"The Life And Words Of A Kung Woman"
From “The Life And Words Of A Kung Woman” by Nisa
I chose to write about 2 quotes from the excerpt which describes Nisa memories about her childhood, marriage and first child.
“Another time, my father took me and left me alone in the bush… As soon as night sat, I started to cry. I cried and cried and cried. My father hit me, but I kept crying. I probably would have cried the whole night, but finally, he got up and said, “I’m taking you and leaving you out in the bush for the hyenas to kill. What kind of child are you?...” He picked me up, carried me away from camp and set me down in the bush.” (Nisa, 638)
“We continued to live and it was as if I was already an adult. Because beginning to menstruate makes you think about things. Only then did I bring myself to understand, only then did I begin to become a woman.” (Nisa, 652)
The first quote describes Nisa’s relationship with her parents, especially her father. She recalls one of the many times that her father hit her for misbehaving. The idea of hitting your child as a way to teach them about what is right and what is wrong was common many years ago and is still common in some parts of the world. With that being said I was surprised at how much Nisa was hit as a child by her family. After her father hits her he goes on to degrade her and leave her out for the “hyenas to kill” her.
The second quote describes when Nisa became a woman. It’s common in many cultures to pick an age or event that shows a child has become an adult, like a quinceanera in Mexican culture. I thought it was interesting Nisa menstruating meant that she was an adult even though she was already married.
Word Count: 318
I liked the quotes that you chose, and I also found it surprising the amount of times that she was hit as a child. It was interesting to me the difference in treatment between when she was with her family and after she was married. I remember reading about how she and her husband went to visit her family, and her mother exclaimed something along the lines of "Oh my Nisa!" and her father was delighted to see her. I think that it just surprised me because they beat her so much as a child and, like you mentioned, her father at one point left her out for the "hyenas to kill", but once she is an "adult" and comes back with her husband, only then did it feel like she was actually loved by her parents. I also found it interesting how dependent Nisa acted. She always wanted to go with her brother and father instead of staying with her mother like most little girls wanted. And when she gave birth for the first time, she didn't wake up her husband or her mother-in-law, and instead went by herself under a tree to give birth.
ReplyDeleteThe quotes you chose are interesting. I enjoyed reading this because you could really see the difference between cultural norms as far are corrections of children are. Nisa was hit multiple times throughout this story, or was considered to be hit, depending on the situation. The way they even spoke to Nisa was so degrading emotionally. I could not imagine the pain of the after effect of being spoken to like that by my own parents. I think this played a role in her marriage as well.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job in explaining your second quote and the cultural differences of when young girls are considered women. However, it is still shocking that an event such as menstruation is considered the turning point for Nisa as she was very young at the time and as we learned from the videos, she was only 8 when she was married. In our culture, many young girls begin menstruation around 12-15 but that has no indication that they are ready for marriage. They naivety can be seen when Nisa is unaware of the responsibilities involved with marriage.
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