Here are the short stories we have discussed so far:
"Shooting an Elephant," George Orwell
"Children of the Sea," Edwidge Danticat
"Life," Bessie Head
"Interpreter of Maladies," Jumpha Lahiri
"Love and Honor and Pity and Compassion," Nam Le
And here are BIG themes that might lead you to a close reading of one story or a comparison of two:
- how does displacement, relocation, return shape, define the identity of the postcolonial subject?
- what role does writing play in creating a meaningful space for the postcolonial subject?
- how does hybridity also create fragmentation, guilt, anxiety, loss, regret?
- what happens when "worlds collide" in a postcolonial space?
- how are families broken by generational postcolonial conflict?
- how does a story expose, illuminate eurocentrism, ideology, hegemony
Alternately, you may choose to do a more literary type of analysis. Consider, for example, a central symbol in one of the stories and connect that symbol to postcolonialism:
- the elephant in "Shooting an Elephant"
- letters and journals and writing in "Children of the Sea," "Love and Honor..."
- Life and Lesego in "Life" as symbols
- the monkeys in "Interpreter of Maladies"
Note: all essays for English 295 must follow correct MLA format which we will review in class. The citations for each story (except Orwell which is online) are listed with the story in the course pack. If it is missing I will give it to you. When you quote from the story, you must follow the quotation with the authors name and the page number of the original story.
Please review "Anatomy of an Essay" in course documents for more details about general coherence, focus, thesis and support and how to write an interesting conclusion.
In "Shooting an Elephant" the protagonist, a European police officer constantly talks about he native people that live in the land his country has invaded. The officer, although feeling bad for what they are going through, does not see them as human beings. He sees the native people as something lower then human beings and he constantly calls them coolies or says that they have yellow faces. He also mentions that the native peoples lives are not as worthy as the elephant he has just killed, "...it was damn shame to shoot an elephant for killing a coolie, because an elephant was worth more than nay god damn Coringhee coolie." (23) this shows why the Europeans came into this land and claimed it as their own. The Europeans didn't feel like those people were worthy of the land they had.The elephant in the story also serves as a symbol of imperialism. The elephant has no control over what is happening to it just like the countries who were being taken over had no control over being taken over. "The tortured gasps continued as steadily as the ticking of a clock." (23) the fact that the elephant does not die quickly and that it suffers greatly represent how many countries that are being taken over are suffering not only while they are being taken over but even after it has happened. Imperialism has long lasting effects that, once imprinted, never go away
ReplyDeleteJorge--is the elephant a symbol of imperialism (which would mean the invading power) or a symbol of the consequences of imperialism, its victims? Your supporting ideas suggest the second!
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ReplyDeleteHaitians had faced a difficult past where finally after a long and bloody war to end the French colonial period were able to create a free nation in 1804 which later on was submitted into dictatorship that lasted until the beginning of the 1990’s when the first pro-democracy leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide took office. Unfortunately, a year later Haiti faced another internal conflict when the old militarized government overthrew the president resulting in the death of thousands of Haitians. These are some post-colonial patterns that nations have to face even after being free.
As Ania Loomba states in her article “Situating Colonial and Post-colonial Studies” “Modern colonialism did more than extract tribute, good and wealth from the countries that it conquered – it restructured the economics of the latter, drawing them into a complex relationship with their own.” (page 3) Haiti is a clear example of this, being colonized by Spain and then controlled by France created a complex government problem. In "Children of the Sea," by Edwidge Danticat we can see how a young couple that was separated by this internal governmental disagreement with democracy as a result of the colonialist period had to face dehumanizing treatments of all the kinds. “I thank god you got out when you did. All the other youth federation members have disappeared. No one has heard from them. I think they might all be in prison. Maybe they’re all dead.” (Danticat 4,5). The soldiers in this period were killing anyone who they suspect to be involved with the democratic government. There was no way to stop them, therefore they did all they wanted, abusing of people and killing for any reason.
