The Rabbi's Cat

" I'm just trying to tell the truth to see how it feels" Kitty (pg.19)The Rabbi's Cat was a really good graphic book because it really brought the characters to life.  Joann Sfar does such a great job with the choice of color of the graphics and with great detail of each character.  However there was one character that really stood out to me was the cat.  I thought he brought personality to the graphic book.  Kitty has a very curious, wise cat, and can be friendly to certain people. The kitty loves the rabbi's daughter and her father is not so sure of kitty.  What makes kitty so unique in my opinion is that he is Jewish and the dog is christian and the author shows a great metaphor between the two.  The Author goes on to demonstrate that no matter what kind of background you come from we can still get along and become friends.  Another focal point of the graphic novel is that this book was based off in the country Algeria, which was under the French dominion.  The novel showed different religion and ethic backgrounds which also relates to the movie Twiste a Popenguine.  In the movie there was different ethic backgrounds and religion as well.  The Rabbi's Cat, Twiste a Popenguine and all of the short stories that were read in class really tied into each other, each novel almost related it back to religion.  Religion is an important factor in the African culture and was for the rabbi, his daughter, and others.  I really did enjoy reading this book it was fun and kept my interest because of all the pictures and humor that kitty brought to the book. 

Wedding at the Cross 2

"Wedding at the Cross" was a really great short story written by Ngugi because it really does demonstrate the people in today's society.  Meaning people in today's society marry people with the same values or equal to one another.  Rich people marry people that are rich and nothing less.  However it should be "I am going to marry that individual because I love him/her" not because of all the money he/she has that should not matter.  Wedding at the Cross really demonstrates someone that doesn't marry someone that has all the money in the world.  Ngugi shows that through the character Miriamu.  She marries this man that doesn't has all the money in the world in fact her parents were not happy that she married this man.  Miriamu went behind her parents values and she didn't take into consideration about how her parents would feel because she realized that its not about what her parents thought. 

The quote " Money is the root to all evil" really does hold true in this particular short story because Wariuki starts to struggle with his is identity because he wanted to become someone that he wasn't, to prove to Miriamu father that he was this great rich man, in which Wariuki was a great man but Livingston this new man wasn't to Miriamu. Wariuki allowed money to change his name and become this man that was full of himself.  Miriamu wanted to marry the man she fell in love with but decided not to marry livingston if that makes sense.  Ngugi shows the readers that just because your wealthy doesn't make your life heaven, money can make your life a living hell if you let it rule your life. 

Nervous Conditions

In the story Nervous Conditions there were four major characters.  However on in particular stood out to me.  Nyasha was a very interesting character in the novel.  She was highly intelligent, and passionate.  Nyasha is not your ordinary girl at any means. When she life throws her curves she knows how to learn from and grow from the experience she never allows life to bring her down.  Nyasha is a strong women in the novel however at one moment of her life she allowed life to take a turn for the worst.  She struggles with feeling isolated and being lonely because no one likes her at her mission school.  However because of this major change in her life she starts to have health problems. The character Nyasha stood out to me so greatly because I can relate to the character Nyasha once upon a time. There was a moment in my life where I felt isolated from all the students at my old school.  I had moved away and started a new school and like some people I don't take kindly to change.  I went into a great depression, because I didn't have any friends and everyone would seem mean because I was the "new student." Or the students felt as though I wasn't popular enough to hang out with them.  This is the same way Nyasha felt.  She felt like she wasn't as popular as the other kids at the mission school.  Even though Nyasha demonstrated some one that felt isolated but she also demonstrates some one that is strong that can life at its worst. 

Wedding at the Cross

Wedding at the Cross was a very interesting and sad story all at the same time.  It was about a wife and a husband who was in prisoner on this island.  The couple had a little girl together in which the little girl had not seen her father in years. It was almost as if the little girl didn't know her father she just knew of him. Wedding at the Cross really demonstrates women that is strong and can take of her child alone not idealistically.  The short story was so sad and disappointing in my opinion because number one the father was in prison and when the father returned home the little girl didn't want to come to him, she didn't know him.  Also the mother didn't know what to say or ask him when they were along the story describes.  Another reason why it is so disappointing because this man comes home from prison gets the wife pregnant again and leaves.  How sad is that and how heartbroken she must of felt but joyous that she has children because in Africa having children is what makes a women.  This short story really relates to the women in today's society.  Meaning women today are struggling to manage a home, work, and children by themselves because their significant other is locked away in prison.  The scenario that takes place in the short story is taking place in some one's household where the man comes home from prison gets her pregnant and leaves.  I believe that the author did a great job with the story because Wedding at the cross really does relate to today's society.

