Question -
Answer -
Perhaps oppression against down-trodden is as old as the human history is. Only from time to time it has just changed its form. The mighty and powerful have always been thinking themselves superior to the weak and poor and have been always exploiting them.
So it may take a long time for oppression to be resisted. But it is also a fact that the seeds of rebellion are sowed early in an oppressed person’s life. When persons like Bonnin and Bama watch themselves or other, they turn rebellious, whatsoever their age might be. In such cases, one’s reaction to the oppression is more important than the age at which a person is forced to be rebellious.
Zitkala-Sa was a little girl and Bama was in third class only when they became victims of oppression and injustice of the society. But the incidents of Bonnin’s hair being shingled and Bama’s awareness of ugly face of untouchability cast an indelible impression on their minds.
Bonnin escaped herself and was hidden under a bed to avoid her hair being forceibly shingled. Bama determined to excel in studies so that she could be accepted by the people of higher castes. Both of them tried to oppose the long-established ways of society and became rebellions at a very tender age.