This exaggerated violence drove the county on its worse period. Soldier’s action were against all the human rights and therefore people tried to escape in boats looking for asylum in other countries specially The United States. Many of those boats were stopped by the U.S coast guard who would bring them back to Haiti and others were so crowded that they simple perished in the sea. “I go to them now as though it was always meant to be, as though the very day that my mother birthed me, she had chosen me to live life eternal, among the children of the sea, those who have escaped the chains of slavery to form a world beneath the heavens and the blood-drenched earth where you live.” (Danticat 27). With this words this young guy states his resignation to die at sea. A death that came to hundreds of Haitians at trying to escape the imperialism created as a post-colonial effects.
Geovanni--the best documentary that unpacks the complex modern history of Haiti is Aristide and the Endless Revolution which I think I will screen for you all on Thursday but you might like to look at it in advance:
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh0zS4rCCvM
As a writer who is of color, I can relate to the narrator in Nam Lee's short story "Love and Honor and Pity...". Nam lee's protagonist is a Vietnamese writer, raised in Australia by first generation and traditionally Vietnamese parents. In the story the narrator finds it difficult to find his place as an ethnic writer in a eurocentric world. Many questions arise by being a writer of color, questions such as, how does one's creative voice help or damage their community?; how much should one identify themselves as an "ethnic writer", and is it wrong if one does write solely about their ethnicity? All of this is explored through the lens of a fairly westernized narrator who is faced with time with his traditional father.
ReplyDeleteIn "Love and Honor and Pity" during a conversation between the narrator and his friend about the ever trending "ethnic lit", his friend refers to a Faulkner quote; "he said we should write about the old verities. Love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice" (65). He says this as an argument against ethnic literature. His friend cites that quote as a way of saying what one should be writing about is human experience, however, this completely ignores that one writing from a ethnic focused angle will inevitably be writing about these things anyway, because the principles Faulkner mentioned are what it is to be human, ethnic or other. His friend goes on to say "You could totally exploit the Vietnamese thing. But instead, you choose to write about lesbian vampires and Colombian assassins..."(65). When we take this sort of mentality into consideration, it is not difficult to see why the narrators father would not want to have his story told in the way his son had planned to. There is something inherently dismissive about that sort of reception. This is one of the issues that creates conflict for the author with being true to his heritage and fitting into a western writing culture.
I need to flesh out my thoughts further and I might possibly want to compare this story with another. But I know that I want to write about this story with a focus on the ethnic writer's voice and identity and how it is possibly perceived in a eurocentric world.
Kierra--really interesting--the most famous and important essay on your topic is Gayatri Spivak's "Can the Subaltern Speak?"--it's very dense and difficult (I don't mean to be patronizing--I find it difficult) but here is a page of summary with link to the essay: http://culturalstudiesnow.blogspot.com/2011/11/gayatri-spivak-can-subaltern-speak.html
DeleteI have chosen the story love, honor, pity ,pride, compassion and sacrifice by Nam Lee. I am intrigued by nam's story of his relationship with his father and his circumstances to find his understandingof his emotions towards his father. And how the story unfolds the outside world and history of his father affects his point of view. Each emotion and moral value on the name of the title is expressed in parts of the story to give the reader of the experience of a family relationship between father and son.
ReplyDeleteCarlos--I think the father-son dynamic in this story is so powerful and so painful, it has to be fascinating and there is something universal about the struggle across generations--see if you can pinpoint specific moments in the story that speak to you...
DeleteŁookin over the story dr. Van hope we see you Thursday
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ReplyDeleteI'm leaning towards using George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" for my essay (being from a postcolonial Philippines). I believe the elephant, its mahout, and its musth are all symbolic.
ReplyDeleteThe elephant symbolizes the "will of prostrate peoples," the mahout represents the people's values and culture as a driving force or leader, while the musth - although in reality a natural occurence for bull elephants - shows a disease in the heart of the people.
There's a certain sanctity in the bond between a tamed elephant and its mahout. In the story, the elephant has gone on a rampage induced by its musth while the mahout is far away; this puts the elephant way beyond salvation.
