Hurt Hawks

Freedom is a right that every human should have. Without freedom, the world is a dim and dull place. The poem “Hurt Hawks” by Robinson Jeffers is about injured hawks that face the reality of no longer having freedom and feeling defeated. The short story “Silent Protest” by Shadi Eskandani is about the fight for women’s rights in the Muslim religion and culture. The women are protesting for freedom of choice, they want to be able to make their own decisions on what they can do and wear without being scolded for their actions by men. The two works are connected by the common theme of freedom and the need for all creatures to have it. The hawks crave independence and the freedom of flight, whereas the Muslim women want independence and to have
Even if one is born with liberty it can be taken away at any given moment. The poem is a man versus nature, or in this case hawk versus nature conflict. Now that the bird is injured, he waits for salvation, he waits for death, and as he waits, he remembers the freedom he used to have, soaring in the sky (Lines 6-8). Now that the hawk no longer has freedom, he is ruined, he has no will or way to live as he cannot forage for food as he used to so he waits for death to release him and allow him to be free again. In the second stanza, it is shown that the narrator tried to nurse the bird back to health, but the bird asked for death with “implacable arrogance” (Line 24). This is when a man or hawk, versus nature, is seen. The hawk is injured and now it is fighting its course with nature. Being injured as a hawk means there is a lesser chance of survival as it is hard or impossible to hunt for food. The weakest go first in the wild, so now the hawk has mother nature against it. Although the narrator tried to mend the bird back to health there was no fixing the pain of the loss of freedom, so he “gave him the lead gift in the twilight. What fell was relaxed, Owl-downy, soft feminine feathers” (24-25). This gives off the image of a bird that was defeated and broken finally being free again. Early on the hawk is portrayed as arrogant and now that he is free from the pain he is seen as relaxed and feminine. Hawks represent freedom and strength so it is hard for this hawk to sit by and do nothing. That is why the bird asks for death, its freedom was lost, it has nothing to live for now. It is a different story with the main character in the short story. The main character faces a man versus self versus man conflict. She is trying to fight the government for her rights as a human, as well as going through an eternal battle. She wants to shave her head to have, “‘You know, a new start’” (Eskandani 1). She wants