Missy Schreiber/ Nadine Gordimer

Melissa Schreiber

Dr. Professor: Dr. R. E. Benander

ENGL 223

18 APRIL 11

Nadine Gordimer, author of, “Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants,” “Amnesty,” and “Six Feet of the Country,” began fighting apartheid in the 1930’s through her powerful literature and political actions. These short stories have presently taught me that white people and black people must unite in order to end a lifetime of racial segregation. Gordimer’s literature attempts to denounce the cruelty and the hopelessness of a situation accepted by all parts of the population. Gordimer’s overarching themes in these short stories are the moral and psychological tensions of her racially divided home country overcoming apartheid.

 In, “Six Feet of the Country,” apartheid was the norm in South-African society, and racism, and discrimination were the only ways to behave towards black people. The white people were a disappointment to white people everywhere; this ironic story proves how apartheid policies failed all races and classes of people. Personally, when I was in military training we are taught to be united, discrimination of any kind isn’t tolerated. In 2011 the US military allowed homosexuals to join, I believe this type of progress will help put an end to racial inequality world- wide.

Gordimer’s literature communicated to me that the strong must help the weak, and that discrimination and inequality must be acknowledged and learned. In the Navy, I served in Afghanistan twice, it was my first trip away from home, and I relied on 50 people I had just met. We deployed immediately after the 2003 terrorist attacks, and in the middle of the ocean racial inequality isn’t tolerated. Gordimer’s texts are necessary for all of us to learn from mistakes that have been made, and unite before anything else is destroyed.

I believe Gordimer is an artist as well as an author who gives hope to repressed Africans suffering from apartheid. I enjoyed her short stories, although they made me sad, and I will read more of her in the future. The more people who can read these stories the better, understanding  literature is the key to overcoming apartheid.

Missy Schreiber Achebe Blog

Melissa Schreiber

Professor: Dr. R. E. Benander

ENGL223

11 April 11

Teaching the Truth

            Chinua Achebe, author of “The Madman,” focuses on educating readers about the effects of European colonialism using a madman, who isn’t really mad, as a metaphor for the colonization of the mind. “The Madman” is presented as symbolic of native struggle from oppressions of the colonizing white people. Achebe deliberately makes the reader believe the inaccurate narrator that he has created, “He was drawn to markets and straight roads,” the story began, and then, “he began his journey on that big boa constrictor of a road.” Achebe created confusion and we believed it. Achebe depicted the towns people as the European white people who have distorted the education of the natives by making them believe they are inferior, and they believe it. Education is the key to overcoming colonialism, and I, as a mother of two little girls, have an obligation to teach my daughters right from wrong. Achebe is necessary for the future of oppressed Africans everywhere to be their voice and teacher.  He and I are in agreement that the world needs to respect their brothers and sisters, and the world must change for the better.

The text communicated to me that Nwibe, the protagonist, was never really mad, however the towns people wanted  to believe it, and so we did. Nwibe had been sane prior to having his clothes stolen and was forced to run through town naked. Nwibe was precieved as crazy because everyone treated him as though he was, and he believed it. “Two years later, before another initation season, he made a new inquiry about joining the community of titled men in his town. Had they received him perhaps he might have become partially restored, but those ozo men, dignified and polite as ever, deftly steered the conversation away to other matters.”

Teaching the truth concerning Achebe’s point about colonization of the mind address me personally because I can teach my family the truth. Education begins at home, and Achebe’s literature is my teacher. My family will address this issue and be able to grow for just believing in the truth.

Overall, I enjoyed Achebe’s short story, “The Madman,” and I recommend this book to college level students interested in equality and why the United States is lucky for all the freedom we have. I also believe parents should read Achebe’s literature in order to teach the truth to our children.

Melissa Schreiber The Stranglehold of English Lit

Melissa Schreiber

Professor Dr. R.E. Benander

ENGL223

01 April 11

Strangled

            Many African authors are fighting oppression and making sure the world is listening. “The Stranglehold of English Lit,” by Malawian author Felix Mnthali approaches the ugly subject of racism through this poem and demands that we find a way to surpass ignorance relating to oppression of African people in Africa. Mnthali is not alone on his quest, African playwrights, essayists, and novelists are also out for justice. For example Jomo Kenyatta’s,  The Gentlemen of the Jungle is an allegory that communicated the overarching theme for Africans, human rights are demanded and Africans will conquer anticolonialism. Another example is, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s, “Creating space for a Hundred Flowers to Bloom,” Ngugi describes the same themes in a direct way, his academic style demands freedom from African oppression as well. Together these authors and many more have been attempting to win what is there’s and the right to what they deserve as human beings. “The Stranglehold of English Lit,” is a poem filled with passion for the African people suffering as the “Jane Austin Lovers” of the world are blind to what oppression even means. This poem personally frustrates me because the uneducated people in the 21^st are still acting as though colonialism hasn’t stripped many people of what is rightfully theirs, and it still exists today. Strangled are these African authors, unable to be heard for centuries. English Lit need not be a stranglehold, but a new outlet to be a voice for all oppressed voices to be heard. I agree with all the African scholars as they become internationally known for fighting for what they believe in. Mnthali writes, “How could questions be asked at Markerere and Ibadan, Dakar and Ford Hare-with Jane Austin at the center? How could they be answered?” This communicated to me we must all begin to acknowledge and recognize what has been happening to Africans must be stopped. “Like Goethe, Ngugi contends that a world literature can flourish only when it acknowledges the linguistic and cultural particularities of the many traditions that make up the global community.” This powerful ending from author Ngugi, is telling us we can end the strangulation, and accept freedom to be universally had, never taken. By educating the world of this still occurring problem, we in the 21^st century can release the stranglehold and aid these authors in their pursuit of equal rights and freedom. I am Caucasian and the poetry I have studied is powerful and doesn’t necessarily like “Jane Austin Lovers”, but overall the past is the past and we must create a new future for all to be loved and respected. I recommend this poem to all college students and intelligent adults who want to educate their children of what not to do to another person. African oppression is real and must be acknowledged by everyone, I believe in time this will be possible. The centuries of inhumanity and suffering will end, if the 21^st century can believe in English Lit.