Summary Of St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves

How would you feel if you were taken from your home and brought to a boarding school? It would be difficult to adapt to new surroundings and a whole new culture. In the fictional short story, “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” this is what happened. It may seem acceptable as a fictional work, but what if you found out that it has actually happened? In the late 1800s, many Native American children were taken from their homes and their families and brought to special reservations specifically created for them to change practically every aspect of the way they had lived. Although one of these situations is fictional and the other is historical, the way the educators attempted to assimilate the children to a whole new culture have many …show more content…
Lucy’s. The girls at St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves got off easy as far as punishment goes when you know what the Native Americans had to go through. At st. Lucy’s, the nuns that were teaching the girls were much more tolerant of their behavior. This is most likely because they had a handbook, called the “Jesuit Handbook on Lycanthropic Culture Shock” that discussed the behaviors that were expected of the girls at certain stages during the assimilation process. “She'd sit down with Mirabella and prise her fingers apart. ‘You see?’ she’d say softly, again and again. ‘What are you holding on to? Nothing, little one. Nothing.’” (Russell) When one of the girls, Mirabella, wouldn’t follow the directions, the nun would simply sit with her and teach her how to do what she was told. On the other hand, Native American children had it much worse. They were taught to speak English only and if they were caught speaking their own language, they would be punished. “Students were prohibited from speaking their native languages. Instead, they were supposed to converse and even think in English. If they were caught ‘speaking Indian’ they were severely beaten with a leather belt” (Indian Country Diaries; Indian Boarding Schools). Native Americans did not deserve …show more content…
Lucy’s and Native American schools both took their students against their will from home and gave them new identities, but at least St. Lucy’s educators had friendly attitudes toward the students, unlike the educators at Native American boarding schools. On the other hand, both boarding schools served their purpose. St. Lucy’s successfully assimilated girls who once acted like wolves into acting like proper humans. Native American boarding schools also properly assimilated their students from their original native culture to American culture, the main difference between the reasons they were successful are the motives of the instructors. At St. Lucy’s, instructors only wanted to help the girls assimilate to help them live a happier and more successful life, unlike how instructors at Native American boarding schools only wanted to assimilate the children into white culture because they believed that Indians were inhumane and got in the way of the

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Summary Of St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves

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St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves Summary

Summary Of St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By Wolves