I.C.S.E.

PROJECT 2020-21
ENGLISH LITERATURE

QUESTION –

The theme of displacement has been dealt with in both Chief Seattle's Speech as well as
Old Man at the Bridge. Show how being uprooted from familiar territory/ native land
causes trauma in the minds of both the Old Man at the Bridge and Chief Seattle and his
people. What are the causes for displacement? What is the message conveyed to the
reader? Could you compare this to the plight of some people in the modern world who
are facing a similar crisis? - Answer to be written in 650 words and submitted in soft
copy.

ANSWER -

“Old Man at The Bridge” and “Chief Seattle’s Speech” both depict that war is a disaster
which people cannot afford. In “Old Man at The Bridge”, the story takes place during the
Spanish Civil War in the late 20th century. The narrator is a soldier whose prime duty is to
obey the orders of the commander. They are nothing but mere puppies in the hands of the war
mongers. There will be an engagement or battle soon, so he helps the civilians get across the
bridge safely. The protagonist is an old man who cannot go any further. He is too tired to
protect himself from becoming the victim of the war. He is a loving human being, who is
who is attached to his native town as well as his animals. When he questions about the futility
of war , the soldier has no real answer for him. He too feels helpless. It shows how war
inflicts suffering on all living creatures no matter how innocent. The old man
who was not involved in the Spanish Civil war did not have any deep rooted political
convictions and yet his whole life was disrupted by the rapid spread of this bitter conflict.
This war forced him to move from his hometown of San Carlos where he used to take care of
animals Despite the imminent threat of danger, the old man is unable to get up and join the
others. He had been so psychologically and physically damaged by the horrors of war that he
no longed had the will to live . He had been deeply traumatized by the displacement of war
that he had finally resigned to his fate .The old man here symbolises the helplessness of the
innocent civilians, being much impacted by war.

Chief Seattle’s Speech, also known as the Treaty Oration of 1854 is a remarkable speech
which presents us a perspective that has for long been replaced by a Western idea of
‘civilization’. It is an eloquent expression of the untold sufferings inflicted on the natives of
places all around the world at the hands of European colonizers. The Chief however does not
present the case of his tribe with bitterness but rather seems to embrace the situation with the
wisdom which accepts the transience of all things. Chief Seattle’s speech is imbued with the
themes of tolerance, ecological conservation, race, reconciliation, brotherhood, and mutual
respect of different ways of living. The Chief through his speech brings to the readers an
emotional attachment of the tribal people with their native land. He emphasises on the fact
that every aspect of that land was sacred to his people and that their land was not just a piece
of earth but also a symbol of their culture and memories. It was the pious land containing the
blood of their ancestors that nourished their tribe and made them what they were. Though
there was a time when the tribal people had filled the entire land, his race has seen an
untimely decay giving him " a mournful memory " of the greatness of the tribes. In his speech
he also says that white people have covered vast land with their martial power and think they
are superior to all. He has given us a clear picture of how the red Indians, his tribal people
have been oppressed by the white Americans throughout the centuries.

Forced Migration or forced displacement refers to the coerced movement of a person or

persons away from their home town or native region. Some reasons for this migration
occurring is due to environmental or natural disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine,
conflicts, and more. Examples of this are the refugees and asylum seekers in Syria and people
fleeing natural disasters like Earthquakes that have occurred in the past few years in Haiti.
The Japanese nuclear meltdown, the Afghani refugee crisis, the Bhopal disaster, the flooding
in South Carolina and the profound economic and political crisis that has destabilized
Venezuela are some people in the modern world who are facing a similar crisis. The old man
and chief Seattle were victims as well, who had to flee from their native land and seek
refuge ,more so in the case of the nameless old man but both had to depart with the memories
of their beautiful past. Being uprooted from familiar environments and being forced to adjust
to new ones undoubtedly causes immense trauma and pain in one's mind. With this I can
conclude that wars, world conflict and politics cause displacement like in the texts and are
still a major issue in the world.

- Saanvi Khanna

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