In The Skin Of A Lion Analysis

The Holocaust: The Repercussion Everyone is different in the way they think, act and speak. These differences lead to disagreements and wars but there is one theory that connects even the most different people, archetypes. Archetypes are universally known symbols in every human psyche that further enhance stories, movies and other forms of media. Night by Elie Wiesel is a memoir about the real experiences of a Holocaust survivor named Eliezer and archetypes can be found within the book. The symbolic archetypes of corpses and night as well as the ‘Battle Between Good and Evil’ plot pattern help to guide readers into a further understanding of the victims’ perspectives because of the archetypal meanings of the symbols and the central plot pattern.

In Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion, the play of light and shadow are reoccurring motifs that identify and relate to the general themes of remembering and forgetting. H. Porter Abbott has defined motif as “a discrete thing, image, or phrase that is repeated in a narrative”, where in contrast, a theme “is a more generalized…concept that is suggested by… motifs” (237). Abbott emphasizes that “Themes are implicit in motifs, but not the other way around” (95). In In the Skin of a Lion, Ondaatje emphasizes the class struggles endured by the immigrant workers and the internal struggles faced by the central characters. The motif of chiaroscuro, the play of light and shadow, reflects how the characters try to forget their past and personal burdens, and strive to recall joyful memories, which aides them in embracing new beginnings and creating new memories. I will argue that the motif of light relates to the theme of remembering and the motif of shadow identifies with the theme of forgetting. I will show these relationships by analyzing the imagery and context of four central scenes in which light and shadow play a significant role. Firstly, I will discuss the event of the nun falling off the unfinished bridge. Secondly, I will consider the candle-light vigil held for the deceased bridge works. Thirdly, I will discuss the working conditions of the tunnel workers in the section “Palace of Purification”, and lastly, I will analyze the concluding scene in which Patrick and Hana

In Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s book, Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network, she allows us to enter the everyday lives of ten undocumented Mexican workers all living in the Chicago area. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz refers to Chuy, Alejandro, Leonardo, Luis, Manuel, Omar, Rene, Roberto, Lalo, and Albert the ten undocumented Mexicans as the “Lions”. This book shares the Lions many stories from, their daily struggle of living as an undocumented immigrant in America, to some of them telling their stories about crossing the border and the effects of living in a different country than their family, and many other struggles and experiences they have encountered. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s book delves into

Overall, James Bartleman successfully addresses the issues of marginalization and assimilation of First Nations people in Canada. Through Bartleman’s stylistic choices, As Long as the Rivers Flow narrates the fictional story of a Native raised in

The nonfiction novel “"Lion"” by Saroo Brierley explores different attributes that a person must possess in order to survive. This novel ,”"Lion"” is based on a true story about a 5 year old indian boy who by chance leaves his poverty stricken home and ends up in the city of Kolkata. After 25 years of separation from his family he finds his way home. “"Lion"” showcases many idea’s about survival, some of these being thinking instinctively, knowing how to source basic needs and knowing when to trust others.

For example, racialized nurses in Canada may experience multiple forms of everyday racism in their working lives, including instances of tokenism, bullying or invisibility, excessive monitoring, lack of recognition, and verbal put-downs because of race and ethnicity (Das Gupta 2009; Estachio and Saidy-Khan 2014). The micro-racism in the nursing workplace also intersects other negative identity markers such as race, gender, class, and ability to amplify the exclusions or invalidations. Clearly, then, a contradiction is in play: Individuals may be equal before the law in terms of equal opportunities, yet still be slighted or excluded if their identities and realities are misrecognized or discredited through the racialized tone of everyday rhetoric (see Levey 2013). Formal citizenship rights may be real, but they must be exercised in everyday contexts neither constructed to reflect minority realities nor designed to Canadian Ethnic Studies/Études ethniques au Canada advance their interests (Fleras

In Hector Tobar’s book The Barbarian Nurseries, the labeling that occurs is that of undocumented immigrant as criminal. The book, while fiction, illustrates how the concept of the “good immigrant” and the “bad immigrant” come into play in societal structures. Because of white privilege and

Although I can’t specifically relate to Gloria Anzaldúa’s struggle between her languages in “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” I can relate to her “kind of dual identity” in which she identifies with neither Anglo-American cultural values nor Mexican cultural values (1566). Being half white, half Chinese, I struggle identifying as either identity, especially because my mom (who is Chinese) never learned Cantonese and largely became Americanized in her childhood. It’s an uncomfortable position to be in when racial and ethnic identity are so significant in America and when I must interact with the world as part of both the majority and the marginalized. Considering my own struggle and the conflict Anzaldúa describes, it became clearer to me the way race relations in American not only marginalize people of color but train our consciousnesses to damage ourselves. Before I turn back to Anzaldúa, a novel I’ve recently read, William Godwin’s Caleb Williams has also been on my mind, particularly in Godwin’s portrayal of how police surveillance transforms us into agents of our own oppression. Although Caleb is a white man, he also experiences a split consciousness as his values and characteristics are whittled away by the paranoia of constant surveillance.

