Terry Tempest Williams Refuge Essay examples - 1926 Words

Terry Tempest Williams Refuge In Refuge, Terry Tempest Williams weaves together her experiences and relationships with family and nature, two major themes of Refuge, as well as two apparently important aspect of Williams’ life. The book is the story of the destruction of her family and the nature surrounding her, but it is these places that are being destroyed are the same places where Terry Tempest Williams finds comfort before, during and after cancer started to consume her life. I believe on the surface it is nature and family that provides her with comfort, but in actuality, it is something beneath the surface. As a young child, Williams was taught through the Mormon teachings to appreciate nature and family, finding God in†¦show more content†¦Williams became her mother’s support, spending the last few years of her mother’s life in an understanding relationship of support and connection. The support Williams gave her mother was essential in helping her mother cope with cancer. Williams’ family support network eased her own pains caused by witnessing her mother’s and grandmother’s suffering with cancer, being a potential cancer patient herself. This support network, which the Williams’ family demonstrates, gives patients release of emotions that accompany cancer. The week after Williams’ mother was diagnosed with cancer, she stated, â€Å"I’ve experienced every possible emotion this week† (Williams 34). This build of emotion can be overwhelming for any one, making the release of emotions critical. A study done by the American Cancer Society found that releasing emotion is beneficial during treatment and can help patients and family members cope (ACS website www.cancer.org). The Mormon faith emphasizes family and community, which is a healthy place to release this emotion, which is described in Refuge. On one such occasion, Williams’ mother states, â€Å"I feel abused† when describing chemotherap y (Williams 77). The close family connection between the Williams family reestablishes the teachings of Mormonism of family and community and helps TerryShow MoreRelatedEssay on Terry Tempest Williams Refuge1182 Words   |  5 PagesTerry Tempest Williams Refuge If we bemoan the loss of light as the day changes to night we miss the sunset. In her memoirs Refuge, Terry Tempest Williams relates the circumstances surrounding the 1982 rise in the Great Salt Lake as well as her mother’s death from cancer. Throughout the book Williams gets so caught up in preventing her mother’s death that she risks missing the sunset of her mother’s life. However the Sevier-Fremont’s adaptability to changes in nature inspires Terry TempestRead More Terry Tempest Williams’ Refuge Essay1049 Words   |  5 PagesTerry Tempest Williams’ Refuge Adaptation is the source and story of a species’ survival. Human beings’ journey across and habitation of the earth’s surfaces demanded resilience to change. As a result each race is a product of the land in which they inhabited. We have grown with the land. Our physical traits tie us to a particular region, a particular place, but what of our emotions? Are they another link to our homelands or do they orphan us, forcing us to seek refuge? Terry Tempest Williams’Read MoreEssay about Cancer and Terry Tempest Williams Refuge1779 Words   |  8 PagesCancer and Terry Tempest Williams Refuge â€Å"I cannot prove my mother, my grandmothers, along with my aunts developed cancer from nuclear fallout in Utah. But I can’t prove they didn’t.† Epilogue, Refuge In Terry Tempest Williams’s Refuge, death slowly claimed almost all of the women of her family. Death took Williams’ family members one by one just one or two years apart. In every case, the cause was cancer. Williams insisted in the epilogue that fall-out from the 1951-62 nuclear testingRead More Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place by Terry Tempest Williams1308 Words   |  6 PagesRefuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place by Terry Tempest Williams Refuge; An Unnatural History of Family and Place, by Terry Tempest Williams, is a thought-provoking, sentimental book that explores both the unnatural and the natural events that take place in her life. The deception and lies of the reports presented by the United States government, which lead to the fall out of atomic bomb testing in Utah in the 1950s and the rise of the Great Salt Lake and its effect on bird’s serveRead More Female Struggles Essay examples1592 Words   |  7 PagesLatter Day Saints, also known as Mormons, patriarchy also exists. Terry Tempest Williams discusses patriarchy and women’s connection to the land in Refuge. Over time women’s status in society has become better, however in Mormon culture women’s rights have decreased. In Refuge, Terry Tempest Williams as an ecofeminist defies the traditional Mormon woman’s role. In Refuge the gender roles are not as clear as in society. Williams chooses to display the gender roles more subtly. We learn that womenRead More Nuclear Power and Testing Essay examples2337 Words   |  10 Pagesfallout’s victims. In her 1992 book Refuge, Terry Tempest Williams claims she â€Å"cannot prove her mother, Diane Dixon Tempest, or [her] grandmothers, Lettie Romney Dixon and Kathryn Blackett Tempest, along with [her] aunts developed cancer from nuclear fallout in Utah ( Tempest 286,);† however, scientific tests, although hard to conduct in this circumstance, have proved a strong correlation between fallout exposure and cancer within the downwind population. However, Williams’ chooses not to highlight thisRead MoreThe Clan of One-Breasted Women by Terry Tempest Williams Essay1876 Words   |  8 PagesThe Clan of One-Breasted Women by Terry Tempest Williams In our current society it is established that faith is equated with a type of blind acceptance of all that the church or institution stands for. Having faith is still viewed as a wholesome characteristic, though it is more and more becoming correlated with negative connotation that is commonly attached to a thoughtless, dogmatic approach Ââ€" an absolute obedience of all tenets regardless of conscious thoughts and appeals. In a similar regardRead More Can Religion Help the Healing Process of Cancer? Essay example1427 Words   |  6 Pagesbetter than those who do not believe. An example of the Mormon faith is demonstrated in the book Refuge, by Terry Tempest Williams. The Mormon faith is an intricate part of how she copes with her mother’s journey towards death. Williams’ ability to support her mother in this time of need enables her mother to cope with the suffering and regain a sense of meaning to life. Although, the support Williams gave her mother did not come without struggle or suffering. It was not until William’s herself accepted