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Dry Lips Oughta Move To Kapuskasing Analysis

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Dry Lips Oughta Move To Kapuskasing Analysis
Thomson Highway’s play Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing is a story that revolves around events of an endured 90s Native community. The plot unravels with standoffs between members of the community, particularly around the the male characters. Only male characters are present throughout the play and the setting mostly takes place inside the community fixtures, such as homes, the forest, and the local arena. Highway orchestrates his play by making misogyny as the main source of conflict between Big Joey (main antagonist, instigator of the whole problem), Dickie Bird (Big Joey’s son, who was abandoned by his father when he was born) and everyone else who were close to either of the two. Big Joey denies his paternity to Dickie Bird and blames …show more content…
Big Joey was very prominent from start to finish and had established a persona of being the fearless alpha male. The main problem of Dry Lips is Big Joey denying his paternity to Dickie Bird and the rape of Patsy Pegahmagabow. As a result of his lack of respect for women, Dickie Bird does even not know his own father until after 17 years. His misogynistic views have reflected his actions which his friend Creature noticed. Creature wanted to help Patsy during the rape of Dry Lips, but Big Joey does not allow it as Highway writes “He didn’t do nothing. He didn’t let me do nothing. He just stood there and watched the whole thing..” (Creature 355). This reflects how Big Joey was not willing to take action because of his hatred for women. After he is confronted by the other males, he reveals his misogynistic nature “Because I hate them! I hate them fuckin’ bitches. Because they - our own women - took the fuckin’ power away from us faster than the FBI ever did” (Big Joey 335). Big Joey prior to being confronted, had Creature as a prime example of an impressionable dog. Creature would always be the unwilling shadow of Big Joey. This allowed for Big Joey to leave his son when he was born, and let Patsy get raped. Creature was so influenced by Big Joey’s misogynistic alpha male behaviour, he could not even prevent the conflict. Ultimately, Highway’s message of prejudice against women

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