Thursday, February 27, 2014
Critcal Article Review-Binyavanga Wainaina's "How to Write About Africa"
I read “How to Write About Africa” by Binyavanga Wainaina. The entire article was a satirical instruction guide for writing a book about Africa. The author’s words were crude and almost making fun of how people view Africa and how they need to help the continent and somehow revigorate their lives in the process. Though their words are harsh-they are also humorous and provide this image of what we typically see in books, advertisements, films etc about the nation, which is usually the same thing done over and over again. I think the author makes a very good point at how people not only picture Africa but also what they write about it. Everything about the culture from its geography, food, domesticity, tribal living, the people, and the myriad of problems associated and plaguing the society as a whole is included, but pretty much only what people want to hear/what they already know. It talks about including certain characteristics that are crucial to “your book’s success” supposedly such as talking about how much you love Africa and how your amazing liberalist ideals and outlook on life helped save the savaged nation from doom-as if your actions alone changed the continent and it’s people forever. It also mentions to write about Africa as if it were a country instead of fifty-four individual countries and not to mention all the beautiful landscapes and geography because all readers care about are the dying, warring, starring, and abused lives of Africa but at least that way, as Wainaina puts it,is-because you care. The writer must have the good guy have traits such as being poor or having a complex domestic life, the bad guy must have his/her own certain qualities, the woman must have disfigured genitialia and sagging faces that made you want to write a book about them and show them as if every woman in Africa looks like that. The best part about Binyavanga Wainaina’s article is that it makes you reflect on stories that other writers and artists have told about Africa and everything the author writes about in this piece is inherently true in all of the New York Times Bestsellers and Hollywood blockbusters. I tried to think of stories that broke his assumptions or judgements on what people write about when they visit or are inspired by Africa (besides Heart of Darkness) and it was very difficult. There might be stories out there that differ from what the author believes to be evident in every anecdote about Africa ever, but the majority seems to be all the same. In terms of Heart of Darkness, I think Conrad did differ away from this a little bit by showing just one Westerners adventure through the continent and how it did not focus on the poverty or the starvation or disease. It is interesting to hear today all the backlash about how racist or insensitive Conrad was being but it also causes people to see something different. Conrad had a clear story he wanted to tell and though it wasn’t strictly about Africa, he still managed to show the brutality and the honest cruelty the nation was facing. People can have different opinions on the matter but it does not change the fact that Wainaina makes an exceptional point. In the end, it is all about what we care.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Explication of "My Number" and "I had heard it's a fight"
Both “My Number” by Billy Collins and “I had heard it’s a fight” by Edwin Denby share the idea of death but discuss the meaning of death differently. Collins’ poem shows a man paralyzed with when death will catch up with him. He constantly wonders when and where death will appear again and if it will be his turn. There is this sense of distinct paranoia when the narrator asks where death is lurking and it is interesting how both two lined stanzas are questioning when it is his turn or which “number” supposedly he is. He wonders if death is too busy to come to his doorstep because it is tending to other unfortunate people and their demises. He even asks who he is talking to if they needed to ask for directions to his home as if for security, then follows up that question with “I start talking my way out of this”.
Denby’s poem’s experience/meaning of death was not a man constantly waiting and worrying about death but is actually recalling what dying felt like or the attitude towards dying. He describes the act of dying almost like recalling a memory. He recalls each punch and each sting in every part of his body that was touched. He even uses imagery to describe what it feels like to fight for your life back from the hands of death, “in agony you clutch at a straw, you rattle, and that will fix you”. What is different in this poem than Collin’s poem is that Denby’s narrator sounds more intrigued by what has happened to him and what it really meant. Collin’s narrator focused on when death would come for him and who is dying at the moment and has a more apprehensive meaning of death, whereas Denby’s narrator is more accepting of death and dying and talks about the quick sensation of dying almost as if he never felt more alive in that moment. Though the idea is virtually the same, the meaning of death is different for the narrators which could symbolize that people will always have a different meaning of what death means to them and there is no wrong or right way necessarily to find whatever that meaning is.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
"Heart of Darkness" and "Apocalypse Now"
I noticed similarities right away when I started reading Heart of Darkness. I figured the character of Marlow was like Captain Willard, and Kurtz was, well, Kurtz. Something that was difficult for me was expecting Heart of Darkness to be the same storyline as Apocalypse Now, then I remembered it was only inspired by it. Similarities between Willard and Marlow were not as distinct as Kurtz’ were. Marlow sounded like a man that truly loved adventure, always having a “passion for maps” and would lose himself in “all the glories of exploration” (71). When I first saw Captain Willard, he has a nervous breakdown in his hotel room and punches a glass mirror. Marlow appears to be more infatuated with Kurtz than Willard is in terms of continually thinking he is this remarkable man whereas Willard is told before he is even sent to kill Kurtz that he is a dangerous and despicable person in charge of mass killings of natives in Cambodia.
On the other hand, Kurtz in the novel is this allusive figure-the reader fully believes that he is as amazing as everyone says he is even though he mysteriously produces tons of ivory and is incredibly hard to reach. He also is seen as this amazing figure even after he dies. Willard learns first that Kurtz is a trader, but on his journey he learns that Kurtz was one of the best soldiers and captains of the U.S. army and almost became a general until he went crazy. Both Kurtz’s are regarded as miraculous in their fields and regarded with high esteem at some point.
