In Citizen part three, the central theme focuses on racism in what isn’t said versus what is directly said. Throughout the book, this is an ongoing theme. In parts one and two, Citizen brings racist comments against the narrator showing how language is used. For example, in part one, when the author approaches a house, a woman yells at her, the narrator characterizing it as “It was as if a wounded Doberman pinscher or a German Shepherd had gained the ability of speech (18).” This shows how words and tones hurt others, but in part three it has a different situation. “The real estate woman, who didn’t fathom she could have made an appointment to show her house to you, spends much of the walk-through telling your friend, repeatedly, how comfortable she feels around her. Neither you nor your friend bother to ask who is making her feel uncomfortable (51).” This situation implies that because of the authors race, she makes the real estate woman uncomfortable because of the negative stereotypes she has around black people. Although nobody was asking her if she felt uncomfortable, the real estate woman felt the need to keep ‘reassuring’ her due to her race. Throughout the book it either gives you experiences that tell you a racist experience, or you simply have to read beyond the lines to find it. What is left unsaid is where racism lies. Therefore, the common theme in part three is racism in what is unsaid as a whole or between words.

In the piece of writing There There by Tommy Orange, the author goes on to write about the cruel mistreatment of Native Americans, the bias that society currently has about them, and the way that they are trying to incorporate themselves into society, as well as some background that shows explanation of their past relations with both Americans and the English. Some examples that show this message are the following quotes, “They’d told us to fly the American flag. We flew that and a white flag too. Surrender, the white flag waved. We stood under both flags as they came at us. They did more than kill us. They tore us up.” The other quote I thought resembled the messas was, “This was part of the Indian Relocation Act, which was part of the Indian Termination Policy, which was and is exactly what it sounds like. Make them look and act like us. Become us. And so disappear.” These quotes express the ideas that Native Americans were severely mistreated in the past centuries due to the colonization of the Americas and the way that they were used by the Europeans. The acts that were furthered discussed in this piece of writing show the many ways of mistreatment they underwent. The following quote shows how the were trying to assimilate Native Americans into the ideal American and force them to leave their heritage and culture behind in order to be people who belong or mixed into society’s standards and in a way erased their past. Others might have interpreted this writing differently but the way I saw it was through the point of views and experiences that Native Americans went through in earlier time periods and this goes to show a part of what they went through. 

I enjoyed going to Schlitterbahn with my boyfriend. We were on the rides for most of the day; switching from park to park. I loved spending time with my boyfriend, and getting to know his family more. After being inside the wave pool for hours, we finally decided to go on a ride. My boyfriend and I drove back home, after a long day in the sun. 

Dear Pulitzer Prize Judging Board,

The winner of the Pulitzer Prize Award in 1999, The Hours by Michael Cunningham is an astonishing novel worthy of this award for its brilliant creativity, use of themes throughout the text and literary devices that support the themes in the text. This novel explores the lives of three women by going through the hours of their days, the concept is very intriguing and likely to draw in several readers. 

A big theme in this novel, and novels that are based on the lives of women, is the oppression of women in society. In 1998, when The Hours was written, Madeleine Albright just been sworn into the Secretary of State the year before. She was the first woman to obtain that position. Women have always been breaking glass ceilings, which are typically highlighted by the news and the public, however the trials and struggles are often not. Michael Cunningham highlights what society expects of women and what society requires of women. At the time of the novel, women are generally expected to please their husbands and that would presumably make women happy and feel as if their lives are fulfilled. Laura is independent and this brings on the feelings of her life being boring. Rather, society is bringing on these feelings to Laura. Clarissa rejected societies expectations by being in a same sex relationship, however she also confined to the expectations of society by confining to a domestic role in her relationship. Those two things are also major themes in the novel, defying societies requirements and same sex relationships. There are several recurring literary devices that help support these major themes, such as domestic objects.

It was brilliant of Michael Cunningham to keep the themes of the text so consistent and to have little things, like domestic objects, back the themes of the book. Virginia lives in the suburbs, usually when one pictures the suburbs, they picture a husband and a wife with a happy and financially stable family. However, Virginia is frustrated with this life. Laura feels restricted in her life as a housewife. She has the picture perfect life, however she is not fully pleased with a domestic life. Most women believe that at a certain point in their lives, they have to settle down and take on that domestic life. This is not true though! This novel highlights that the domestic lifestyle is not for everyone and that women. 

This book is extremely relevant to several lives in America at the time of this award. Women have always struggled in society for an extremely long time, even now in 2019, women are still struggling to break glass ceilings and reach equality with men. When you watch a movie, nine times out of ten, there will be a domestic housewife somewhere in the film. This is how society forces women to fulfill this role. The use of media has only grown since 1999, making it even easier for society to try and tell women what to do. 

In the end, this novel deserves all the fame and glory it has received for making the novel relevant to women’s lives in America through brilliant use of themes and symbols to support those themes.

Sincerely, Ariadna Garcia

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton