Yellow Woman and a Beauty
Of the Spirit
Comprehension Question 1)
Silko describes her great-grandmother as a hardworking, caring, loving, and a beautiful woman who never discriminated against people based on their skin color, job or gender. Silko says that her great-grandmother, Grandma A’mooh wrote and spoke English beautifully, showing that her great-grandmother was a learned and educated woman. Grandma A’mooh never discriminated against anybody, and she loved all people despite race. “I remember this word because her love and her acceptance of me as a small child were so important” (Silko 75). Silko remembers the word Grandma A’mooh, which her great-grandmother used when she wanted to refer to her as “granddaughter”. This shows that Grandma A’mooh accepted her and treated her like her own granddaughter despite the racial differences. The great grandmother is depicted as a hardworking woman despite her old age. “When she was seventy-five, she was still fixing laundry machines in my uncle’s coin-operated laundry (78). This depicts Grandma A’mooh as hardworking, strong woman who never gives up on her job despite her old age. Silko further says that her grandmother was dark and handsome though in Laguna Pueblo beauty was determined by behavior and type of relationships one had with fellow human beings and other living things. Silko learns from her great-grand mother that she must be hardworking, confident, caring, loving to all people and other living things, and she must be proud of her strength. “She allowed her to carry in the coal bucket for her, but she would not allow Silko to use the ax” (76). Her Great-grandmother taught her to be hard working in a caring and lovely manner. Besides giving Silko opportunities to help her, she made sure Silko was not hurt by not allowing her to use the ax which was a heavy metal tool. Silko depicts her great-grandmother as a strong, hardworking, loving, caring woman who taught her the virtues of hard work and love for other living things.
Comprehension Question 2) We learn from the traditional pueblo culture that we should value all people regardless of their skin color, wealth and respect for plants and animals. “In the view of the historical people, all of us are sisters and brothers because Mother creator made all of us in the same image and sizes” (Silko 77). We are all created equal by our creator hence its unnecessary to discriminate against each other based on color and gender. On the same note, we should not discriminate people based on their wealth; we must live as a community and share all our possessions. We must also respect other living things such as plants and animals if we are to live in harmony. “The old people told us when we were kids not to disturb the ground unnecessarily. All things, as they were created, exist in coherence with one another as long as we do not disturb them” (77). This teaches us that for man to exist in harmony with other living things he must not disturb them. This way there will be harmony in the society. Pueblo culture contrasts with Anglo culture in racial discrimination, wealth and marriage. On racial discrimination, the pueblo culture believed that all people were equal while the Anglo culture believed that some people were preferred than others based on their color, “Young people, individuals of my parent’s age, seemed to look at the world in a more modern way, this modern way included racism” (76). Pueblo cultures believe people should live as a community and help each other whether poor or rich while the Anglo culture emphasized on social status. People with extra money spend the money for cosmetic purposes instead of helping the poor. For the pueblo culture, “marriage was about teamwork and social relationships”, (79). While for the Anglo culture marriage was for sexual excitement. This shows that the two cultures had different purposes for marriage. Pueblo and Anglo culture differ in many ways that include different practices on racial discrimination, wealth and the marriage institution.

Work Cited
Muller, Gilbert H. The McGraw-Hill Reader. 11th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2011. Print.