Ngugi (Blog #4) Annalisa Horine

I think Ngugi wa Thiong'o's short story "Wedding at the Cross" was sad. It was sad because Wariuki, the man that that Miriamu fell in love with was gone. Wariuki, the man that she loved, had turned into Dodge Livingstone.Wariuki did not care what people thought of him, he did what he wanted and cared to please no one. This was the man that Miriamu loved. When he became Dodge Livingstone however, he only cared of what others thought.

Today, in society, most people care too much of what others think of them and let themselves become something that they are not. Like Wariuki, people re-adjust their views and beliefs to match those of others so that they will "fit in". When I was in high school, I knew a girl was overweight. She wanted so badly to be thin like everyone else. She wanted it so bad that she resorted to bulimia. She thought that being thin was the only way to get people to like her. However, all of her friends at the time told her that she was beautiful, and that if people didn't like her the way she was, they weren't worth her time. She didn't care. All she wanted was to be thin like her friends. In the end, all of her friends left her. After she lost weight and became thin, she became a different person, much like Wariuki/ Dodge Livingstone.

I also thought that "Minutes of Glory" was sad. I thought it was sad because all that Beatrice wished was to be loved; she longed to be wanted, and no one wanted her.  Many women today feel like Beatrice, as they want to be loved. Some people go to extreme lengths to achieve this, like my friend that resorted to bulimia. Like Beatrice, my friend wanted to "fit in" with the other girls and get attention. In the end, Beatrice's mind was so twisted in the way that when she had gotten hundreds of dollars and could have started some where new, with a home and been much better off than before, she went to the store and bought herself a new outfit. As a woman, I know that my mind is twisted in this way, to an extent. Some days I'd rather go out and buy myself a new pair of high-heels, when I know that I need a knew pair of gym-shoes. But the heels (that I'll more than likely wear once or twice then completely discard) are much more attractive to me than a pair of boring gym-shoes. While the heels are going to hurt my feet immensely and the gym-shoes are going to keep me comfortable, I go for the heels anyways. This is twisted and irrational. It would be in my best interest to purchase the gym-shoes, but I purchase the heels anyway. I purchase the heels anyway because I would rather look good and be in pain, than feel good and look like a bum. I'm sure that most women feel this way, as they say "pain is beauty".

I would recommend that women who are too worried about their image read this text. I think that it would show them how sad it is that they worry about their clothes and their shows more than they worry about their own well-being. I hope that it would teach them to be more cautious.

Gordimer (Blog #3)

    Nadine Gordimer has very strong opinions in her writing. She influences her reader to have a strong opinion in what she is saying also. In “Six Feet of the Country” she explains how the white man (who represents all white men in Africa) thinks of the African people as “babies” and thinks that he is much higher than they are. I think the African men are much higher than the white man. The white man did not help with anything; the wife and the African men did all the work. They worked on the farm in harsh conditions while the white man worked at a travel agency. It frustrated me when the white man said that the farm did not bring much into the household. The farm may not have brought much money into the household, but it brought in crop that fed them all; the farm brought much more to the household than the white man's job at the travel agency did. It also troubled me that the white man was embarrassed of his wife because she worked with the black men and did not have her hair done.

In the world today there is much racism. Some people in America think that they are superior to other countries simply because they live in America. Many people feel "sorry" for the people in third world countries, but don't care enough to help them. These people that say that they "care", don't really care. They watch the news and think that what goes on in these third world countries is sad, and then after they're finished watching the news they change to channel to watch the royal wedding and worry about how pretty the bride's dress is and who is wearing what hat. 

As Americans, our minds are twisted in the wrong direction, just like the white man in "Six Feet of the Country". Americans complain about not being thin, or not being beautiful, when in Africa they worry about gaining weight, and not starving to death, making enough money to keep their land, and (If they complain at all) they complain about how their crop isn't growing and that they are not going to be able to keep what the need to survive. Like the white man wanted his wife's hair to be done, women in America worry about their hair and their make-up more than what is necessary. With all of the make-up that women buy, we could be sending money to Africa or other third world countries that need food and clean water, not make-up and hair products to make your hair look "bouncy". As Americans, we need to worry less about our appearance, and more about the health and safety of the world.

Achebe (Blog #2) Annalisa Horine

I liked all of Achebe’s texts, but “The Madman” was the one that I enjoyed the most. In “The Madman”, I found it frustrating that the people of the community saw Nwibe as the “crazy” one. When, in all actuality, he was just angry. Another thing that frustrated me was how his entire community believed that he was insane, and would tell him that he was insane. When many people tell you the same thing repeatedly you start to think “well maybe I am crazy” and start to believe what you are being told.

When I was in high school I was severely bullied; all of the girls would call me “fat” or “ugly”. After a while of hearing this from them, I started to feel fat and ugly. When people tell you something over and over again, you are affected negatively. Whether you just get angry, or your self-esteem drops, you are affected.

I also enjoyed his story “Girls at War”. I thought that Gladys was a good person, even though she had to resort to prostitution. But if your only choices were to survive by becoming a prostitute, or die of starvation, wouldn’t you do the same?  I did not necessarily like Nwankwo. I thought that he was selfish; as a government official, he should have helped feed the people instead of hoarding it for himself. I liked how Gladys went back for the wounded man. It was a very selfless act. I hope that in the future, this will change Nwankwo‘s attitude toward others; maybe he would look at her act of kindness and decide to share the food. Though, I was disappointed at the end of the story that the good people died and the bad man survived.

The Stranglehold of English Lit. Annalisa Horine

The Stranglehold of English Lit. grabbed my attention fiercely. Though, I have never read any of Jane Austin’s books, I have heard much about them.  I understand where Mnthali is coming from. At first, when he states “Eng. Lit., my sister, was more than a cruel joke- it was the heart of alien conquest”, I was confused. But after reading it over a few times I understood what he meant. I agree with Mnthali. I think that teaching Africans to read and write in the English language instead of their native language is degrading. I also think that teaching them things that will not help them in the future is pointless. Why would you want to know about tea parties and arranged marriages of rich white people when you live in a place where you mostly work all day and are not wealthy? When something doesn’t apply to you personally, it makes it hard to take seriously. When I was in seventh grade I was assigned to read a book called Animal Farm. This book was boring and had nothing to do with me personally. I did not learn anything from this book because I was not concerned with it; I felt that it did not apply to my life. When assigned something that you do not have any interest in, and does not apply to you or anything in your life, it is hard to care and to relate to the assignment. This poem was very well expressed. The way that it was presented to the class also helped me get an idea of how serious Mnthali is about this issue. This poem showed much of how corrupt African education is. I think it would be better if Mnthali was to write another poem that is related to this one. If Mnthali were to write another poem, I think that it he should write should write about how he thinks the world can help fix this problem of corrupt education in Africa. I would definitely suggest this poem to my family because my grandparents are missionaries in Africa and have a school named after them, so they may possibly have some influence over what is being taught in that school. Overall, I think this poem is fantastic.