Rabbi's Cat

            The Rabbi’s Cat  is a great book that goes well with the whole theme of  my English literature. Personally the best character and most amusing to follow is Kitty!! Not only can he be rude and brutally honest, he still cares for his family and their wellbeing, not only does this make him the best all-around cat, but to top it off he can talk. The key parts that I thought were most important to this story were the points that Kitty made about Religion, he constantly questions whether the Rabbi should fully stay true to his faith as well. Even though kitty is confused about how he should feel towards religion, he is courageous and kind hearted when he gives his voice up so that his master will do good on his test.

The other character that I like was the Zlabya, she is supportive of her father and his goal to be Rabbi yet she wants to have her own life more towards the colonized just like in Nervous Conditions. Tambu and Zlabya are alike because they have to get used to becoming colonized, for Tambu she had to learn to go to school and be proper in the English view, to where Zlabya has an internal fight with herself in wanting to be more Persian. She basically goes from being a sheltered girl raised by a religious father to marrying a colonized Persian man who yet still holds onto religion by being a Rabbi.  So her trip to Paris with her new husband can also be compared to Tambu’s when she goes to the Mission. Kitty and Zlabya are both my favorite characters just by how they are portrayed throughout the graphic novel, and because I can somewhat relate to them.

Overall colonization is a problem depending on which view that each story is read in, obviously if one person is strongly traditional and African they would think colonization is a bad thing. If the reader is mutual then one could say that colonization is both good and bad in furthering one’s self in life. Finally those who are susceptible to change would find colonization as a great opportunity in life. Personally colonization is judged and should be taken however the viewer of it decides who’s to say it’s right or wrong? 

Dangarembga

Dangarembga

If I had to choose any character/ characters from Nervous Conditions that describe me, I would have to say that Tambu and Nyasha. Each can have similar characteristics, but in the end they are all different and have to overcome certain tasks/ difficulties in their lives to make them who they are in the end. Tambu is an all-around girl who starts out as a Shona traditional who just wants to go to school and get an education like her brother. Sadly education is not a well-supported idea for women, and coming from a family who is poor and traditionally disbelieves in educating women she is forced to grow and sell her own corn to pay for school. It is through this kind of experience that I can relate to Tambu, my personal experience is not as important like buying an education as Tambu had to, but it has the same concepts. When I was younger I wanted to be on the little community football team (I was a tomboy), but my parents were against it because I was a girl so they wouldn’t pay the entrance fee for me to play. Being the driven person I am, I ended up every day for almost 3 weeks before the season started, making cookies and selling them at the old IGA store and selling them to in the end making enough money to play just like Tambu did to go to school.

            I can be like Nyasha in the sense that she stands up for herself and what she believes in and that is how I am. Although I have never been in a physical altercation with either of my parents, I have on the other hand been in verbal confrontations with my parents that have almost led up to a fight like Nyasha and her father’s physical fight. It’s scary to be in a situation such as a fight but to stand up for what you believe in as Nyasha had done is a key aspect that can make people prosperous in life.

            When both of the characters are combined one can get tradition and modernity and I think that is the best way to live life, but the only way to live a functional and prosperous life is to balance both. Don’t be afraid to modernize but always hold onto the roots of where you came from your tradition.

           

Ngugi Wa Thiong’o Reader Response

The short stories that I like the most were “Minutes of Glory” and “Wedding at the Cross” because they both have good lessons behind them especially “Wedding at the Cross”.  To me both had sad endings to them, in “Minutes of Glory”, Beatrice had wanted to be someone she wasn’t so bad that she tried fulfilling the lifestyle of a bar- maid, stealing money, and ultimately getting arrested for her crime. The Irony of this story to me was mostly about the colonization of the mind, Beatrice always pointed out her flaws and was never happy with her, but she didn’t realize that the only true happiness she would be blessed with if she would accept who she was.  I personally believe that if Beatrice would have appreciated herself and culture rather than being self-loathing she could have went on with her life in a happy sense rather than getting arrested in the end.  

