The Clan of onebreasted women
Terry Tempest Williams, the author of the “The Clan of One-Breasted Women”, criticizes the United States’ government for being deceitful about the causes and effects nuclear testing has on humans. Williams is a Mormon belonging to a clan of one-breasted women. Her mother, grandmother, and six aunts suffered from mastectomies. Seven are dead and only two survived due to the completion of chemotherapy and radiation. For years as long as she could remember, Williams had a dream about seeing a bright light in the night at the desert. When talking to her dad one day, she was told that she really saw the light and it wasn’t a dream. The light was in fact the result of an atomic testing in Nevada on September 7, 1957. It was at this point that Williams had realized why so many of her family members and people living in Utah, were diagnosed with cancer. Many women filed law suites and protested, trying to stop nuclear testing; but every attempt was unsuccessful and failed. When confronted about the situation, the United States’ government assured the American public that nuclear testing was not the cause of cancer in this region of the country. One of the law suits filed was on Au . . .
The federal court had determined that nuclear tests had been the cause of cancer in this case. ”…for many years I have done just that…in a culture that rarely asks questions because it has all the answers. As she states in her essay, “In Mormon culture, authority is respected, obedience revered, and independent thinking is not. Williams is convinced that The United States’ government deceived and manipulated its people into believing that nuclear testing had no hazards or effects on public health. Williams’ essay can be modified or improved by using more evidence to support her points and claims. Something she struggles with because she was taught differently as a little child. Though not a well balanced essay, “The Clan of One-Breasted Women” is an amazing story about a woman’s struggle through life and her courage to face her fears. Williams also mentions that in some cultures, people have been taught to watch and listen and silently shape their own opinions and believes. Everything in the region as she says is contaminated, everything from water to animals such as cows. As Williams states, “ Again and again, the American public was told by its government, in spite of burns, blisters, and nausea, ‘ it has been found that the tests may be conducted with adequate assurance and safety under conditions prevailing at the bombing reservations. But one by one, I have watched the women in my family die common, heroic deaths…the price of obedience has become too high. ” This gives the reader an idea bout the author’s state of emotion and how emotionally drained she is.
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