A Study of African Short Story

The story begins with a recounting of the story of Tatica, Reyita’s grandmother, and her trial of being abducted from her native Africa and brought to Cuba to be sold into slavery. Tatica’s story sets a precedent that is upheld by the next generations of her family of racial discrimination, struggle for survival and equality, and political activism. Reyita explains that her grandmother’s love of Africa instilled in Reyita a

Along with evil masters, I was glad to know that there were also kind masters who saw the good in all; even the colored. These type of people were portrayed by the Shelbys', Augustine St. Clare, Eva, and Miss Ophelia. I was happy that even during the worst times, people like them had the courage to go against the world and spread happiness in the world. However, I found it wrong that calamities struck to only those who did good. For example, due to debt the Shelbys' had to sell their slaves, Augustine St. Clare and Eva both died before they could free their slaves, and there was nothing Miss Ophelia could do to save Uncle Tom from being sold again.

Change is a reoccurring theme throughout history. It destroys and creates. It displaces and introduces. It can cause death and life. The movement of imperialism in Africa brought great change to the native tribal life. Forcing the indigenous people to turn away from their century-old traditions caused violent rifts between the European settlers and the tribes, as well as internal problems between once amiable members of the Ibo culture. With the introduction of the foreign Western Society in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the tribe’s life and ideals are drastically altered as the new ethics and principles collide with the old traditions and laws, causing the members of the society to either adapt or be crushed underneath the foot of colonialism. Achebe’s character, Okonkwo, was impacted immensely by the cultural collision, as his previous way of life was pulverized before his eyes, and he found no reason to live any longer.

In this paper, I will explore the notion of irony in Achebe's "Girls at War and Other Stories". My choice of Achebe’s collection of short stories is due to the scarcity of the critics written about it. All the focus and attention went to Achebe’s novels leaving out his short stories which are interesting to study especially that they represent different points of time in Achebe’s life as a writer. I will be specifically studying three of his short stories dealing with the Biafran war and their relationship to my main topic war and identity production. These stories are “Girls at War”, “Civil Peace”, and “Sugar Baby”. As far as the rest of the collection goes, I will be studying the use of irony as an important tool that Achebe utilizes to

If God saw fit to send this scourge, I believe it would be His will that one face it where one is, with courage, and thus contain this evil.” These are the words of Michael Mompellion to the villagers of Eyam in ‘Year of Wonders’. Through the course of that ‘annus mirabilus’ of 1665, Mompellion’s views on many things change and he loses his faith but he still provides remarkable leadership to the village in some of the most taxing circumstances imaginable. Under his leadership characters like Anys Gowdie, Elinor Mompellion and Anna Frith deal with changes and challenges with courage and determination. On the other hand, ‘The Crucible’ shows that not all change is good and that not all leaders possess courage; in fact, some powerful people

Underneath a good moral, there could be a hidden truth. In, “The Possibility of Evil”, Shirley Jackson shows how the protagonist, Miss Strangeworth presumes she is protecting her neighborhood by eliminating the evil that exists within her community, but ironically, she is the most evil neighbor of all. In the beginning, the community considers Miss Strangeworth an old, caring and respected woman. Throughout the story, a handful of community members realize Miss Strangeworth is a bitter, insensitive woman, who is creating more evil in the neighborhood. In other words, Miss Strangeworth’s intentions to rid her neighborhood of evil, ultimately has the opposite effect and ironically creates more dilemma.

In A Gathering of Old Men, Ernest Gaines addresses racism within a mid-twentieth century Louisiana town through a story about the murder of Beau Boutan, a white man, by Charlie Biggs, a black man.  To protect Charlie, most of the elderly men of the black community gather and protest the sheriff taking him to almost certain capital punishment without examining the case.  When Luke Will, an old friend of the Boutan family, learns of Beau’s death, he immediately declares that “the trouble already been started… when n-----s start shooting down white men in broad daylight, the trouble was started then.  Somebody got to (settle it) ‘fore it gets out of hand.” (149)  Will, like the old men, wants to retaliate against injustice, but rather than a logical protest, he relies on threats and mindless violence.  Bringing a group with guns to the scene, Will brings the tension of the novel to a boiling point and sets up for a final conflict.

    Common themes and images connect both of these captivity narratives.  Beginning with Rowlandson’s story, captivity narratives have “figured prominently in the discourse of national rights and of God’s challenges to the nation.” (Heath Anthology, 340).  Rowlandson’s narrative fueled the idea of the savage nature of the Native Americans, while Wilson’s novel exposed the savage treatment of “free” blacks in the North prior to the civil war.