I can personally relate to “Minutes of Glory” because in the human culture, it is natural to compare and contrast to how one looks and what they have compared to another. Normally I am a laid back easy person to get along with, but my old best friend was more the very pretty almost stuck up kind of girl who had many guy friends and people who wanted to be like her. In the end I was around her all the time that I found that I was comparing myself to her almost to the point of being her, but instead of learning a lesson by going to jail, I lost friends because they couldn’t stand what I had become. I had to figure out that I didn’t have to conform in order to be happy but I did have to realize that my individuality and life was more important.  

Overall my Ngugi wa Thiong’o has very good meanings through his short stories by making sure he gets his point across to not become colonized,  and to cherish the original roots you came from and you will be happy and successful in life. 

Nadine Gordimer Reader Response

Nadine Gordimer

            After reading “Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants”, “Amnesty”, and “Six Feet of Country” I have developed a respect for Nadine Gordimer not only for her stories, but for her views and perspectives of racism throughout her each of them. Out of all the stories, I liked “Six Feet of Country” the best because emotionally it appealed to me on how bad racism and treatment of the servants was. 

            I agree with Nadine’s anger with how the servants in this story are treated and how marriage is perceived as well. The first quote I came to that angered me was, “You long to hear nothing but a deep satisfying silence when you sound a marriage.”  This already let me know the story would anger me. Marriage is about happiness and being in love with the person you marry, but in this story the narrator only complains about his wife and basically how horrible she is which is a sign he shouldn’t have married her to begin with. Secondly I did not like the narrator and his egocentrism, everyone on the farm did the work to keep it running but the narrator took the credit for the farm running the way it does. Especially when he states, “I, of course am there only in the evenings and at weekends, I am a partner to a travel agency which is flourishing- needs to be, as I tell Lerice, in order to carry the farm.”  He also refers to the servants as children when truly they are men and women, adults at that, and to me this show a lack of respect and the thought that the narrator is better than everyone else.

            Personally this story was almost easy to relate to but yet there was a barrier because racism still is an ongoing problem in society today the barrier is that it isn’t as open as it was back then. In society, I have personally dealt with friends who are racist and people in society who is racist and it was an unpleasant feeling listening to how they talked to black people and would treat them. My main view is that everyone was created equal and no one person is better than another, dealing with racism is hard especially when egocentrism is involved.

            Overall, I agree with Nadine Gordimer and her views on racism, I also find her to be a very creative author and credible for her work because she was a white writer living in Africa she knew what was going first hand. Her stories also related to real issues and were painted in a visual picture of what the problem was and why she either agreed or disagreed through a pleasant or emotionally trying story.

Achebe Reader Response

Chinua Achebe Reader Response

After reading “Girls at War” and “The Madman” I tried comparing each story to my personal life and to apply each lesson Achebe was implying in his writing.  If one looks into a job field where you either have to help someone and take a chance in harming themselves in the end, or to do nothing but work and help yourself to succeed and let them fall the supposedly right answer would be to help yourself. In the context of “Girls at War”, one basically has to live and do for oneself in order to survive or you can be the hero and die trying to do what’s right. I can compare “The Madman” to my life when looking through a school perspective, just as the Europeans came in and changed the views of Africans and some of the culture, schools can have the same effect.

My views on the world are slim and that it can be a dark, cruel, and unfair place for people of a certain class, race, and ethnicity. Both stories kind of go along with my views of the world. Through “Girls at War”, I agree with how Gladys started off living her life working and searching vehicles, but when we meet her again throughout the story, she has transformed into a prostitute. I agree in living and trying to make money to have a life and survive, but I disagree with selling one’s self to do so there are other ways to make money. I also disagree with the treatment of the starving crowd in beginning when Nwanko whom is fortunate to have food cannot offer just a little to the crowd. Lastly I disagree with how self- centered Nwanko was in the end even though he lived for staying put and doing nothing, I believe that he should have at least attempted to help Gladys rescue the soldier.

In “The Madman”, my views were not affected in any way from how I normally think because with what happened in the story happens in colonization and society daily. Beliefs of one group of people can be torn apart and replaced with the beliefs and lifestyles of others until the previous group’s original beliefs are gone.  I do not agree with how fast people are to call others crazy for their actions, but I do agree with Achebe’s reaction and purpose for writing this story. The Europeans came in thinking hardly about what and whom they were affecting by colonizing, forcing the Africans to think and believe what they believe and considering those who did not comply as “madmen” and bad. People are equal and should be able to live the lives they want and should be able to have their own believes as well.

