Voices Be Heard
In Niki Caro’s film Whale Rider, she illustrates how many women are being discriminated against and how they are fighting for their respect, power, and potential through the protagonist, Paikea. Because of her grandfather’s strong belief in the gender biased Maori culture, he restricts her from participating in anything “tough” or tasks that are traditionally for males. To overcome this discrimination, she disobeys her grandfather and attempts the tasks that her grandfather is teaching the boys how to do. At last, she succeeds, gaining the respect, power, and equality she deserves. On the other hand, in Homer’s epic, the Odyssey, Sirens represent the women who attempt to lure men to their death, but lack the power to drag the men to their death. Margaret Atwood, through her poem “Siren Song,” attempts to extinguish stereotypes and discrimination pertaining to women's inequality and lack of power that Homer illustrates in the Odyssey. Homer’s tone glorifies male dominance and their power,…show more content… In the Odyssey, Homer glorifies the men and restrains the Sirens from a voice. He says that they have “honeyed voices,” “ravishing voices,” enjoying what they are doing, singing songs (Homer 17, 19). Homer is making the reader believe that, because Odysseus could resist the Sirens, the Sirens are powerless. However, in “Siren Song,” the Sirens are stranded on an island, bored out of their minds, not enjoying “squatting on [the] island / looking picturesque and mythical,” crying for help to men that pass by (Atwood 14-15). Atwood is demonstrating how the Sirens are pleading to be heard “Help me!” in order to gain equality and revise what is characterized of the Sirens in the Odyssey (Atwood 22). Reading Atwood’s poem, one can see Atwood’s empathy for the Sirens’ desire for equality and power that is not seen in Homer’s