Like the elephant, the will of the people has a crushing weight and awe-inspiring force. Without the mahout (values or leadership) the elephant (people) goes on a rampage, hoping to relieve itself or at least divert its attention from its pain (during musth, an elephant experiences extreme pain - this, along with exponential hormone increase causes its aggression) like the Burmese who spit and sneer at the protagonist in the story.
During musth an elephant becomes so violent that it can kill its kith and kin - this explains the irony that the people (who are lost) eventually usher the death of their own will (the elephant).
This brings us to the crucial point where the elephant is bleeding out. The "great beast Lying there, powerless to move and yet powerless to die" has become like the prostrate and oppressed people, "powerless to move [on]" yet powerless to die, locked in a state of endless agony.
Eurocentrism also plays a big part in the Burmese people's loss of value. In adopting a certain new ideology, the old ones should either mix in or be cast out.
DeleteExamples:
*even the Buddhist priests have forgotten their values and convictions
*the people display a tremendous amount of awe for the European protagonist with his European gun (power)
I forgot to mention which of the big themes I was going for:
Delete"how does a story expose, illuminate eurocentrism, ideology, hegemony"
addition to examples:
*the impoverished people desecrating the Elephant's corpse in order to consume or sell the parts ("selling" can be attributed to a capitalistic and eurocentric mindset as opposed to respecting the elephant's remains).
Ira--you have found truly deep examples of colonialist, capitalist and eurocentric moments through these examples--I really look forward to reading your essay!
DeleteIdentity is obtained at an early stage in life. It does not matter where you come from or what types of customs and traditions your ancestors may have had. If you were inculcated with a specific type of ideology, life style, and values, from anywhere other than your homeland, then chances are you’ll identify yourself among that because it’s what you’ve been accustomed to. Based on the story Life by Bessie Head, we notice that Life is different from everyone else in her village. Although she was born in Africa, her identity is from the city of Johannesburg because she spends 17 years there. Therefore her life-style and points of views are not like the ones from her native home because she was not inculcated with what is acceptable and what isn’t. Her return was an interruption to the lives of many people because she brought her city ideologies and life-style that people were not accustomed; such as prostitution, spontaneity, and female independency. Not only was life the first and only woman to prostitute herself, but she did other multiple things as well; “She had been a singer, beauty queen, and advertising model… (39).” This was something that other woman in the village wouldn’t ever do. Due to the different culture and diversity she was inculcated and affiliated with, it was hard for her to establish it in a place where change was unacceptable. If she had spent all those 17 years where she was born then she would have grown with the life-style and mentality the villagers had; adapting to the role the women should have as well.
ReplyDeleteIrma--so you are suggesting (and I agree) that her fate was almost predetermined once she was required to return to her village--you can definitely trace this through the drama of the story!
DeleteJhumpha Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies tells the story of a bus driving tourist/interpreter and the lens in which he views an Indian American family. The story really displays beautifully how a postcolonial world can box you off from your own ethnic roots and at the same time trying to find to define yourself as an individual. Lahiri’s story also explores the definition of family in the western world with issues such as the authoritative presence within the story, which leads to one of the more underlining themes in the story and that’s western world and the imperialistic mindset of how you are supposed to view the world which really spoke to me as I was reading the story.
ReplyDeleteThe plot of the story begins with Mr. Kapasi the tourist bus driver who would later reveal his other talent, was escorting this Indian American Family, the Das family towards the Sun Temple at Konarak. Mr. Kapasi intrigued by this family begins to dissect and immediately begins to see this sort of discord amongst the family, not just internally but on a social/ethnical level also. This is clearly stated right as the story is about to really just lay out the picture of what is really going on, “You left India as a child? Mr. Kapasi asked when Mr. Das had settled once again into the passenger seat. “Oh, Mina and I were both born in America”, Mr. Das announced with an air of sudden confidence. “Born and raised…” (Lahiri 45). The issue of ethnic identity is being raised and this sort of disconnect to ones roots is apparently evident and it only delves deeper if you look at each character individually and the roles they play in uncovering the negatives of a postcolonial world.
