This paper will consider the positionality of Tuma in relation to the post-colonial Ethiopian state and his use of stereotypes in the prologue and stories in The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor (Tuma: 1993). The book is divided into two sections, the former highly satirical and the latter rather serious. The paper will consider a quote by Ogude: “If in the prologue Hama Tuma introduces us to a variety of stereotypes about Ethiopians as survivors with the endurance of a beast, in the court trails the stereotypes are revised if not altogether subverted” (Ogude 2000:95). The paper starts off with a dissection of Tuma’s mockery of the state in a brief look at the satire in “The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor” and further draws on a Freudian understanding of the unconscious and the role it plays in the novel, based on the critique of the state in “The Case of Criminal Thought. …show more content…
Tuma, through a series of cases that are recounted by an unemployed male narrator, ridicules the nature of the trails noting, through these recounts, lack integrity and a scrutiny of real social malaise that are so prevalent in the proceedings. His accounts of the proceedings seem to mock the proceedings by merely titling them with names, which imply their disingenuous nature i.e. “The Case of the Illiterate Saboteur” (7), “The Case of the Professor of Insanity” 82) and so on. While each case is preceded by a prologue, which in itself undermines the trail, it also provides an account of the framing of each case from a lay perspective. While most of the cases are amusing to the layperson, the prosecutors, highlighting a disjuncture between citizens and the state, take them very
In literature, many authors love for throw an unexpected twist as the end. Shirley Jackson is no exception. In the short stories “The Lottery” and “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson both take twist that the reader doesn’t expect. In “The Lottery” a small town gathers to draw a winner; however Tessie Hutchinson is not delighted to be the winner. Also in “The Possibility of Evil” another small town has an unexpected villain who resides on Pleasant St. Shirley Jackson uses literary devices to depict twist at the end of her short stories because she used literary devices such as syntax, irony and mood.
In the short story “Masque of the Red Death”, written by Edgar Allan Poe, it symbolizes irony numerous times throughout the story. One of the often examples of irony is described when the story entails Prince Prospero name as a wealthy prince but ends up dying to the horrifying, twisted, red death, “There was a sharp cry. Fell prostrate in death the Prince Prospero”(178). This is especially ironic because his name appears to represents a prince of extraordinary fortunate. Therefore this infers he would have the “the best of luck” but dies due to the horrible plague. While his name is ironic, the rich, noble people at the party also believe that they can elude death but ultimately lead to their demise. In the short story, everyone dies to the
The author Maryse Conde has based the story of Segu on real life events and practices of the late 18th and early 19th century. The author has tried to bring out the tensions that existed in Africa at that time by using the four brothers of the Traore family,Tiekoro, Siga, Naba and Malobali as scapegoats. She talks about each of these characters in depth to show us their influences on the city. She shows how traditional religion and Islam impact each character in the story.
In chapters five “Chasing My Stolen Bicycle” and seven “Duke Lacrosse Players Relieved Case has ‘Closure’”, they share a similar theme. They both involve risk, harm, and seriousness. They both involve the role of a prosecutor, as well as deal with some type of crime.
Using her ethos as a well-known law professor, Natapoff adds in many Supreme Court and federal-state court cases and legal language used to depict them. With the indented audience being an average student who wishes to learn more about the criminal system this type of language is not appropriate. Natapoff should have kept her writing in the simple tone in which she started her essay off in, allowing for the call to action, in the end, to be improved and stronger. On the other hand, Natapoff’s ethos is an advantage for the article, as it pushes more people to consider and support her thesis because they know her reasons have been shaped through knowledge and understanding. “The Throwaways” advantages come in the form of emotional appeals as readers can easily connect to the stories that the author presents, thinking of their loved ones in the place of criminal informants who end up deceased by the end of their job. However, relying on mostly pathos and leaving go of ethos and logos can lead to a devastating argument, calling for facts to be more dispersed more evenly throughout her
2. Irony—Irony refers to the difference between the way things seem to be and the way things are.
Irony in The Crucible “There’s nothing more ironic or contradictory than life itself.” - Robert De Niro. In The Crucible, many ironic things happen. There are many different examples of verbal, dramatic, and situational irony in this play. Examples are Abigail’s lying, lying husbands and wives, and innocent people being persecuted.
