The Rabbit Proof Fence, Remembering Babylon, And Puddn

I see this as not only a boundary but a restriction. Without being able to understand the language between the races makes it hard to have that connection. I was able to also look at the imaginary wall between the different lifestyles of the two races. The Caucasians

John follows the formation of the borderline throughout the 1850s, highlighting the struggles between the two governments that arose during its creation, such as with the Gadsden Treaty which re-drew the boundaries set just years before. Here, St. John not only relates the involvement of various actors in the formation of the border, but relates how the Gadsden Treaty “had done very little to reshape the landscape of power along the border,” (St. John 37). This supports her claim that although both change throughout time, the physical border and the symbolic border are not the same thing and hold their own meanings. In the second chapter, “Holding the Line,” St. John looks at the permeability of the border in its early years, discussing the effects of Apache raiders and filibusters on the region of the borderlands. On both sides, border defenses were left to local governments and a variety of people were brought into the battle for border control. St. John discusses the development and role of national identity in places like Sonora in these early years and how the conflict and confusion in the region challenged the newly formed line of the border as power shifted between groups in the area.

There is no doubt that communities and cultures have been exposed to one another over the course of time. This interaction is known as the “middle ground” where different groups come in contact for various reasons either accidentally or purposely. This interaction and mixture of communities has the potential of creating a good or bad relationship between the two different groups, depending on the circumstances and their intentions. The reality is that there is fear towards many different communities which is mostly due to the lack of knowledge and lack of comprehension there is for these groups. Communities and cultures cross borders because they want to create a just society; we continue to live in a world full of unjust treatment, the drive to help others and fight for a fair society explains why communities and cultures cross borders. Crossing over of these communities leads to understanding and

Accepting symbolic boundaries fosters what become social boundaries. Social boundaries are objective, socially constructed limitations or guidelines that direct people’s thoughts, actions and functions in society by telling people what is socially acceptable and what is not. In accordance with determining what is socially acceptable, symbolic boundaries reinforce social inequalities by determining what people do and do not have access to in terms of resources. Lamont and Molnar explain this transition from symbolic boundaries to social boundaries and vice-versa through the construction and deconstruction of the Berlin Wall. Germany symbolically split into two groups, treating each other as opposing, as “the disappearance of the territorial boundary left almost intact the deep divide between former East and Western Germans as differences continue to be reproduced through a myriad of symbolic boundaries” (2002:184). Here, symbolic boundaries are the classification of differences between East and West Germans through verbal treatment of one another, social expectations and classifications. Widely accepting the symbolic boundary created inequality by regulating what is socially acceptable and unacceptable for Eastern or Western Germans and determining the available resources for them. Symbolic

Throughout Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, the imagery of walls illustrates the boundaries that exist between people and communities on both an institutional and interpersonal level. In Butler’s near-future apocalyptic environment, the obstacles that the protagonist must face are merely an exaggeration of the United States’ current institutions and policies and the subsequent psychological effects. The protagonist, Lauren Olamina, encounters myriad boundaries in her physical and spiritual journey for liberation and prosperity. She is, first and foremost, restricted by the local boundaries imposed by the apocalyptic equivalent of gated communities. She is imprisoned by the walls of her own community and later ostracized by the walls

The reorganization of borderlands does not only evoke geographical change, but also the emergence of minority groups. Segregation, discrimination, and physical violence are usually suffered by such groups. However, the imposition of a different legal system, language policy, religion, education and economic system and racial hierarchy seems to be the most difficult concern for minority groups’ members.

In the context of borders history, a border may be defined as a place where several groups consistently encounter and interact with each other. These places may be geographical or metaphorical. Borders historians have yet to fully articulate metaphorical borders, but there exists a rich historiography of geographic places described as “borderlands.” Geographical borderlands are characterized by cultural pluralism and conflicting political and social dynamics. Borderlands history originated as an extension of and response to frontier history, a concept articulated by Frederick Jackson Turner in 1893.

In the boiling pot of America most people have been asked “what are you?” when referring to one’s race or nationality. In the short story “Borders” by Thomas King he explores one of the many difficulties of living in a world that was stripped from his race. In a country that is as diverse as North America, culture and self-identity are hard to maintain. King’s short story “Borders” deals with a conflict that I have come to know well of. The mother in “Borders” is just in preserving her race and the background of her people. The mother manages to maintain her identity that many people lose from environmental pressure.

Initially, the author gets into a process of introspection in which he is surrounded by the question of what it means to be a good agent; he creates this atmosphere by using rhetorical questions that emphasize his outgoing moral conflict due to the fact that the duties of a border agent clashed with his principles.

Borders and boundaries are everywhere, they might be restrictions or precautions, but they are completely unavoidable wherever you travel and when you interact with anyone. Borders are a human means to satisfying the needs of groups and individuals, and because of this, boundaries are used by humans in all kinds of ways, including politically, socially, and culturally.

An informal use of the word fence as quoted from the Oxford Dictionary “A person who deals in stolen goods.”(1) Hence, the title says, “who” instead of “what” is a fence. Applying this meaning of the word to the title of August Wilson’s play Fences can reveal some new meanings to the play and yield an answer to the question “Why was fences used in plural in the title, but there is only one fence being built?” A valid answer would be that it’s talking about life’s many fences that deal in stolen dreams, emotions.

North American society engages in boundary work through the process of racialization. White supremacy dictates who the racialized ‘other’ is and distributes power, economic and social capital in relation to this racialization process (Perry, 2014, pg.76). This is done through constructing stereotypes which distinguish the racialized Other from white subjects are thus grounded in what are held to be the identifying features of racial minorities (Perry, 2014, pg. 76). They help to distance white from not-white. Here ‘white’ may be a metaphor for western or non- ‘Third-World-looking’, rather than a matter of skin pigmentation or other such phenotype (Perry, 2014, pg. 76). The latter are to be feared, ridiculed, and loathed for their difference as recognized in the popular psyche (Perry, 2014, pg. 76).

This lever can be used to raise or lower the border in order to prevent interaction between the two land masses, and it can be used to control or stop the flow of one population into another. With this in mind, the action of the levers is meant to resemble the types of control that can be enacted by a sovereign nation in a state of exception. As an example, the terminal and checkpoint system (part of the Oslo Accord agreement between Israel and Palestine in 1993) that was realized, and is still in effect, was a reaction to terror threats and suicide bombings directed at Israel4. The operation of the border checkpoints and terminals are the state of exception that is created by the threat of death, and therefore allows the sovereign state to override its own laws and act outside of international law. In the drawing, the space between the two land masses acts as the state of exception which can be manipulated or controlled, and the apparatus as a whole represents governmental power as a kind of “power machine”.

Symbolic boundaries are notions of differences individuals use to assort things, practices, and people in a society. They generate a sense of group membership and help people interpret the reality through comparison. According to Lamont and Molnar, such conceptual distinctions are the resource for establishing visible social boundaries when they are broadly agreed upon. While symbolic boundaries are abstract ideas of differences, social boundaries are concrete distinctions that classify people into observable social groups and ensure inequality in accessing various social resources and opportunities. Lamont and Molnar discuss symbolic boundaries in four common fields—“social and collective identity”, “class, ethnic/racial and gender/sex inequality,

When you look at field of dandelions, you can either see a hundred weeds, or a thousand wishes… It's known as perspective in which, I have learned that two people can look at the exact say thing and see something totally different. In Fences and “Say yes”, both authors reveal that different perspectives about race create conflict with those that you love.