Achebe even though he is brutally honest he points out the facts that other authors will not confront in a face to face kind of way. To him violence is the key when all else fails and I agree that in order to live the life you want, and to be who you are one must fight what’s keeping them to do so.

The Stranglehold of English Lit.

Felix Mnthali

            After reading The Stranglehold of English Lit. I was almost partially amused by the reaction Felix gave towards Jane Austen, it was almost as though he blamed her for everything. Aside from being amused, I could understand why Felix wrote this poem and the view he had while writing it.  In many cultures, the English influence upon writing and reading option is always present making it hard for the pure original culture of text and language to survive. I also like how he through little words basically stated that life is not all about being happy and finding a rich person to marry, but yet he implied that the root of African culture was more complex and full of emotion.

            Aside from British affects on African culture, I personally think that The Stranglehold of English Lit. and The Gentlemen of the Jungle can almost go hand in hand with each other. Both are dealing with an British influence that is trying to manipulate the African culture and society into a similar to British kind of society.  Through the views and points made through both writers, Felix’s style of writing I personally think was persuasive but not like Jomo Kenyatta. Jomo basically has the view that in the end achieving peace would be to kill those who are changing the surroundings and treating the people unfairly.

            Overall I enjoyed reading both The Stranglehold of English Lit. and The Gentlemen of the Jungle.  I expected the African view of the British to be exactly how it was presented through both writings, personally I agree with both writers especially Kenyatta. I would recommend anyone to read both of these writings, both are enjoyable and easy to follow.

Like Water for Chocolate Reader Response

Like Water for Chocolate

            Deep, dark, romantic, and delicious were a few words that came into my head while reading “Like Water for Chocolate”. Not only is this a passionate yet torturing love story, it also appeals and pleases the reader’s appetite, leaving one hungry. I loved this novel, when I began reading it, I could not hardly put it down. I will admit when the novel had me confused in the beginning with the recipes, but after I started thinking of how Esquivel was incorporating them with the emotions of the characters everything was clear.

            Tita was the character that I related to the most, but I found Gertrudis to be the most interesting and exciting. Not only for her brave naked escape, but for her tough girl attitude and power over men by leading an army, this astonished me because normally in society and different cultures, women aren’t supposed to have that kind of power. From the novel, I decided that on a certain societal level that in order to be happy in life, one would need to be a mixture between Tita and Gerturdis. When it comes to love I can relate to Tita through how passionate she is with many things in her life such as cooking, Pedro, and being in love, except I am passionate more about writing and love. I also liked that I could relate to Gertrudis because she is a leader who in my opinion is a strong independent woman, which is what I in the end hope to be. The characters I despised and couldn’t relate to were Mama Elena and Rosaura, both had different views and opinions on life and how to act that I was not used to, but I can see where they were coming from.

            This novel was so enjoyable, every chapter was described in so much detail that it was hard to not feel as though I was one of the characters myself. Each chapter was laid out and detailed to where it was easy to picture the dishes that were being made or what was going on in that point in time. My favorite part of the novel was the chicken tornado, not only is it crazy and random, but while reading I actually could picture the feathers going everywhere, and see the chickens fighting. Another well detailed part of the novel was when the soldiers came to raid Mama Elena’s home, I could actually envision her standing with the gun and standing her ground to make them leave.

            Overall if I had to pick another love story that relates to the one in “Like Water for Chocolate”, I would choose “Romeo and Juliet” because both can relate in different ways. In “Romeo and Juliet” both families did not like each other and didn’t want Romeo and Juliet together, in “Like Water for Chocolate” Mama Elena did not want Tita marrying Pedro or else she would lose her life servant. In Romeo and Juliet, both would secretly visit one another, just as Pedro and Tita would do. In the end, both sets of characters though not in the same way ended up with their lovers in the end. I think it is uncanny how closely the two love stories can be related, yet how culturally different the views are that makes both different.

            This was one of my favorite novels that I have read in a while, the detail, point of view the story was told through, and characters make it interesting and very enjoyable. I would strongly recommend anyone who is not ethnocentric to read “Like Water for Chocolate” in order to get an idea of Mexican cultures and to view what is going on in the novel through a different perspective.