Willy Loman's 'Vocabulary'

“Indians are like the weather.” With his opening words Vine Deloria Jr. sets up the basis for the rest of his witty yet substantial manifesto, Custer Died for Your Sins. The book, which describes the struggles and misrepresentation of the American Indian people in 1960s American culture, is written in a style that changes from ironic and humorous satire to serious notions, then back again. Through energetic dialogue that engages the reader in a clever and articulate presentation, Deloria advocates the dismissal of old stereotypes and shows a viewpoint that allows the general public to gain a deeper understanding of what it is to be an American Indian.

The Americans thought they were superior to the Native Americans and to the Japanese Americans. In the article “John G. Burnett’s Story of the Removal of the Cherokees” it says, “The only trouble that I had with anybody on the entire journey to the west was a brutal teamster by the name of Ben Mcdonal, who was using his whip on a old feeble Cherokee to hasten him into the wagon.” Ben Mcdonal didn’t treat the Cherokee nicely because he thought he was better than the Cherokee. He saw and treated the Cherokee like he was inferior. In the “Hotel in the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” novel, Keiko, A Japanese American find herself in many situations involving discrimination.

It is no secret that the Native Americans were treated unfairly. They were enslaved and forced to do horrid, dangerous tasks. Casas states how harshly the Indians were treated. One example being the dangers act of pearl diving. This was such a brutal task that Indians were forced to perform by the Spaniards. Pearl diving was known for its danger and severity. When fishing for pearls, the Indians were forced to stay underwater for extended amounts of time. Sometimes they were underwater for as long as hours at a time. Pearl divers typically did not survive long do you to the waters being so cold. They would go into hypothermia which made their lungs tighten. This caused them to cough up blood or cause them to have severe diarrhea which made them dehydrated and leading to death. The Spaniards basically murder the Indians in order to acquire these precious

The frequent depiction of the “Noble Savage” trope has many functions, with its main function being to portray Native Americans as sinless uneducated humans and to make their abusers and torturers seem evil and superior, which in most cases the torturers are indeed evil. Bartolomé de Las Casas and Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca use the “Native Savage” trope for different reasons, which makes their portrayal different, and not because they are writing about different tribes and groups of Native Americans. The “Noble Savage” is a very common adaptation of Native Americans, but the definition isn’t as pretty as the name of the trope may seem to be.

Native Americans were seen as less during the mid 1900’s in Montana. Frank and Wesley’s father believes that Frank should not have been arrested because it was Indian women he was raping. When Frank is explaining his side of the story his dad interrupts and says, “Something about assaulting a goddamn Indian. Since when do you get arrested in this part of the country for taking a poke at a man, red or white, that’s what I--,” (Watson, 110). Indians lived on reservation in Montana during this time so Frank’s fathers views on Indians was influenced due to his setting and Indians being seen as less in Montana. Paul’s girlfriend in “A River Runs Through It” was also an Indian. Indians were continuously seen as less during the mid 1900’s. When Paul and Norman came to a bar with their girlfriends they were asked what they wanted to drink except Paul’s girlfriend the Indian. The waiters setting influenced her views on Indians making her not want to serve them at the bar. Her views were also dependent on the fact that the server was coming from Montana where Indians were also kept on reservations and her view stayed as the Indians being less based on the

Even though the U.S. got more land from the Indian Removal Act and gave the Indians a new home with covered expenses it was a downcast for many Native tribes and a miserable event throughout history. In the writing of John G. Burnett’s Story of the Cherokees, he discusses how terrible and sad the removal of the Indians were and how it negatively affected the Indians. Specifically, “Woman were dragged from their homes”(2),”Children were often separated from parents, with the sky for a blanket and the earth as a pillow.”(2) In general, all of the Indians and even the women and kids were treated horrible as if they were seen as savages, and as if they were animals. Although, when being treated like savages, were the Indians the true savages or

Such an era came to a staggering end from the grand celestial meteoroid which assaulted life into

The instances of social, political, and economic antagonism between cultural and ethnic groups that arose from Westward Expansion were racism and the assimilation forced against marginalized groups of people. According to the Document B, “...China—the greatest and oldest despotism in the world—for a cheap working slave...the meanest slave on earth—the Chinese coolie—and imports him here to degrade white Labor.” One can infer that many were not happy with the fact that Chinese immigrants were doing jobs that white settlers did for cheaper and thought of them as stealing their jobs which added to the conflicts between the two groups, Whites and Chinese. According to Document D, “Many of the Indian dogs were still found in the vicinity lately occupied by the lodges of their owners; they probably subsisting on the bodies of the ponies that had been killed and then covered several acres of ground nearby.” One can assume that Custer was very biased against the Native Americans and reported them as dogs and savages that would leave their kind behind, which further adds to the antagonism between Native Americans and White Settlers.

In Red Earth, it is explained that the white settlers stole horses from the Kiowas and the Kiowas expected the whites to be punished. Lynn-Sherow gives an account of how the white settlers and Kiowa Indians were not treated equally but one better than the other. General Sheridan told the Indians that when white people commit crimes they are punished, so if the Indians commit crimes they will also be punished. That did not occur as it should have when an Indian came up to Sheridan and explained that there was a group of Utes, Osages, and some others that killed some of his warriors; Sheridan responded saying that he did not have anything to say about that matter. Lynn-Sherow also mentions that whites would dress up like Indians and steal from other whites and Mexicans so the blame can be placed on the neighboring

This feeling of animosity toward these people caused many different wars and battles which in turn gave the American government an excuse to relocate them. One example of this was the battle of Little Big Horn which took place in June 1876 and included the Sioux and government troops. After this battle animosity toward Indians grew even more and the government chased these people with the intent of capturing and humiliating them. Sitting Bull and a small group of his followers were able to escape to Canada while Crazy Horse and his followers were captured and relocated. One of the biggest treacheries committed against Native Americans was at Wounded Knee.

The attacks on Indians by the whites could now be excused because the Indians had murdered family members. They could kill, scalp, and rob Indians without much fear of being caught or punished. A play based on real life, written by Indian fighter, Robert Rogers, showed how two hunters happened upon two Indians. As they talked, both told of how Indians had murdered some family members, so it was logical to them to kill the Indians, scalp them and robbed them of the guns, hatchets and furs. The “victims’ furs were a fantastic windfall”. (129)

Walter Lippmann exploits an declamatory grammatical use of simile, formal diction, and passionate tone to supply readers a prominent understanding of the matter of Freedom of Speech. To accentuate his very own opinion, Lippmann semblances ever day occurrences to how we as humans feel about freedom. He says, "[...] we imagine that we tolerate the freedom of our political opponents as we tolerate a howling baby next door[...]" (42-44) By comparing the freedom of a political opponent to a howling baby he is describing how we listen to the political figures opinions even if we do disagree with them. Lipmann's strategy is effective because he is appeasing to the adult readers who understand the rambunctiousness of presidential campaigns. Lippmann also uses formal diction by using wide vocabulary to get his opinion across.

On top of that, American Indians have stereotypes that are mocked in entertainment. Not only is this quote appalling, but there is no research to show the changes in racism toward American Indians. American Indians are not acknowledged enough in history or present. Throughout my education, I was taught how American indians lost their land and was disrespected by white men. Meanwhile, American Indians were always welcoming

Understandably, American Indians soon began to distrust and resent their white oppressors. Simon Pokagon put it nicely in his speech The Red Man's Greeting :

1. I could not find my cup after Brat left the room. He must have stolen it.