The role of women in "A grain of wheat " Though being a political narrative, the presence of women to strengthen the quality and reality of the novel is undeniable. Critic Abdulzarak Gurnah says: "Ngugi's writing is never far from the subject" and this is perfectly applicable for his description of the African women. However, being rather objective he also points a picture of the white women who though being secondary characters play a certain role in the novel. Ngugi through the depiction…

for what you do not understand” (Soyinka, 2002: 41). This is an interesting point of departure as to whether the happenings of the text are agreeable or disagreeable. The first standpoint is the thorny issue of suicide in African culture. The ceremony is that of a social process. Elesin wishes to perform this act not for personal gain, but as a social experience that will involve his fellow countrymen as it is his duty to do so. The second standpoint is that of suicide from a Western point of…

isn't the fact he wants to say something. He writes because he has something to say." This quote applies directly to Ngugi Wa Thiong’s novel A Grain of Wheat. One could infer from this quote that some writers write not just for the enjoyment derived from it, but rather out of a feeling of obligation to let readers hear what they may have to say. Ngugi’s message that he feels obligated to convey is delivered, however, he uses a very unusual writing technique to arrive there. He wants the readers…

Leslie Marmon Silko uses the idea of being speckled and/or spotless in her book Ceremony. To try to be spotless is the Laguna people trying to become a part of white society, hence, becoming separated from the Earth and from the roots, tradition, beliefs, rituals and customs of the Native American way. It is letting in white society with the belief that it can somehow improve you. It is destructive change that takes a person away from the Earth. It is change that specifies and names possessions and…

Ceremony Throughout Ceremony, the author, Leslie Silko, displays the internal struggle that the American Indians faced at that time in history. She displays this struggle between good and evil in several parts of the book. One is the myth explaining the origin of the white man. As common in Indian cultures they create a myth to explain why the white people came to them. The author begins to show the Indians feeling of hopelessness by showing in the myth, on pages 132 - 138, that there…

become its own independent state. Famous African author, Ngugi wa Thiong 'o depicts A Grain of Wheat, a story of characters living during this time, to focus on the theme of fear throughout the novel. Having being born during colonial times, Ngugi wa Thiong 'o is able to mesh some of his experiences during that time in order to create a life-like imagination for the reader (Ngugi wa Thiong’o 376). In A Grain of Wheat, we follow the lives of Mugo, a lonesome man whose childhood has affected him as he…

Melville’s Typee, and Ingalls’ Little House On The Prairie. On the other hand, the colonized , or natives’ reactions and struggle against imperialism was also considered, for example, in Ngugi’s A Grain Of Wheat, and in Silko’s Ceremony, and that is my main discussion in this essay. First, we can start with Ngugi’s A Grain Of Wheat. This novel talks about the people of Thabai, during Kenya’s revolutionary war, or as history knows it, the Mau Mau movement that took place during 1952 and 1960. Though to Africa…

Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony In Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, the gender roles of three women are significant to the development of Tayo as being half-white and half-Indian. These three women are Tayo's birth mother, Auntie, and Old Grandma. His mother left him when he was four years old and that began his sense of emptiness and abandonment. She could not bear to raise a child that brought the reservation shame by her mistake. Auntie raised Tayo and was the mother figure he lacked…

The Preservation of Identity in Ceremony The concepts of change and identity are problematic for the characters within Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony. Tayo’s hybridity represents all that the Laguna people fear. The coming of change and meshing of cultures has brought an impending threat of ruin to Native American traditions. Although they reject him for his mixed heritage, Tayo’s journey is not his own but a continuation of the storytelling tradition that embodies Native American culture. Through…

the English people. Many Native Americans have lost their old ways and were pulled into the new “civilized” ways. Today only a small amount of Native American nations or tribes exist in remote areas surviving following their traditions. In the book Ceremony, a story of a man named Tayo, did not know himself and the world around him but in the end found out and opened his eyes to the truth. However the Ceremony’s main message is related not only to one man but also to everything and everyone in the world…