Ngugi

Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, a renowned politically controversial author form Kenya, finds tactful ways of expressing his opinion about colonialism. This is by far my favorite author all the readings. One short story in particular is the “Minutes of Glory”. This story was about a women who change who she was, in order to be something she’s not. I can relate because I too almost lost myself. I was a freshman in High School and at a very impressionable age, where I was trying to fit in. It was a popular group of adolescence at the school who were called the “F.E.D”. These kids threw all the parties, very popular, adored by all. I became jealous and wanted to get as much attention as their were. They were known to always wear all white Air Force Nike’s on Wednesdays , so I decided to beg my mother to buy me those shoes. I understand how she felt to change they appearance to get attention. It’s hard to not be the center of attention or not being noticed.

The text agrees with the everything I believe. I see the message that Ngugi was illustrating in his stories. The colonization of the mind is a brutal and inferior state of mind. I feel it was wrong for the European countries to go to Africa and claim it for their own. In Ngugi’s short story “Decolonizing the mind” expressed how the minds of the Africans are tarnished by a completely different culture. Ngugi states, “The fact is that all of us that opted for European- the conference participants and the generation that followed them- accepted that fatalistic logic to a greater or lesser degree. We were guided by it and they only question which preoccupied us was how best to make the borrowed tongues carry the weight of our African experience by, for instance, making them ‘prey’ on African proverbs and other peculiarities of African speech and folklore”. This shows how the power of Europe has effected Africa.

I feel Ngugi’s stories were powerful and political at the same time. It opens the mind and makes one feel the pain of the African people. The mind is a powerful device and Ngugi shows how it can easily be persuaded. I liked how he was not afraid to take charge and challenge the authority.

Achebe

Chinua Achebe, author of “The Madman”, “An Image of Africa“, and “Girls at War” has summed up the colonization that goes and went on in Africa. In his short story “The Madman”, he describes how society can make one believe that he or her is or isn’t something. Like Nwibe, I was made out to seem crazy. I was in high school at the time and a kid by the name of Cashmier, was known as the “crazy emo” of the school. After gym, I noticed that my brand new shoes were missing. Highly infuriated, I knew I couldn’t walk around the school with holes in my socks, so I was forced to wear these spiky boots. Everyone looked at me different, some actually disowned our friendship. People were calling me an emo all day because I was not what they expected me to be. After a while, I started to believe them. Although I wasn’t a crazy emo, with me walking down the hallway with silvery spiked boots , said otherwise. The way I was presented to society made it believable. This was essentially the message Achebe stated in this story.

I agreed with everything Achebe was wrote about in his stories. In the short story “An Image of Africa”, he illustrates how the America and Europe view Africa in a way in which it shouldn’t. I feel it is wrong to only judge Africa by what is presented on television. Americas often think of Africa as a place of starving children, poverty everywhere, and AIDS, which makes it hard to stem away from the negative stereotypes. I’m actually guilty of these acts of stereotyping and after reading this story, my attitude changed. As stated by Achebe, “For reasons which can certainly use close psychological inquiry, the West seems to suffer deep anxieties about the precariousness of its civilation and to have a need for constant reassurance by comparing itself to Africa”. This quote shows how upset the author is about the preconceived notions about Africa. I believe all people should be treated the same and never be judged in any way. This text strengthened my belief in support for all. According to Achebe, “ Africa is to Europe as the picture is to Dorian Gray, a carrier onto whom the master unloads his physical and moral deformities so that he may go forward, erect and immaculate. Constantly, Africa is something to be avoided just as the picture has to be hidden away to safeguard the man’s jeopardous integrity”. This simply shows how people in Africa are upset with the tainted impression of Africa. I personally love how Achebe used the analogy of Dorian Gray because I fell the same way about Haiti.

Overall I absolutely loved the readings of this author. His aggressive style of writings made it informative and enjoyable. These short stories were meant to artistically in inform the reader about the African’s people view of things.

The Stranglehold of English Lit

History repeats itself

The poem “The Stranglehold of English Lit” by Felix Mnthali, in actuality opened my eyes to impact the European civilization had on the African culture. It is an amazing and repulsive feeling to know how powerful a society can operate. In the text, Mnthali makes references to the author Jane Austin, which complicated the poem for me. Later I realized that Jane Austin is a British author and was used to state and express the anger, the African people had toward the British. I have a tremendous amount of sympathy for the Africans. When my grandparents came from Haiti and the Dominican Republic to attend the North Carolina A&T, they were told that the education they received in their secondary school was ethically wrong. I remember my grandfather telling me, in the most ghastly voice, how he had to suppress his cultural beliefs to obtain the knowledge of North American culture. Although this isn’t as severe as the British and African conflict, it still shows the impact of one nation has on another. I feel that it was wrong for the British to impose there beliefs on the Africans. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, Author of “Creating Space for a Hundred Flowers to Bloom”, States “European languages of course and the cultures these have carried will have shaped the dominated in similar ways. The fax, the telex, the computer, while facilitating communications, also mean the instant spread of information and culture across national boundaries”. This quote tells me how the African people are coping with the inflation of these new crazes and growing in the modernization period, but in the back of their minds there is a missing spot in the heart of what it means to be “true” African.  He also goes on to say “Television images via satellites enable the whole world to experience the Palestinian uprising in the Middle east, the struggled for Amandle’ in South African, the mass uprisings and calls for democratic accountability to the people in Eastern Europe, at the same time”. Ngugi tells how media is down grading the African society and causing people to undermine them. Reading the poem repeatedly often reminds me of the story of Christopher Columbus coming to America. He came to a land already inhabited by natives and automatically implemented the British rulings. Consequently, in retaliation to this appalling act, the 13^th colony went missing. This end result had a very similar solution to the animals in the story “Gentleman of the Jungle” by Jomo Kenyatta. Like the story of Christopher Columbus, this poem and the other readings changed my opinion about the British involvement in different cultures. I was unaware of the severity of the matter, and became deeply concerned with the knowledge I obtained. On the other hand, being a non-violent individual, I don’t agree with Jomo Kenyatta’s approach with killing the people who oppressed them (British). Ngugi’s message in his story, sends the perfect message, to acknowledge all the cultures and not excluding no one. I thoroughly enjoyed the poem and the stories. It hit important points, such as the colonialism and how it affected many lives. The beauty of the message was illustrated through allegories, personifications and heated mind boggling literature.