Impression Of An Indian Girl Analysis

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Zitkala Sa’s Impression of an Indian Childhood and The School Days of an Indian Girl reflect the struggle of living in a country where one culture dominates over others. Sa, the narrator takes the readers on a journey of enlightenment as she narrates how the power dynamics forced her to distance herself from Dakota culture. Throughout both Impression of an Indian Childhood and The School Days of an Indian Girl one can note that Sa struggles to find her place in the rapidly changing society. Sa’s identity is formed through assimilation to the dominant identities of her world which changes as she grows.
Sa’s first identity is the Dakota identity as that is the only community she has contact with. Sa states “I was as free as the wind that blew
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Until her arrival at the school Sa held onto the Dakota identity. However, once she becomes enlightened regarding the larger world surrounding her community and the importance of education Sa wants to leave most of her identity behind. It is not because she hates her Dakota identity that she leaves it behind, but rather because it acts as a limit to her equality in the larger society. In order to be an equal in the larger society Sa had to assimilate to the white people’s customs as it is what are accepted as being “good” or civilized”. According to the quote, “The little taste of victory did not satisfy a hunger in my heart” (1900), suggests that defeating the prejudices of the white society which had once taunted her was one of her goals. It could be thought the identity of Sa now is a mix of both the “Paleface” and Dakota culture, however her adaptation of the “paleface” culture is to only bring power to the Dakota culture. Thus, in the end the Dakota identity of Sa’s childhood is the strongest and most influential identity even if it had once wavered and has now been intertwined with another