Analyse af 'We are Bound for the Promised Land': religion og kønsroller

We are Bound for the Promised Land is a story about the young girl Elian Macleod, who lives on the country with her family, which consist of her father, mother and the two older sister, Fiona and Mary. The story deals with themes like religion, rules and the norms there is, for a girl like Elian, who is living on the country. In the story, religion plays a big role, with her father being a priest, and you notice in the story, that the religion maybe plays a bigger role in that family, than it did in other families, in that century. In the story that distribution by the genders, also plays a big role. It is undoubtedly the father that tells the rest of the family what is wrong and right, and it is both because he is a priest, and the family is religious, but also because he is the only man in the family. The only one who is fighting to keep a little bit of freedom, is the main character Elian.

The main character is Elian Macleod, who lives with her family on an small Scottish island. Elian is a bit of a tomboy, and she is the one of the sisters who makes the most outrage. Her only friends are the two boys, Angus Munro and Lewis Campell. Her father would rather see her playing with the girls, because in his way, it’s not normal for a girl, to hang around with only boys. She is the daughter of a priest and this means that she has to live a very strict life and abide by many rules. You could say that Elian is a bit of a diverter as she is the one in the family who goes against the rules the most. The Macleod family are living a primitive and poor life, on their farm. There is no money for new clothes, so the mother has to repair the old clothes with thread she has borrowed. The distribution of roles in the family is very traditional, while the mother stays home to take care of the house, the father is out working and making money. The three siblings help their mother with the chores. In the story we do not hear about unity or love, so we must assume that it is not so much of it. The parents, especially the father, are more concentrated on how people from the outside see their family, which is also why he doesn't like the fact that Elian is only with the boys. That is one of the reasons why the relationship between Elian and her father isn´t that good. There is one episode in the story, that tells us that the father isn´t proud of his youngest daughter. In the beginning where they are arguing about Elian’s friendship with the Boys Angus and Lewis, it ends with the father hitting her as a punishment.