While Marlow sails to the inner station to find Kurtz he encounters a cannibal tribe as well as pilgrims who wish to take over his ship. Willard also has people take over his boat including natives and people who shoot from the trees killing his fellow crew members. Both Willard and Marlow also remark on people who have had the task of finding Kurtz and not succeeding. Captain Colby in Apocalypse Now and Fresleven in Heart of Darkness. It is interesting how both are subtly mentioned in each work but are still nonetheless important to the story.
When Willard and Marlow finally make it to where Kurtz has been hiding/staying, the description in the novella and the motion picture both show a land filled with decapitated bodies and heads on sticks. Kurtz is also seen and portrayed as incredibly ill and weak, which juxtaposes the demeanor he was presented with in both Conrad and Coppola’s stories. When Marlow finally hears Kurtz speak he describes it as “grave, profound, vibrating, while the man did not seem capable of a whisper” (141). Conrad gives these detailed descriptions of who Kurtz really was that Marlon Brando portrayed so impeccably. He writes, “I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear, and yet struggling blindly with itself” (150) and “His was an impenetrable darkness. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines” (153). When Marlon Brando is onscreen he is practically in darkness the entire time, barely being able to see his face. He is known for his dark and fervent voice that leaves a lasting impression on people so adding it to this altogether ambiguous character made viewers completely entranced along with Captain Willard. When both Kurtz’s die, they say the same last words-”the horror! the horror!” (154). In the novella, Kurtz quickly becomes more and more ill and Marlow runs out not wanting to see him die. Willard takes a much different approach and slowly walks up behind Kurtz as he is talking to himself and slashes him multiple times with a machete (he is provoked more in the film in my opinion due to the murder of one of his crew members). The similarities in the novella and the adaptation both share the journey of a young seaman and the journey of an experienced general who both are searching for the same adventure and for the truth. Sunday, February 9, 2014
Explication of "Miniver Cheevy" by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Edwin Arlington Robinson uses many examples of allusion to describe who Miniver Cheevy is and it helps illustrate what his inner desire is. In the first stanza, Miniver is described as “a child of scorn [...] He wept that he was ever born”. Though this does not involve allusion, this syntax makes the reader aware of how Cheevy already sees himself. Robinson writes that Miniver “loved the days of old” and “dreamed and rested from his labors; He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot, and Priam’s neighbors”. This is the first example of allusion in the poem. The places he dreamed of all have similarities associated with both potency and tragedy. Thebes is known for stories such as Cadmus, Oedipus, and Dionysus. Cadmus was known as the founder of Thebes and a soldier in the Trojan War, while Oedipus is an infamous character in a three-story play by Sophocles. The story centers on a man who learns that his fate is his to kill his father and marry his mother and the horrific journey that unravels. Dionysus is known as the god of wine and winemaking as well as theatre. Something that is also interesting about Dionysus was that he was known as a “dying god”. Camelot is the castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. It was said to be a perfect inspiration for romance writers. Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and his name means “exceptionally courageous”. There is so much information in these two short lines inform readers about Miniver Cheevy-how he is a dreamer and nostalgic of the past though he was not there to necessarily experience it. He also “loved the Medici” which was a political dynasty belonging to a banking family and later became a royal house. It is evident that Cheevy longed for this romanticized and illustrious lifestyle that cease to exist in hs current time period. In the sixth stanza he says he “eyed a khaki suit with loathing” and “missed the medieval grace of iron clothing”. An interesting and provocative use of syntax that Robinson uses is when Cheevy is describing how much contempt he has for the gold he attains but knows that he could not live without it, “Miniver scorned the gold he sought, But sore annoyed was he without it”. The last line of the poem was extremely thought provoking especially after reading up on Thebes, Camelot, and Priam. The last two lines are “Minver coughed and called it fate, And kept on drinking”. These allusions all associate with drinking in a certain aspect of their story are culture so Robinson incorporating that in his last line creates a powerful impact not only on the character but the audience listening to the poem. It is powerful because Miniver Cheevy in a way, is living out what he misses from the past in the current time; it is the only thing he can do and the only thing he can hold onto.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
The narrator's journey in The Secret Sharer
The
narrator becomes more bold and certain as a leader of the ship. I think he also
becomes a little more vulnerable. In the beginning of the novella, he seems
very apprehensive with his new role as Captain of the ship. He really does not
have a lot of confidence in himself nor does he really make an effort to get to
know his crew. However when he meets Leggatt, his whole demeanor starts to
change. In a way, Leggatt is like the catalyst of the story. He is so bizarre;
everything he says is completely odd yet the narrator hangs on every word he
says. When he allows Leggatt to stay in his room, it shows that he is taking a
risk. When his steward asks him close his port, the narrator lies to him as his
face is "redening" (35). It is interesting that so quickly he is
willing to trust Leggatt and protect him after meeting him a few minutes ago
and barely opens up to his crew who he has been at sea with for a long time. He
also starts to become more secretive, especially when he meets the skipper of
the Sephora and he explicitly yells where he is going to take him on the ship
so that Leggatt knows not to move. He announces every room they are about to go
into like, "Nice little saloon, isn't it?" and "This is my
bathroom" (42) and "And now we'll have a look at my
stateroom"(43). He is taking a lot
of chances with hiding Leggatt and in a way these are making him more
vulnerable as well. He lets Leggatt sleep with him in his bed and they would
whisper to each other as they fall asleep. He would bring him food and let him
have preserves that were kept in his stateroom. When Leggatt finally departs,
with the help of the narrator, he gives him his white sailor hat. It is almost
like Leggatt has literally become the other captain once he is given the hat.
The narrator makes a substantial change of character both in terms of being a
leader, but also being human and sharing your life and living with another
person.
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