Justify both the subtitles "The Cutting of My Long Hair & We Too are Human Beings" in Memories of Childhood
Answers
The story ‘Memories of Childhood’ is made up of two stories: i The Cutting Of My Long Hair ii We Too are Human Beings.
The first part is about Zitkala Sa’s cutting of hair at her school. The second part was about the caste discrimination.
Zitkala being a Red-Indian was targeted at her school by her warden. Nobody at school tried to console and sympathized with her. Nor did any teacher pacify her. They rather treated her more brutally. They chased her and dragged her to cut her hair which she wore as a symbol of her cultural pride.
Bama, a south Indian girl had to undergo the pain of being treated as an untouchable girl because of her caste. She saw how one of his elders from her community had to bow and carry an eatable for his boss in a particular way, not touching it, just holding it from a thread with great care; just because he was considered untouchable for being a member of a particular caste. She did not know why he was being laughed at until her brother, Anna explained to her. It infuriated her.