Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

ENG 21: LITERARY CRITICISM

Name: Jeira V. Quiani

Section: BSED 3A English

Literary Excursion: Trees of Peace

Literary Approach: Feminism

Trees of Peace

By: Alanna Brown

Trees of Peace by Alanna Brown vividly portrayed the position of

women in the society based on societal norms. Many people believe that women are
weak beings and that men are strong and deserve the higher position in society. Just
like in the movie, most Hutu people who kill the Tutsi and moderate Hutu are men.
Men Hutu are the one who commands others and does dirty to their victims. For
example, the two brothers who are just playing then suddenly a man approached
them telling them that it’s their job to eliminate Tutsi. Another example is the scene
wherein a pregnant woman was raped and killed. The scene is as clear aS day that
women, most of the time, were objectified by men as if women are sort of things.
Those mentioned were some of the stereotypical things that are instilled in the minds
of people. The movie showed that women were the apple of the eye of those
predators who victimized them just because they are “weak.” In the movie, Annick
was shut inside a secret room in their house and her husband is the one that looks
for and gives them food to eat. This implies that men are the only ones who can
provide things which is not true because women, if given a chance, can provide
things that they need in their lives. That ideology of men as “providers” was seen in
the movie. That is one of the stereotypes or stereotypical ideas that people are
aware of. That’s one of the hundreds of common but unagreeable norms in society. I
could still recall the scene which showed that the four women wanted to go outside
and do things to save themselves but Francois told them not to do so since they
would be in danger, that they might get caught and killed. The scene may depict
things such as Francois looks at them as weaklings who will be burdens and easy to
get targeted by the Hutus. There is a "what if there, “what if these women can
survive?” Francois removed their right to do whatever they want to or desired to do.
There is a problem with that since not because he is the husband or he’s the man,
the decision must come only from him. There must be a fair agreement between a
man and a woman who are in a relationship.

Another thing that has been seen in the story/movie is the relationship
between men and women, that men are responsible to do the heavy work and
women should stay at home, wait for their husbands to come home with food and
 Republic of the Philippines
Laguna State Polytechnic University
Province of Laguna

other necessities. There comes the superiority and inferiority between the two
genders. Men, in society, are looked up and represented as superior. While on the
other hand, women were portrayed as inferior as they are weak and viewed as
beings who cannot do things alone and/or do decision-making for themselves. They
are looked down upon by many people because they are “women.” And these things
are confusing due to the fact that there are women in the world who are known
because of their hard work. They worked hard to make their names be known by
many, just like Heidelyn Diaz, Catriona Gray, etc.

Overall, the movie implies that the women are not just women who are weak
and should be belittled by people because they are capable of doing things that men
can do. Women can decide on whatever they want to decide to do in their lives. A
good example of this is this movie that we are talking about right now. The overall
movie showed that the women are strong and they can survive the despair in 81
days. The situation they faced proved that women are not weaklings or weak beings
as what the society tells them to be.