In her book, Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network, Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz describes the lives of ten busboys, she referrs to as the Lions, living and working in the Chicago area. Gomberg-Muñoz provides an insight into the lives of these undocumented Mexican workers. They share their stories of crossing the border, the affects of their absence on family back in Mexico, and the daily struggles of living in a country without the benefits of citizenship. The Lions, as well as other undocumented Mexicans, have to face Americans stereotypes every day. Probably the biggest stereotype the Lions contend with is the belief that all Mexicans are hard workers.

In the ideal world, every person is treated equally in the workplace whether it be hiring, promotion, assignments or termination. However in reality, racial discrimination and harassment remain pervasive in the workplace, with 1 in 4 visible minority workers who reported that they had experienced racial harassment or discrimination in the workplace [3]. In this essay, I will be discussing the social-history of racism in the workplace, the nature of racism in the labour force, motives and factors, immigration policies, temporary programs and exploitation of employment, the de-skilling of individuals and non-recognition of foreign credentials, the social-history of racism in the workplace, racism in the sociological conflict theory paradigm, and finally, policy recommendations to aimed to eliminate and decrease racism in the work environment. In the Canadian work environment, racism exists as a complex and multidimensional inequality for visible minorities and immigrants, and can be examined socially, economically and politically using the sociological Marxist conflict theory paradigm.

Stepping out onto Canadian soil is the dream of any new immigrant coming to create a new life for a fresh start. The strong images of digging, logging, and construction are just some of the rough edged images that many do not consider when imagining the Canadian Dream. The Canadian Dream in the minds of workers in Michael Ondaatje’s, In the Skin of a Lion, is labouring to create life for themselves and working towards a steady future. Abbott describes the masterplot as “stories that we tell over and over in myriad forms and that connect vitally with our deepest values, wishes, and fears.” (Abbott 46). Ondaatje’s emphasis on labour reminds readers of the difficult work that individuals endured in the early foundational days of Toronto. The Canadian masterplot of labour in early Toronto can be initially thought of as a sparkling dream, when in reality it was harsh work that often went unrecognized. The less educated, along with immigrants were considered lower class and were placed in positions of difficult work and limited pay. Historically, it may be a preconceived notion that Canada was built with ease and peace, but in truth, weathered men and women were the backbone that built the nation. The individuals who built the infrastructure of Toronto endured the most difficult work yet were hidden in the darkness. They experienced the most dangerous labor yet they were recognized the least because of the negative connotations of the job. In this essay I will be outlining the

With scholars such as Kerry L. Preibisch (The Other Side of el Otro Lado: Mexican Migrant Women and Labor Flexibility in Canadian Agriculture), Ronaldo Munck (Globalization, Migration and Work: Issues and Perspectives), and Parrenas R. S. (Servants of Globalization: Migration and Domestic Work) all argue that the power the employer has in selecting which migrant workers they want based on nationality or sex. In turn, has created a competition among the labor-supply of countries. And between the workers themselves based on social hierarchy, which both race and gender are prominent. However, these articles perspectives have not adequately addressed the issue of the relationship between how labour migration and the current economic policy in effect by the Canadian government the CSAWP has on migrant workers. My paper addresses the issue of migrant’s workers face in the agricultural sector in Ontario but with particular attention with regards to the recent changes in economic policies set by the Canadian government. Specifically, in my paper, I will be looking at the challenges of migrating to Canada, and the lack of fundamental rights of becoming a Canadian citizen, to show the difficulties that migrants face of being less mobile today than in the past. I will discuss the power that employers have the choice of picking the migrant worker that they want in Canada. The type of labour mobility they have within the workforce in Canada and juxtapose them against the current economic policies enforced by the Canadian Government to reveal the previously misunderstood connections between migrant workers and the challenges they face on a daily

Racial discrimination in the workplace has been a persistent theme in Canada’s history as well as present-day times. The occurrence of actions and attitudes that impose a sense of one being less equal than another on the basis of one’s race in Canada’s workplace inhibits both our nation’s ability to move forward as well as strengthen unification within our country. The belief in a more egalitarian society, where one’s race and ethnic background have little to no impact on employees (or potential employees) standings within the job market, would seemingly be reinforced by the majority of Canadians, who consistently show support for Canada’s multicultural identity. Couple that with the noticeable strides Canada has made in the past several

Gloria Anzaldua, Sherman Alexie and Richard Rodriguez are three different American authors that struggled with marginalization because of their heritage and culture. It shows that most people that are part of the minority ethnic group, struggle with finding their identity when they are forced to engage in a different society other than their own group. The authors find themselves in a linguistic and cultural borderland because they were looked down upon. They were discriminated by the dominant ethnic group when they try and stick to their heritage and they were shunned and neglected by their own people whenever they try to adhere to the standards of their new country.

According to Barbius in http://www.taleswithmorals.com/aesop-fable-the-ass-in-the-lion's-skin.htm on 1912. The fable states that “An Ass once found a Lion's skin which the hunters had left out in the sun to dry. He put it on and went towards his native village.” The Ass found the Lions skin and put it on knowing that it was not his. The Ass did not think much of taking the Lion’s skin and wearing it as his own because the hunters left the skin out to dry.