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.