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.