Memories of Childhood

Question 1.
How was Zitkala-Sa different from the other Native American students?
Answer:
Zitkala-Sa was a Native American girl. She had great love for her tradition
and culture. She was proud of her beliefs. She held these beliefs close to
her heart and felt hurt when the rest of the girls followed the foreign culture
without any hesitation.

Question 2.
Mention any two reasons because of which it would take thirty minutes to
an hour for Bama to reach home?
Answer:
There were many reasons why Bama took long to reach home. She would
watch all the fun and games going on the road, she would also look at the
shops and bazaars; she loved looking at the performing monkey and the
snake charmers. The various food stalls, the street plays, the political
meetings, the Maariyaata temple, the pongal offerings being cooked in front
of the temple she could just go on and on looking at the beautiful sights.

Question 3.
Why was the girl tied to a chair in Memories of Childhood?
Answer:
The girl, Zitkala-Sa was refusing to accept the school’s decision to shingle
the hair of all girls. According to her traditions and customs, a girl’s long
hair was shingled only when captured by enemy, in mourning or for
cowards. She felt insulted and hid herself. She was finally caught and
forcefully tied to a chair and her long hair was chopped off.

Question 4.
Why did Zitkala-Sa not want her hair to be cut short?
Answer:
Zitkala-Sa belonged to a Native American warrior tribe. Their tradition was
to keep long and heavy hair. Only those warriors, captured by the enemy,
had their hair shingled. Short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled hair
by cowards. Therefore, for her, this was absolutely atrocious.

Question 5.
When did Bama first come to know of the social discrimination faced by the
people of her community?
Answer:
Bama came to know of the social discrimination when she was in class 3.
On her way back from school, she saw an elder from her community
carrying a small packet of eatables by a string without touching it. She
found it very funny that a huge elderly man was carrying a small packet so
strangely. Later on, she discovers from her brother that the real reason was
that the landlords were of a higher class and they thought that their food
would get polluted, if touched by people from her caste.

Q6. Describe how Zitkala-Sa tried in vain to save her hair from being cut.
Why did she want to save her hair?
Answer:
Zitkala-Sa went upstairs and crawled under a bed to hide herself. But to her
plight, she was caught and brought downstairs and tied to a chair. Though
she made many voluble protests, they were not fruitful. She cried, shook
her head all the while but could not avoid her hair from being shingled.

Q7. What kind of discrimination did Bama and Zitkala-Sa experience? How
did they respond to their respective situations?
Answer:
Both Bama and Zitkala-Sa are victims of racial discrimination. Zitkala-Sa
was a Native American and their community was treated poorly. The white
skinned settlers of Europe considered local tribes as inferior. Similarly,
Bama was a Dalit and was treated badly by the higher caste people.

Both of them have painful experiences as they were subjected to

humiliation merely as they belonged to backward tribes or communities.
Both of them protest in their own ways and try their best to overcome all
these humiliations. Zitkala-Sa fights against the shingling of hair by hiding,
voicing out her protests aloud. Bama tries to study hard and be successful.

Question 8.
Why was Zitkala-Sa terrified when Judewin told her that her hair would be
cut short?
Answer:
Judewin had overheard a talk about shingling of hair of all girls. Zitkala-Sa
belonged to a native American warrior tribe. Their tradition was to keep
long and heavy hair. Only those warriors captured by the enemy had their
hair shingled. Short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled hair by
cowards. Therefore, for her, this was absolutely atrocious and terrifying.
Therefore, she decided to rebel by hiding herself.

Question 9.
At the dining table, why did Zitkala-Sa begin to cry when others started
eating?
Answer:
Zitakala-Sa was not used to eating by formula. She was confused and sat
down when others stood up and vice versa. She felt out of place and
embarrassed in the school. The matron was angry with her and kept staring
at her. This made Zitkala-Sa more uncomfortable and she started crying
when the others started eating.

Question 10.
How did Zitkala-Sa’s first day in the land of apples begin?
Answer:
The first day in school was a bitter and cold day. The noise made by the
breakfast bell, the clatter of the shoes and the constant murmuring voices
in a foreign tongue annoyed Zitkala-Sa. She saw girls marching into dining
room wearing tight fitting clothes. Zitkala-Sa found this immodest.

Question 11.
According to Zitkala-Sa, what does ‘eating by formula’ mean?
Answer:
There was a fixed procedure for breakfast. With the first bell, everyone had
to pull the chairs, at the second bell, everyone had to sit down. Finally, at
the third bell, everyone had to start eating with forks and knives. Zitkala-Sa
called it eating by formula. She felt out of place and started crying.