Reading Response to “Being Prey”

Val Plumwood shares her near-death experience in the article “Being Prey”. In this article, she provides the narrative of how she was attacked by a crocodile and managed to survive the attacks. She later focuses on what narrative is, why it is important, and what impact her narrative has had. Plumwood emphasizes the importance of passing on our story, which is a crucial ingredient that might contribute to “human wisdom” (139). Not only is it important in contributing to human wisdom, but it is also a “crucial part of satisfaction in life, a way to participate in and be empowered by culture”(141). In her case, she shows states that not only does her narrative provide satisfaction, but it also provided a healing power. She also says that narratives are so important, that it even haunted her last moments (140). When she thought she was about to die, the fear that people would not know the true story occurred because it was that important to her. People have a way of misconstruing narratives. Her narrative has taken the “master narrative”, where they lessened her abilities because she was a woman, sexualized the male crocodile, and exaggerated the crocodile size. She relates what was done with her story to how the narratives of the indigenous people are changed. “This is what is done all the time to subordinated groups, such as indigenous peoples, when their voices and stories are digested and repackaged in assimilated form” (140). This relates to her view on Western culture. The contemporary Western culture does not value narratives as much as the indigenous cultures. Therefore, they replace this void with material commodities and more control (141). However, narratives are more valued in the aboriginal cultures. The indigenous people “offer rich opportunities for passing on the story, in the opportunities for transcendence