White supremacy was very prevalent in these times as was the reason for war. The mixing of bloodlines was not very highly thought of. Although there was no concrete evidence or any for that matter. People were believing those who were in well-known positions of stature. But, with the help of some anthropologist, which go in hand with historians. Some evidence was presented that was hard to refute. And, that was the lack of evidence that these well-known people had. Because, there was none. This is what Parker was trying to bring to light. He wanted it to be known that people are the product of their environment and not their genetics. In the book, it states Parker “aimed directly at the myth of a racial hierarchy.” (Page 119) This means Parker was speaking to anyone who believed any of this racial nonsense. Right at the time racial tensions were really beginning to be a problem in the world not just the U.S. He does not have a bias in this matter, as he looked at it from both points of view and decided to go with the one with a better outcome. One with some evidence such as himself, an intermarried son of a Seneca chief and a white woman. The outcomings had nothing to do with whom they were, but rather how he was

Nwoye’s betrayal in the novel is the same level of betrayal that Achebe is condemned with in his lifetime. African literary theorists who vie for the purity of African literature for African languages defy Achebe as a European traitor, writing his stories with his back turned to his native homeland. Yet this thesis argues for a reevaluation of that criticism. Achebe does not in fact deny his beliefs, his country, or his heritage. He rather aligns himself in a tragically ironic way with the hero of Things Fall Apart. Achebe writes his own struggle with colonialism into the life and death of Okonkwo. It is interesting to note that Achebe’s father was in many ways very similar to Nwoye. His father, Isaiah Achebe, was orphaned early in life and spent most of his childhood with his uncle, Udoh. Udoh was a man of the land; he prided himself on tradition and leadership. Chinua writes in his essay, “My Dad and Me,” that the differences between Isaiah and Udoh were seen early through the eyes of Chinua, a questioning child who was placed in the middle

The Wretched of the Earth written by Frantz Fanon's is one among the prominent books that manifests decolonization. In this work the writer incorporates the impact of colonialism on the mental health of people in post-colonies, how language is employed as a weapon of oppression and the necessity of a violent revolution to tackle the colonial and the in very effective manner. The writer also showcases the problems of certain paths adopted by countries in Latin America, in the process of decolonization. Fanon strongly asserts in the first section of the book that the only solution for the repetitive problems of decolonization is a violent revolution by the masses because he believed that violence is only language understood by a colonial

    The Western world, generally speaking, is not kind to Africa and its native inhabitants. We acknowledge Africa's existence, but we do not want to see or understand anything about it beyond the obvious: overt things that are open to criticism like Apartheid (a European invention). The occasional praiseworthy entity is given momentary applause, but felicitations are short-lived and quickly forgotten. These statements refer just to politics, so one can imagine the rightful indignation by twentieth-century African writers when their work is largely ignored in favor of such enlightening fare as Heart of Darkness. One writer, Chinua Achebe, seeks to change this view by illustrating

The desire to conquer land that was previously unexplored has existed throughout history. This desire forced many indigenous societies, who were usually dominated technologically, to adapt to the teachings and overall system of the ‘superior’ conqueror nation with destruction as the only alternative. This causes a major impact on how a certain society functions, even after seeking independence from the foreigners. The rise and fall of indigenous societies can be analyzed through various media. Chinua Achebe is a novelist specializing in African literature, and this essay deals with the themes regarding colonialism in one of his many novels. In

John Maxwell Coetzee is a South African essayist, novelist , linguist, literary critic and translator. He has also won the Noble prize in the Literature category. The following lecture ‘The Novel in Africa’ was given by him in the University of California in Doreen B.Townsend Center for the Humanities.

This paper reflects the novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe in 1958. Achebe gives an overview of pre-colonialism and post-colonialism on Igbo, detailing how local traditions and cultural practices can “fall apart” in some scenarios through some introduced, externally created hassles elevated because of colonization. The protagonist named Okonkwo mentioned in the story is a proof showing the lifestyle of the tribe. My main objective and focus is to lay emphasis on Africa specifically the Igbo society, before and after the arrival of the Europeans in Umuofia community; the results of their arrival concerning Igbo culture, thus leading to the clash of cultures between the two categories. I will also draw on post-colonialism with respect to globalization.