English 1101
Prof. Young
Discuss the perception of
City Hall officials to Lee. How do they
treat her? What quotes support
this? Are they fulfilling their responsibility
to protect?
Lee has a very well-known face in City Hall. She has shown
up innumerable times to speak out against the EPA and for the safety of
her fellow citizens. Unfortunately to many, her speeches and encounters
have become tiresome and she is left fighting alone. After finding the
container that was supposed to contain chemicals come up to ground level due to
rain, Lee finds herself at another City Hall meeting with the EPA.
As Lee speaks out about her newfound photographic evidence, Mayor Wallen
reprimands her and asks, "Your trespassing aside, would you let Ms. Dawson give her report?" (Steinke 90). As Lee continues on her rampage, Councilman Burns,
addresses her saying, "We're very familiar with your work, Ms. Knowles.
And we've established that there was no container on the site the
day after you supposedly took those photographs" (Steinke 90). City
Hall officials are also getting tired of Lee’s frequent appearances in the
courtroom and outspoken demeanor.
Instead of hearing what she has to say, they shut her out because the
EPA has higher authority. Instead of
fulfilling their responsibility to protect, City Hall officials seem to cover
up their tracks and side with the EPA in order to move on with the building and
improve their economy. Officials of
power are ready to move on from the past and do not want to accept that their
past problems are still a current reality.
By doing so, they are putting the townspeople at harm instead of
protecting them from the chemicals.
Discuss the response of the EPA to
Lee. What is their response to her? What quotes support this? Are they fulfilling their responsibility to
protect?
Ms. Dawson, a representative of the EPA felt superior to Lee. Ms. Dawson originally regarded Lee as if she
were a bug on the bottom of her shoe.
When Lee presented her evidence, Ms. Dawson “held up her hand to stop
her. ‘Excuse me?’” (Steinke 89). Lee continues to overtly display her disgust
for the lack of regard to the threat against human health. Ms. Dawson pretends to care about Lee’s study
asking her to send it to her because she has not seen it, but then follows up
by trying to blame the excessive cancer rates on “other health stressors such
as nutrition, smoking habits, and older population” (Steinke 89). Through imagery, we can see that Ms. Dawson
is trying to stay calm and collected when Lee rambles on (i.e. smoothing her
sleeve). When Lee asked for Ms.
Dawson’s email address and not the general EPA one, “Ms. Dawson held her face very still, then
calmly blinked her eyes. ‘I will do that’” (Steinke 91). Ms. Dawson is smug, manipulative, and calculated. She thinks of Lee as a nuisance, but she
tries hard to conceal it. If you were
not looking closely, one might miss her well thought out remarks and slight
facial expressions. Yet those who may
notice her demeanor, do not seem to mind her patronizing tone and mannerisms
towards Lee. To them, her behavior is
warranted due to Lee’s persistence and lack of power. They are not fulfilling
their responsibility to protect. The EPA
is covering up evidence, and not properly warning citizens of the potential
threat to their health. The EPA is pretending
to fulfill their responsibility by stating that everything is okay for citizens
to live in that area and by saying they will look into Lee’s study. In reality, they will not look at Lee’s study
and will not reveal the horrid truth of the situation to the public.
Works Cited
Steinke, Rene. Friendswood. New York: Riverhead, 2014. Print.
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