It’s being insinuated that a postcolonial world can be taught through one lens and that all other perspectives doesn’t matter as being illustrated by the character Mr. Das, “All set, Mr. Das said, replacing the lens cap…doesn’t it get tiresome…showing people the same thing every day?...Hey, do you mind stopping the car. I just want to get a shot of this guy” (Lahiri 48-49). It has becoming transparently clear Lahiri symbolizes the camera as being seen through only one “lens” of an American except that this American has Indian lineage which sort brings up this mockery of other cultures. Overall Interpreter of Maladies dissection of postcolonial world with issues such as identity, culture, social norms, and what it means to be family to name a few and I feel like I can identify with this story the most for with the many issues it brings to the table.
Sean--I like your idea of being boxed off from your roots--not sure about the trying ot define yourself part--do you see the Das's as doing that?--exploring the definition of family is interesting; so is imperialistic mindset, but who represents that in this story and what evidence would you present? Your last paragraph above re the camera has some great potential to show distance of Das from culture of origin and irony of his condescension and othering of the "guy" he wants to photograph--what claim could link some of these good ideas?
DeleteAlthough we haven't discussed it in class, I plan to do a close reading of "Interpreter of Maladies." I think the idea of reverse colonialism is interesting and probably something many people can relate to. I like this story for about the same number of reasons I don't like the story, but that's why I want to write about it. The character of Mrs. Das gets me very upset, but I think she is the most complex. It's as if she has no maternal instinct in her until the very end of the story, after she has confessed to Mr. Kapasi that Bobby is not Mr. Das' son. She had to get that guilt off her chest, which is why she told Mr. Kapasi about it. It's obvious she's looking for something in telling him her secret, but she naively thinks he has the answer to her problems because he works as an interpreter. She wants to believe he can interpret anything. And although they are both Indian, they are worlds apart, yet have similar marital problems, Mr. Kapasi notices this right away which is why he fantasizes about a growing relationship between the two of them. They are exotic to each other. Mrs. Das believes his job as an interpreter is "so romantic" (50). She makes several indirect sexual advances towards Mr. Kapasi and Mr. Das seems completely oblivious to it.
ReplyDeleteWhen the monkeys attacked Bobby, Mr. Das did nothing. He nervously fumbles with the camera, which makes me wonder if he isn't aware already that Bobby isn't his son. Mrs. Das doesn't even bother to as him to help the boy, she asks Mr. Kapasi. He shoos the monkeys away and carries Bobby back to where his family is standing. "As he carried him he was tempted to whisper a secret in the boys ear" (68). He has only known the family a few hours and had several secrets he could have revealed. One being that he knew who Bobby's real father was and another that he was fantasizing about being his stepfather.
Hi Tamika--sorry to have missed your blog earlier! I like your focus on Mrs Das, her guilt, need to confeess, the possibility that Mr Das is not clueless--for which you provide evidence, Mr K's taking over of father role, lover role, in his own fantasy...how can you frame a thesis or claim for these connected thoughts, I wonder...
DeleteIn "Shooting an Elephant" Their are many symbols of imperialism. For example the elephant the Burmese the elephant and the solder the the British. From the begining of the story you can tell the narrator does not want to be in Burma and was against what he was doing there he states, "I had already made up my mind imperialism was an evil thing". Right there you can tell he thinks its wrong but he was being pushed by the British army was pushing to control and sometimes kill innocent people. Similar to how the Burmese were pushing the narrator to kill an innocent animal. A lot of the British felt they did not belong there but they were pushed by their Country. He did want to kill elephant he was forced. The whole store is about control both physically and metaphoric levels the british are in control by there army, Burmese by the British, and Elephant by the solder. This story show the vicious cycle of imperialism. In a way the story shows we are all guilty for what our country does because we follow them. It shows we need to make our own decisions in life not the ones people force us to make. We can not just dominate a country because a politcal , religious, or government says we should. Thats what the story is saying we need to take back the power and be responsible for our own actions.
