Sunday, October 7, 2012

The clan of the one-breasted women.

This reading, much to my , was very easy to digest compared to previous ones. It follows the story of a Mormon family and it's women who have suffered unusually prevalent cases of breast cancer. Hence the name "One-breasted". At first the cause is unknown and is assumed to be hereditary. However, the narration later learns of government nuclear tests very close to her home, where the radiation would've been well within rage to have negative effects. Eventually, the community takes action and takes the United States of America to court for compensation of the damages done from secret nuclear tests during the 50's. 14 of the 27 cases get awarded compensation, however, the case is later dropped and no compensation is paid because the causes of the cancers cannot be proven as fact they were caused by radiation from the tests. Because it is in the Mormon culture, especially for women, to not cause strife or 'make waves' no more legal action is taken against the government. But these women know they were. According to studies, it takes around 14 years for long term results of radiation poisoning to be safely determined as so. That is exactly when the narration notices the damages.  Eventually these women cannot take silence any longer and decide to express their disapproval by visiting a town where they shouldn't have been, at the strangest of hours creating a ruckus. They were arrested and, as a cruel joke, left out in the desert to return home on foot. However the women embraced the punishment and were proud of their actions, speaking out at injustice.

No comments:

Post a Comment