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~*Windflower by Gabrielle Roy*~ This will explain one of the themes in this novel: imprisonment of possessions. It will relate to the whole story and several other sources to express my opinion.

Decent Essays

"You never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy" Erick Hoffer. Through out history, society has supported science to look forward for inventions to improve conformity in life; this fact has changed humanity's priorities and therefore, the world itself. In other words, our science development has always had the destination for easier and longer life; however, we do not notice how this is all about materialism and how it devalues our sense for life. In Windflower by Gabrielle Roy, the Inuit culture is expressed as peaceful and free, but in contrast the white way of living is considered as hostile and imprisoning and has a negative impact on Elsa Kumachuk's life and her relationships. Materialism has altered her life and in …show more content…

"Ambitious striving is essentially based on glamour and illusion so often leading to disenchantment when the contender eventually achieves his/her objective, only to find his/her attachment to be an empty shell." (Jurriaanse, Aart. "Esoteric Tenets - Human shortcomings: Material Desire" 29 November 2002). The way Elsa sees Jimmy, she shows how the materialistic world of the white has made her see her son as a precious possession that is only hers and will be there always for her. Because of Elsa's willingness to content Jimmy by giving him whatever he desired, he is over-indulged and looses respect for her because of her almost remote courage and self-confidence. In relation to the quote above, we can mention that Jimmy always gets what he wants from his mother and he never struggles or even tries to achieve a goal by himself, also, she lies to herself when she supposedly finds happiness in the material comfort because it is just a simulated content that when is achieved the surprise is gone. When she buys a playpen for him, she is imitating, once again, the white way of life but doesn't admit the drastic change this imprisonment would cause on Jimmy. He views good life as having luxuries, and happiness as having no necessities. He has also become very materialistic and doesn't see life in the holistic way but in the way to make it more comfortable. Since Elsa had power over him for being his mother, Jimmy also felt power over her for being her son,

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