The historical novel Segu by Maryse Condé is set in the African country of Segu during a time of great cultural change. The African Slave Trade, the spread of Islam, and personal identity challenges were all tremendous and far-reaching issues facing Africa from the late 1700s to early 1800s. Condé uses the four brothers of the Traore family, Tiekoro, Malobali, Siga, and Naba, to demonstrate the impact that the issues of Islam, slave trade, and identity had on African people through the development of each character. The oldest of the sons, Tiekoro exemplifies the influence and spread of Islam through out Africa at the time.
Today’s society is run by and thrives off capitalism, ruled by our government. Many things are kept surreptitious from us. The government feeds us lies to silence us and to force us conform to society’s customs, this is evident in the novel ‘The Trial.’ It depicts the way in which society is ruled by an autocratic hierarchy, which is kept secret from the working class. This is a metaphor for the Marxist ideology of the bourgeoisie exploiting the proletariat in a capitalist society. ‘The Trial’ by Franz Kafka was published in 1945 and follows the injustice of the main character Josef, who is arrested by two wardens, and prosecuted on unnamed charges. "Without having done anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning." The nature of his crime is kept confined from him and the reader. Throughout the novel, Josef struggles ineffectively against an oppressive and autocratic court system, only to be abruptly executed, at the end of the novel. This essay will be exploring Josef’s character and the ways in which ‘The Trial’ is written in a Marxist perspective in depth, analysing how Josef struggles against the oppressive court system, adamant not to compromise his beliefs to conform to and suit society’s norms.
A strongminded man who has everything going for him, nice job nice car, great friends, etc. comes home every night to a sick mother whom he takes care of after a long day of living a lavish life. His one weakness is his sick mother because she taught him everything. No one, not even his best friend knows about his other life and so that 's how he keeps it. Oh the irony right? Big strong man afraid to live his truth in fear of change and facing his reality. In The Metamorphosis, author Franz Kafka speaks on a character name Gregor, who somehow manages to transform into a hideous insect, and the ironic life he lives. During the story Gregor has a family whom he cares for, a job as a salesman, and a lack in
“Segu is a garden where cunning grows. Segu is built on treachery. Speak of Segu outside Segu, but do not speak of Segu in Segu” (Conde 3). These are the symbolic opening words to the novel Segu by Maryse Conde. The kingdom of Segu in the eighteenth and nineteenth century represents the rise and fall of many kingdoms in the pre-colonial Africa. Therefore, Segu indirectly represents the enduring struggles, triumphs, and defeats of people who are of African decent in numerous countries around the world. There are three major historical concepts that are the focus of this book. One is the spread of the Islamic religion. Another is the slave trade, and the last is the new trade in the nineteenth
The opening establishes and embodies the world of the justice system, “the man’s world”, accompanied by its seriousness, organisation and harshness in its outlook on reality, the depiction of a typical arrest, identification and trial of a convicted criminal. However, this “world”, according to Wood is threatened, stating that it is somewhat disrupted by the protagonist’s “frivolousness, selfishness, and triviality” (272).
I believe at one time or another, we have all been the victim of a form of gossip, backbiting, or betrayal. When victimized by slander, gossip, or backbiting happens, emotions shudder in mazes of hurt and anger.
What the Ethiopian case represents, nevertheless, is the role of the fourth claim. At the point when making the case that one 's practices and/or character don 't represent a risk however are rather under danger, security remains the predominant casing of reference and securitisation the core procedure locked in. To put it plainly, one is fighting securitisation with securitisation. Even more dangerously, however, as the evidences from Ethiopia uncovers, the very markers used to portray one 's threatened character are liable to input into and give backing to the "contradicting" group’s own securitising claims – making an endless loop in which discourses and counter-discourses persistently strengthen each other and making desecuritisation
When it comes to the realty of violence, Thiong’o’s novel tells a political satire of newly Independent Kenya – the unnamed newly independent state- that helps us to examine the unexpected reality of decolonization within Africa. The Satire is strikingly familiar to the Political satire of George Orwell who wrote the legendary political satire about the Russian revolution, The Animal Farm. Matigari tells the story of a young liberation fighter who believed in the freedom he fought for, but instead the reality of the end result was that he had only assisted in replacing the colonialist oppressors who he describes as the old non- sower, with a new breed of unprepared capitalist imperialists as their ambition to rule is not fueled by the love of the people but rather by the benefits afforded to them once in power.