What are the themes in Chief Seattle's Speech?
Answers
Answer:
famous speech which was made by Chief Seattle, the Native American tribal leader in response to a land treaty which was proposed to him by the Governor of Washington Territory (who was sent by the President) in 1854.
Background
Chief Seattle (1786-1866) was a famous 19th century American Indian chief of the Duwamish and the Suquamish Tribe. He is also known as Sealth, Seathle, Seathl, or See-ahth. He was a prominent leader of his times. His father was from the Suquamish tribe and his mother was from the Duwamish tribe. The city Seattle (found in the state of Washington, USA) is named after him.
In his youth, Sealth made his mark as a warrior, orator and diplomat. He is much respected for his Native American wisdom and his efforts towards maintaining the ecological balance of the ancestral lands that came under his tribes’ ownership. He is famous for his speech that talked about being responsible towards the environment and respect for the land rights of his people. The speech is a powerful statement on the environment, culture, and the future of humanity.
This speech was a response to the American Government’s land treaty. The treaty offered to buy the native lands of the tribes. It was proposed by the Governor of Washington Territory. Seattle’s speech is regarded as a powerful appeal for the respect for native Americans rights and environmental values. Seattle criticized the white people’s policies and their careless development plans which affected the environment. In fact, it was one of the earliest instances where someone expressed great concern over the degradation of nature and ecological balance. He warned us against the rapid progress of western civilization and appealed for the need to protect nature. This is why Chief Seattle’s speech is seen in such high esteem. One important thing to remember, Seattle delivered the speech in his native language Lushootseed and it has been translated and rewritten by several authors since then.
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The theme in a story refers to controlling idea or its central insight. It is the author's underlying meaning or main idea that is conveyed in the story. The theme may be the author's thoughts about a topic or view of human nature. Ambition, greed,love,fate, jealousy, loyalty are some of the common themes in short stories. The author makes use of various figures of speech to emphasise his theme, such as: symbol, allusion, simile, metaphor and irony.
Allegory and symbolism:
Allegory is a work of art which runs on two levels— the surface level and the deeper level. It is a story in which the author uses the characters, events or ideas on the surface level to bring out the moral of the story.
Irony:
Irony is a language device in which the real meaning is concealed by the literal meaning of the words. Veh often, there is a discrepancy between what is expected and what occurs.
Pathos:
Pathos is a quality that makes people pity for others.
Simile and metaphor:
A simile is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things, often introduced with the word 'like' or 'as'. Even though similes and metaphors are both forms of comparison, similes allow the two ideas to remain distinct in spite of their similarities, whereas metaphors seek to equate two ideas despite their differences.
Allussion:
An allusion is a figurative or symbolical reference to something supposed to be known, but not explicitly mentioned.
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