Yoors 'Hidden Culture In The Book The Gypsies'
The idea of running away as a child with a band of travelers is often romanticized in book and movies; it is hard to know what it would be like to run away with a group of gypsies. This is due to the fact that their culture is hidden from outsiders, so it is hard to get an understanding of their communities. Yoors book The Gypsies gives us a look at a hidden culture from the perspective of someone who was accepted into their community. This unbiased perspective lets us peer at stereotypes that are used to describe life of the Roma and we can see if they are true or false. When most people think of the Roma the image that comes to mind is one of fortune tellers and palm readers. Even I thought that they believed in the supernatural forces they would claim to use when telling the future. But in truth they use either as a way of taking small amounts of money or items they need from the non Roma as well as making fun of them (pg 55).
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Another example of a stereotype that Yoors proves to be false occurs after the death of his close friend, Putzini, when Jan is fully accepted into the Rom family (pg 79).
Gaining full acceptance into such a close knit and secretive culture you would imagine would require an elaborate ceremony to join the family. But instead it is as simple as Putzini’s father Pulika saying that he will let it be known among all his people that from now on he claimed full responsibility” (82). And with those words Jan was considered family, not only for Pulika and his immediate family, but now for all of the other traveling
families. There is also a stereotype that the Roma leave their children to starve and are forced to live off of only what they are able to get through begging. But in fact Yoors sees them willing to share whatever they have with those around them even a boy from the outside world (pg 22). They eat plenty, but do ask for food from the passerby’s, almost as if it is a game for them, trying to get food or money from the outsiders. Another negative stereotype is that the Roma are a dirty people, but in their eyes we are the dirty people. Yoors saw this first hand when eating his first hand as early as first meal with the Roma when he was asked “if he was ashamed of being dirty” (pg 21). They see nothing but craziness in someone sitting in their own filth, something call taking a bath and consider to be sanitary. For them if the water is not running then it was usable for cleaning one’s body. While some stereotypes are proven false, some are shown to be true. One such stereotype is the theft of non Roma belongings. This theft is not limited chickens and also other food but also simple household things like scissors (pg 62). The non Rom would exaggerate how much and what they would steal. So while the Roma would steal they had a code among themselves; they would only steal things that they need and never more than they needed. For them theft though was not important because they are not able to see the importance of owning large amounts of items, they see greed as the downfall of the outside world. While they had no problem stealing the things that they needed by what they referred to as the “license of the road,” they also had no problem with paying for these necessities in times of peace between themselves and the outsiders (pg 98). So while the Roma distrusted the outsiders, in these times of peace they had no problem just buying things like firewood they would pick up along the way, but also large amounts of cloth for dresses and other household goods like pots and pans. So while there are some stereotypes can be seen as being somewhat accurate there are many that are used on a daily basis to describe the Roma that are very inaccurate. Yoors allows us to see behind the fortune tellers, covered wagons and gold coins that adorn the Roma women’s dresses into a life is truly a culture that hides its true self from the outside world and see stereotypes that they themselves perpetrate in order to protect themselves from the outside.
The Gypsies By Jan Yoors
Another example of a stereotype that Yoors proves to be false occurs after the death of his close friend, Putzini, when Jan is fully accepted into the Rom family (pg 79).
Gaining full acceptance into such a close knit and secretive culture you would imagine would require an elaborate ceremony to join the family. But instead it is as simple as Putzini’s father Pulika saying that he will let it be known among all his people that from now on he claimed full responsibility” (82). And with those words Jan was considered family, not only for Pulika and his immediate family, but now for all of the other traveling
families. There is also a stereotype that the Roma leave their children to starve and are forced to live off of only what they are able to get through begging. But in fact Yoors sees them willing to share whatever they have with those around them even a boy from the outside world (pg 22). They eat plenty, but do ask for food from the passerby’s, almost as if it is a game for them, trying to get food or money from the outsiders. Another negative stereotype is that the Roma are a dirty people, but in their eyes we are the dirty people. Yoors saw this first hand when eating his first hand as early as first meal with the Roma when he was asked “if he was ashamed of being dirty” (pg 21). They see nothing but craziness in someone sitting in their own filth, something call taking a bath and consider to be sanitary. For them if the water is not running then it was usable for cleaning one’s body. While some stereotypes are proven false, some are shown to be true. One such stereotype is the theft of non Roma belongings. This theft is not limited chickens and also other food but also simple household things like scissors (pg 62). The non Rom would exaggerate how much and what they would steal. So while the Roma would steal they had a code among themselves; they would only steal things that they need and never more than they needed. For them theft though was not important because they are not able to see the importance of owning large amounts of items, they see greed as the downfall of the outside world. While they had no problem stealing the things that they needed by what they referred to as the “license of the road,” they also had no problem with paying for these necessities in times of peace between themselves and the outsiders (pg 98). So while the Roma distrusted the outsiders, in these times of peace they had no problem just buying things like firewood they would pick up along the way, but also large amounts of cloth for dresses and other household goods like pots and pans. So while there are some stereotypes can be seen as being somewhat accurate there are many that are used on a daily basis to describe the Roma that are very inaccurate. Yoors allows us to see behind the fortune tellers, covered wagons and gold coins that adorn the Roma women’s dresses into a life is truly a culture that hides its true self from the outside world and see stereotypes that they themselves perpetrate in order to protect themselves from the outside.
The Gypsies By Jan Yoors