ReplyDeletethe symbolism is powerful and makes for a clear essay discussing the points you raise above--you identify the narrator's ambivalence (and our universal complicity) in end of your post--keep for essay, maybe focusing on how he achieves this connection
DeleteIn "Love and Honor and Pity and Compassion" there are endless examples to how the Das family, an American cultured family, show characteristics of their separation to their ethnic roots and how families are broken by generational postcolonial conflict. Immediately, Mr. Kapasi, the family's tour guide, knew the family was of Indian, however, realized they were not native born simply by the way they were dressed. "The family looked Indian but dressed as foreigners did…" (44). In addition to that the grandparents have moved back to their roots of India for retirement, meanwhile the Das family only visits. Grandparents are sometimes the closest things to culture that we can fall back on since many parents are often born in a different location mainly based on a "better" life. Many, if not all, cultures value family as a whole. Separation of parents, or even families, is almost nonexistent. Towards the end of the story, Mrs. Das vents about wanting to leave everything behind since she has felt disconnected with her own family. "One day I had the urge to throw everything I own out the window, the television, the children, everything…Eight years, Mr. Kapasi, I've been in pain for eight years." (65). Divorce is not something that was common just a decade or two ago. It is definitely something that modern generation has transformed into a practice that is sometimes expected, and abused.
ReplyDeletewe will discuss this story today. I'd like to see you probe contrast between Mr kapasi's understanding of family and the Das family's...since you have focused on this theme@!
DeleteIn both Edwidge Danticat's "Children of the Sea" and Nam Lee's "Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice," the writers portrayed in the stories use their writing to maintain their identities in the face of upheaval and change. The unnamed narrators of "Children of the Sea," a young man and woman, reveal the details of the story through their correspondence to one another, even though each narrator's story never reaches the other. In the case of the young man, on a journey of exile from Haiti and stranded on a boat lost at sea, his writing allows him to retain his sanity while in a progressively dire situation. He describes the sights, sounds, and smells during his time in the boat, and sometimes even manages to find points of beauty within the parameters of his grim surroundings. It is through this writing that he comes to a fatal conclusion and reveals where he is destined to be. Before ending his life, he writes, "I go…now as though it was always meant to be, as though the very day that my mother birthed me, she had chosen me to live life eternal, among the children of the deep blue sea" (27). He explains that those at the bottom of the sea are the lucky ones who have escaped slavery to live their lives in a world of their own making.
ReplyDeleteThe narrator of Nam Lee's story uses his writing to develop an identity that is independent of his traditional, disapproving father, who has no respect for writing as a vocation. Despite his independence and his identification with American culture, an identification that his father does not share, the narrator has high hopes that the story he writes about his father's experiences in Vietnam may create a bridge of understanding between them. Revealing his hopes for how his story could change his father, the narrator writes, "He would recognize me. He would see how powerful was his experience, how valuable his suffering- how I had made it speak for more than itself. He would be pleased with me" (27). Unfortunately for the narrator, his father decides, by burning his son's manuscript, that any identity created through a story other than one's own may not be an identity worth having.
so in both stories the narrators come to important insight through writing...your analysis is eloquent. I'm thinking about probing the contrasts a little more and even the similarities. Is writing a tool through which to explore self, survive difficult life moments even temporarily? Is it a point of connection, communication (your bridge of understanding) in both even when it fails?
