The Hunchback of Notre Dame

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Oppression and The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The use of power to silence , extinguish and subordinate another has been a millenia-old social plague . From the social divisions of the medieval times , to the prejudiced tendencies of the contemporary era the human race , particularly , those seated in power , have been oppressing the weak in varying means . In any case , by context oppression in the modern world does not differ from previous accounts that history has witnessed , hence , it is still plausible to utilize old works

such as the 1939 motion picture The Hunchback of Notre Dame to exemplify and discuss the concept of oppression

Oppression is the abuse of power that deprives an inferior group or individual of freedom , equality , and justice (Cudd 4 . The destructive tendencies of oppression has long been a fatal disease for humankind , it has divided societies , obliterated several groups , and hindered some races from flourishing to their full potential . Cliche as it may seem but oppression also has its individual aspect found in a simple husband-wife relationship or employer-employee set up . In retrospect the slave-master relationship and the much larger social hierarchies during the middle ages imply oppression both direct and indirect , hence there is a clear similarity on the concept of oppression in the past and in the present

Most scholars , sociologists , and anthropologists believe that the motion picture The Hunchback of Notre Dame is too old to serve as a reflection of oppression and social issues in the modern era . However the film contains some elements that that can aid modern students and societies in realization that indeed , there are similarities between some events in the film and certain occurences across the world . The film 's underlying depiction of oppression is synonymous with modern issues of oppresion such as the conditions of the Guerillas in Peru , the rampant abuse by warlords , the Taliban in Afghanistan , child labor in Afghanistan , forcibly veiled women in Iran , the Israeli devastation of Palestinian homes , and sexual slavery in Thailand (Cudd 3

The fate of the film 's central character , Quasimodo , alone reflects the lost childhood of young Israeli and Paliestinians . Simply because Quasimodo was deprived of a happy childhood wherein he could have enjoyed and played with other children as well as receive the passionate parental attention . Likewise , the case of Esmeralda is not that different , for Esmeralda got separated from her mother since childhood as she was abducted by the gypsies in exchange for the hideously deformed Quasimodo . In turn Esmeralda 's mother was not given the opportunity to take care of her beloved daughter

Similarly , the war between Palestine and Israel is causing trauma among families , particularly on women and children who are forced to digest the brutalities of war on a daily basis . The children are hearing gun fires , cannon explosions , and death cries instead of laughter traditional values , and teachers ' voices . In this sense , the Israeli and Palestinian youth are growing up in a hostile environment of literally learning how...