leaving her defeated and ultimately causing her to lose the
will to fight against the system of oppression she was being subjected to.

2. Justify the statement, ‘It may take a long time for oppression to be resisted but the seeds of rebellion are sowed
early in life.’
Oppression often takes root early in life, but the seeds of rebellion are planted in childhood experiences. Zitkala-Sa’s
childhood at the Carlisle Indian School is a prime example. She faced constant humiliation, including being forced to
wear tight-fitting clothes and hard shoes that were alien to her, and she had to eat by formula, which was degrading.
These daily indignities wounded her self-respect, and she was made to feel like a coward and treated like cattle. Her
hair was shingled, symbolizing a direct attack on her cultural identity. These early humiliations served to build up a
deep sense of injustice, and though she initially felt defeated, they also sowed the seeds of her resistance.

Similarly, in Bama's case, the oppression she faced also started early in life. One incident that stands out is when she
observed a man holding a packet in a demeaning way, which infuriated her. She became angry as she recognized the
discrimination being faced by her people. This anger, provoked by the injustices, eventually sparked a desire for
rebellion. Both Zitkala-Sa and Bama felt humiliated and disrespected in their youth, but as they grew, this humiliation
turned into a strong desire to fight for justice. The experiences of oppression during childhood became the
foundation for their eventual rebellion, proving that while resistance may take time to manifest, it begins with the
earliest signs of injustice that ignite anger and defiance in the hearts of the oppressed.

3. It may take a long time for oppression to be resisted, but the seeds of rebellion are sowed early in life. Do you
agree that injustice in any form cannot escape being noticed even by children ?​
Perhaps oppression against down-trodden is as old as human history is. Only from time to time it has just changed its
form. The mighty and powerful have always been thinking themselves superior to the weak and poor and have been
always exploiting them.

So it may take a long time for oppression to be resisted. But it is also a fact that the seeds of rebellion are sowed
early in an oppressed person’s life. When persons like Bonnin and Bama watch themselves or others, they turn
rebellious, whatsoever their age might be. In such cases, one’s reaction to the oppression is more important than the
age at which a person is forced to be rebellious.

Zitkala-Sa was a little girl and Bama was in third class only when they became victims of oppression and injustice of
the society. But the incidents of Bonnin’s hair being shingled and Bama’s awareness of ugly face of untouchability cast
an indelible impression on their minds.

Bonnin escaped herself and was hidden under a bed to avoid her hair being forcibly shingled. Bama was determined
to excel in studies so that she could be accepted by the people of higher castes. Both of them tried to oppose the
long-established ways of society and became rebellions at a very tender age.

4. Bama’s experience is that of a victim of the caste system. What kind of discrimination does Zitkala-Sa’s
experience depict ? What are their responses to their respective situations ?​
Zitkala-Sa is the pen-name of an American Indian woman Gertrude Simmons Bonnin who was born in 1876. Bama is
a contemporary Indian Tamil Dalit writer whose experience is that of a victim of the caste system which she saw
through the eyes of a child. She saw how even the elderly people of her community were maltreated and
discriminated against on the basis of their low caste. They were treated as untouchables by the upper caste people.
Their mere touch was considered enough to pollute anything belonging to the persons of upper castes.

But what Zitkala-Sa suffered as a child was an oppression caused because of the racial discrimination. The native
American Red Indians were treated as animals by those outsiders who had settled in their country. They were
insulted and humiliated. They were not treated with equality and respect. They were looked down upon as was done
in the case of Bama’s community. Such inhuman treatment made both the women of different ages rebellious.
However, they emerged as excellent writers who wrote a realistic and powerful account of the sufferings and
humiliating experiences of the people of their communities.