ReplyDeleteIn the story, "Life" we come across a woman who was taken from her village at a young age, moves to the urbanized area of Johannesburg and is forced to emigrate back to her old village. Although she feels some type of way going back to her town, it’s her roots and she really doesn’t have another choice. She doesn’t fit into the village at all. The villagers see her as the "light" which isn’t a bad thing, until they realize what she’s about. “she is going to bring us a little light(38)"/ Her return to the village almost disrupted their way of life because life had brought back customs from the new world that most if not ALL of the villages haven’t heard of before. To a certain extent, i feel that life not only feels like she doesn’t belong, she almost doesn’t want to fit in. she thinks so differently from the rest of the villagers and she doesn’t see anything wrong with that. "my motto is: live fast, die young and have a good looking corpse(40)". Other female villagers would never do the things she does. Because she’s so unlike other females in the village, she gets jealousy and looks from the females, and praise from the males. It’s hard for life to be able to exercise what she feels is right based on her new found morals because where she now resides finds it unacceptable. if life had grown up in her village with the values that they believe is right and just, she would’ve not only saved her own life, she would’ve been able to comfortable feel a part of her village. a part of the family, Not just a city girl who sells sex
ReplyDeletemarina--so your essay will focus on the way the two worlds collide? do you want to analyze the mis-communication? the way they think she will bring something good but it turns out to be something they can't accept? how do we reconcile the different kinds of people in the village? some really like her--the men, the beer drinking women; it's only Lesego and the "proper women" who reject her...lots to think about
ReplyDeleteI think “Interpreter of Maladies” is a dazzling story for its literary devices and subtlety. It reminds me of Sagarana, a book of short stories by Guimaraes Rosa, where small events develop into a climax after frictions between characters make them grow in importance. I started writing about some topics such as the narrator’s point of view and the symbols, but I’m also going to talk about the “maladies” as a metaphor, the development of the climax, and other symbols.
ReplyDeleteBy using multiple literary resources in “Interpreter of Maladies,” Jumpha Lahiri is able to convey an idea of how peoples’ views of each other are actually projections of their own minds. The story is told from the perspective of Mr. Kapasi, a full-time interpreter of a minority group who doesn’t speak the local language in a hospital and part-time tourist guide. As an interpreter of sick people, Mr. Kapasi doesn’t take long to use his aptitude to make judgments about a tourist’s family of Indo-Americans, the Das. He analyses all the aspects of the family, from their foreign customs and manners to their indifference to each other, which he interprets as marital problems.
Lahiri also uses symbols to represent the characters points of view such as Mr. Das’ camera and Ms. Das’ sunglasses. Mr. Das seems to see the world from the lenses of his camera as he is always focused on taking pictures. Being completely inattentive to his wife’s feelings and to some extent to his children’s needs, Mr. Das’ view of his family is one from the pictures he takes in which everyone is happy. Ms. Das, on the other hand, hides behind her sunglasses, internalizing all her suffering for not wanting to be part of the family.
We spoke about this yesterday Guilhereme and I like the focus on maladies as metaphor--I also like the way you zero in on picture taking which, it suddenly strikes me, is a big metaphor--many more examples than I had considered--the picture Mrs Das refuses to enter! the disappointment of Mr K that he will not receive the picture...the way photos "pose" false happiness, community!
Deletehttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1dNh9Y73P78cj-pCAkBTMQSZTGPXVzJUjT3AP0hFR05o/edit?usp=sharing
ReplyDeleteThis is a link to my essay.
received essay Soffwana--looks interesting--particularly your idea that the "spastic behaviors" of the Das family help to unearth confused feelings in Mr. Kapasi!
DeleteI was unsure of how long my thesis statement should be, so I have pasted my opening paragraph, which includes my thesis:
ReplyDeleteStory - Life
Question - What happens what worlds collide in the post-colonial space?
"Having two different types of society merge into one entity can bring about a multitude of outcomes, ranging from being a positive symbiosis of two communities, or a war between the two different entities, resulting in one having to topple the other in a vicious battle over who was better. This paradigm can be seen best in the story Life, by Bessie Head. The story gives a narration of how, in a post-colonial space, any change considered different than the morals of the original community will be embraced, questioned, shunned, or destroyed altogether by the community, either in part or as a whole."
Hi Rhiana--so this has quotes around it--is part or all of it from a source? It is a central idea of postcolonial thinking...
ReplyDeleteI know this is super late, but I wrote about Nam Le's story, "Love and Honor..." and the strained father-son relationship due to generational conflict.
ReplyDelete