Apartheid

Blog #3

Apartheid means separation and discrimination.  In the short stories “Good Climate Inhabitants,” “Amnesty,” and “Six feet of the Country” they all tie into Apartheid somehow but the short story that really stood out to me that really relates to apartheid was “Six feet of the Country.”  The short story faces a white man and his wife having to deal with the horrific times of apartheid.  Back when Six feet of the Country was written, Apartheid was the norm in the South African society.  In Six feet of the Country there was some sort of discrimination because the white man was trying to help bury the brother the right way but Apartheid wouldn’t allow that because of the discrimination of the two races.  So the South African society felt as if the brother wasn’t worthy enough. In my opinion Apartheid in reality you can’t really get rid of, there will always be separation and discrimination between races and actually it would be hard to change discrimination.  I would have to say I really did enjoyed all the short stories by Nadine Gordimer especially the short story Six feet of the Country I could actually understand the content of the story.   

The Madman

The short story “The madman” I really did enjoy reading.  It really captured my attention in many ways. It was actually the first story of Achebe that I could understand the first read through.  However I believe I enjoyed the story so much because I would actually agree with the author that there are people that are really schizophrenia who are just plain crazy and angry or people that become crazy or angry because of some type of embarrassment that has happen to them in their past. The madman number one who we were introduced first in the story was indeed schizophrenic and was angry at times but he wasn’t a threat to anyone.  In fact in my opinion I think that he appreciated life but was just crazy.  Nwibe was in much indeed a sane man. He was also a very successful man however he was very much an angry person.  He would yell about silly things like over a puppy as the short story described.  He became crazy or even angrier when madman number one took his pants, but became embarrassed because he ran out in front of everyone naked.  In fact the story says that Nwibe became tongued tied.  He was mostly embarrassed because he had a reputation to protect. Achebe stated that; "Nwibe was such a sensible man that no one could think of him beginning something he was not sure to finish." Nwibe was the guy to be excluding his anger issues. However people in today society including myself can relate to Nwibe only because we have all been embarrassed at one point in our lives,  of something that we felt might ruin our reputation so we stand speechless but grow to be very angry or upset when we think about how someone embarrassed us as an individual. In conclusion I leave you with a statement by: Onyeara Ogbete “Madness? What is that? Who is mad: the madman or the supposedly sane souls? Unfortunately, there is no set standard of sanity, but there are degrees of madness.”(www.Kwenu.com)

The Stranglehold of English Lit.

Response on The Stranglehold of English Lit; By: Felix Mnthali

"The Stranglehold of English Lit" was very hard for me to understand at first. I didn't quite understand what the author was trying to get across,  however as I kept reading piece by piece started to make sense. Felix Mnthali stated "would Europe in Africa" (line 12) in other words can Europe be in Africa? However Felix would probably respond "No"! Europe and Africa can't be because the two countries don't share the same culture, beliefs, language , nor religion.  Felix Mnthali continues on to express his frustration expressing that the English language cannot be tied into the African language.

I believe that the title of this poem specifically the word "Stranglehold" speaks for itself and evinces of what the author is trying to get across. I would have to agree with the author. The African language should be taught by someone that is of the African culture and someone that enunciates the African language well. In reasoning people of the African culture can relate to the language and understand the language I think that is where Felix frustration comes from, because he feels in my opinion nobody can teach your own language better than someone of that language or culture.  In my opinion Felix believe that someone of the English language should not try to teach the African language. 

I would have to say I didn't really enjoy reading the poem. It really didn't interest me however I do believe that the author did have good valid points throughout the poem, but just didn't grasp my attention.  I couldn't really relate to the poem but agreed upon what the author was saying.