Impacts of Dehumanization-PAPER 2

Daniel Mehryari

Professor Brady

English 102

24 April 2017

Impacts of Dehumanization

Dehumanization is clearly evident in the plays White Women of Color by Julia Alvarez, and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Both works of literature clearly express dehumanization and its effect on people. As well as these two works of literature, dehumanization also correlates to the 60 minutes’ interview “A Surprising Way to Think About Slavery”. This interview clearly exemplifies the unbelievable and gruesome effects and feelings of enslaved people on the Mozambique Island, off the coast of Africa. Dehumanization often destroys a person in a multitude of ways. One of these ways is the feeling of Isolationism through fear and loss, as well as Physical and mental effects due to fear. Alvarez, Gilman, and the 60-minute interview all clearly depict the horrid effects of dehumanization.

The story White Women of Color by Julia Alvarez takes place in the Dominican Republic during the reign of Rafael Trujillo. Trujillo was responsible for a multitude of murders strictly because of appearance in attempt to “ethnically cleanse” the Dominican Republic. These acts of terror prevailed Trujillo to be known as one the top killers of all time. Due to these deeds, many citizens of the Dominican Republic attempted to flee in attempt to get out of harm’s way.  Julia Alvarez and her sisters were some of these citizens who wished to gain safety but as a result often felt isolated. As Alvarez stated, “It was clear to us growing up then that lighter was better, but there was no question of discriminating against someone because he or she was dark skinned” (2). This quote from Alvarez clearly depicts how someone who’s features didn’t agree with the thoughts of the time period could definitely feel isolated or even result in a sense of fear to be discriminated against because of their physical appearance, in this case skin color. Alvarez also states “So, black was not so good, kinky hair was not so good, thick lips not so good” (2). By saying this, Alvarez is continuously stating aspects of physical appearance that would often be discriminated against and could manifest a feeling of isolation on a person, especially if there was no way of fixing it. Finally, Alvarez states “People of color were treated as if they were inferior, prone to violence, uneducated, untrustworthy, lazy-all the “bad” adjectives we were learning in our new language” (3). This statement exemplifies the feelings of isolation that Alvarez herself felt when first moving to the United States and how terrible and alone she often felt. She later goes on to explain how isolated she felt. As you can see, the examples of isolation that Julia Alvarez felt when being forced to leave the Dominican Republic are depicted in White Women of Color by Julia Alvarez. The story clearly exemplifies the effects of dehumanization through fear of discrimination due to physical appearance.

The story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman depicts the Isolationism a person can feel due to dehumanization and how alone dehumanization can force a person to become both physically and mentally. This story expresses the madness that a woman feels due to maltreatment and neglect from her husband. The story also expresses the treatment of women during the 19th century. As Gilman states in the story, the protagonist spends a lot of time in a room surrounded by a yellow wall paper and a glass ceiling. When writing about the wallpaper, she states “The color is repellant, almost revolting; a smoldering unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow-turning sunlight” (318). Although it may seem as though she is just characterizing the wallpaper, this quote signifies much more than that. It signifies that the women spends so much time isolated in this room that she is able to depict and remember every single aspect of the wallpaper in such pinpoint detail. However, not only her depiction of the wallpaper proves her isolationism. If looked at closely, her explanation of the wallpaper and the room has similar characteristics as human waste, in this case urine. This can relate to her wanting to escape and let out the “waste” which represents the dehumanization she is feeling. A second example from Gilman’s story is when she states “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him” (318). This also illustrates the woman’s sense of isolationism. She suffers all alone and nobody not even her husband is aware, which gives her a sense of aloneness, that slowly eats away at her. Finally, Gilman states “But I am securely fastened now by my well-hidden rope-you don’t get me out in the road there!” (321). This quote exemplifies a severe sense of isolationism. So much so, that she feels as though she is being tied up by a rope and unable to move because of how alone she is. She is clearly divulging a feeling of dehumanization due to her isolation. As proven by the examples in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story The Yellow Wallpaper the feeling of isolationism that someone feels due to dehumanization can make a person feel restricted, unable to move, think, and even survive on their own.

Dehumanization is such a substantial topic that it cannot only be expressed through literature, but in real life as well. One example of dehumanization in today’s world can be depicted in the 60-minute interview called “A Surprising Way to Think About Slavery”. In this interview, 60 minutes’ reporter Scott Pelley interviews a historian and museum director named Lonnie Bunch. They travel to Mozambique Island, off the coast of Africa where at a time, more than 400,000 slaves were trafficked. When discussing the treatment of some of these slaves, Bunch states “The whole process of being sold was so dehumanizing. They would look at your teeth to see how healthy you were. They would look at your muscularity. They would ask you to bend, sometimes jump, to see how limber you would be.” (2-3 min). This quote proves that they would treat these human slaves as if they were animals checking their physical features as a test of worth and value which is disgusting to think about. A final example from the interview is Bunch’s response to Pelley’s question about what a black man would see while on the ramp. This response was “He sees a combination of unbelievable pain, a sense of anger, a sense of loss, but also an amazing sense of optimism” (3-4 min). This quote testifies how terrible these human slaves felt due to treatment of dehumanization by the slave owners. The fact that you can see the excruciating pain in their faces really warrants how terrible the effects of dehumanization can be.

Due to the tremendously valid examples from the 60 minutes’ interview “A Surprising Way to Think About Slavery” the terrible effects that dehumanization can clearly be depicted for how horrible they really were.

Dehumanization can make a person feel isolated due to horror through physical and mental fear and loss. It also can result in isolationism due to fear. These effects can make a person feel useless and helpless and really hinder their way of life forever. The stories White Women of Color by Julia Alvarez and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman clearly depict this to be true. As well as the 60-minute interview “A Surprising Way to Think About Slavery” which also directly correlates to the topic of dehumanization.

Works Cited

Alvarez, Julia. "White Women of Color." White Women of Color. N.p., n.d. Web.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The yellow wallpaper. Minneapolis: First Avenue Editions, a Division Of Lerner Publishing Group, 2017. Print.

News, CBS. "A surprising way to think about slavery." CBS News. CBS Interactive, 21 Aug. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.