Vol. 2 (2015)

Welcome to the second issue of Western Tributaries. The essays herein represent some of the papers presented at the West Coast Liberal Studies Symposium held at Reed College, in Portland, Oregon, in June 2015. Claire Benjamin takes us into the world of the irrepresible Anne Shirley in her exploration of the female orphan archetype in Anne of Green Gables. Through Benjamin's analysis, we gain an understanding of how Anne's imagination becomes a source of power. Continuing with the theme of adventurous and imaginative girls, Dave Seter's explores the intertexuality within the Eudora's Welty's short story "Moon Lake" with her references to Harold Bell Wright's The Recreation of Brian Kent. Tricia Pummill continues the thread of strong female characters in literature with her analysis of The Stepford Wives. By drawing parallels to the Holocaust and the treatment of the Jews and the female characters in the novel, Pummill explores larger themes of oppression and identity. The theme of oppression continues in Candy Carter's essay. Carter provides insight into an early period of slavery in the US with her close examination of Anna, a slave who jumped out a window in order to escape. Anna becomes a focal figure in discussion of the history of slavery and in literature. Katherine Orloff's essay provides a different look at the history of slavery in the United States. Orloff explores William Lloyd Garrison equating of colonialism with slavery as a lens through which to view the American Colonization Society's desire to relocate rather than emancipate blacks prior to the Civil War. Siddhartha Shome explores the contrasting views of Mahatma Ghandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.'s towards modernity and whether technological innovation will encourage the emancipation of enslaved classes. We hope you enjoy this issue. 

Jennifer Chutter
Journal Manager and Editor
Simon Fraser University