Analyse af 'A Grandmother remembers'

Mary Ann Hodgkinson was one of the many settlers that travelled from Gravesend in England to New Zealand. With her family, she started a new life in Nelson in 1842 and later wrote a letter to her granddaughter about her journey and experiences in meeting the Maori people. In ‘A Grandmother remembers’ (1975), written down by Adelyn Cameron, there is a distinct change of language to describe both parties from Mary’s perspective that have set the Maori and the emigrants in different spotlights. The fear of the unknown is a subject relevant to her story, as it was one of the things that heavily influenced how the settlers and the Maori saw each other back in 1842. This essay will analyse and interpret the text, mainly focusing on the use of language and the reason behind it, but also a discussion of the push and pull factors that are at play in Hodgkinson’s story.