Bounded Women

Women are capable of anything. They have become doctors, lawyers, and have raised families by themselves. However, in many parts of the world they are still seen as second class citizens.  Ama Ata Aidoo’s  No Sweetness Here is set in Ghana, and her short stories reveal the immense influence Africa’s patriarchal structure has on women, as they often demonstrate how women base their whole sense of self around the males in their lives.

In “Gender and Society,” Kandiyoti  states that the reason why women are willing to follow gendered structures is because of “patriarchal bargains which offer women greater advantages than they perceive can be achieved by challenging the prevailing order” (qtd. in Sharp 281), and I would add that the true crime in all this is that women are willing to partake in these patriarchal bargains while in actuality having the skill and potential to lead a successful life  outside of the prevailing order. Unfortunately, at times women cannot see their potential as society overwhelms them with the notion that they need men or that they cannot lead a fulfilling life without them. Therefore, it is hard for women to find their self worth or even seek a life outside of this structure as they do not know that there is anything else out there. In addition, if women by some fortunate chance are able to lead a life without the assistance of men, society’s constant criticism makes it hard to do so by negatively characterizing these independent women as immoral individuals causing many capable women to hesitate in leading a life without men.

 Aidoo’s “Two Sisters,” follows the lives of two sisters, Connie and Mercy, whose lives surround and depend whole-heartedly on men, more specifically on their lovers. Though they are sisters, Connie and Mercy have very different viewpoints on life. Connie has taken up the life that society has deemed fit as she is an attentive wife and mother, while Mercy has taken up the single life not really looking for love but more so a man who will provide her a better life.

 Though Mercy’s lifestyle does not seem like something problematic by American standards, Andrea Cornwall author of “Spending Power: Love, Money, and the Reconfiguration of Gender Relation in Ado-Odo, South Western Nigeria” states that in Africa her lifestyle is seen as a real difficult problem and women who choose to be with men for their money are portrayed by the media to be, “wayward, troublesome, and avaricious: women who are out for what they can get” (963). The reason for this staunch criticism is because in Africa, young adult women are not given the opportunity to explore their sexuality and are not allowed to have a phase where they can discover who they are as individuals.  African women are often held on a pedestal and are not permitted to be anything but what men define a virtuous woman to be.

 However, this constricting definition of what a respectable woman should act like is very hypocritical, as the men in Connie and Mercy’s society are allowed to be with as many women as they want. In fact, one of Connie’s greatest troubles is keeping her husband faithful as he is constantly running after different women “James is running after a new girl” (90). Although, she would probably be highly criticized if she even looked at a man in a desirous way, Connie has to look the other way while he has his affairs. Why is it that the women are the only ones under the microscope? Society promotes the idea that if women find a man that everything will fall into place and that through their man their lives would be complete. Therefore, these young women like Mercy are finding men that are providing them with all the material possessions that they want, yet society, men especially, are not happy because they are not doing so in the specific way that they want them to.
In addition, this life that society is endorsing in which women get married, have children, and live a life of fidelity is for the most part not giving women what they truly want.  Initially, Mercy was following the status quo of dating respectable men and working as a secretary, however, that life was not cutting it for her, “ It’s just that I am sick of everything. The office, living with you and your husband. I want a husband of my own, children” (89). The status quo was not getting her anywhere. Therefore, what could she do as she has society telling her that she has to become a wife and have children, but then society due to the offerings they have for women in terms of occupation and the rules they have in regards to where a single woman can appropriately live has trapped her? Then after all is said and done they criticize her for seeking relationships with older richer gentlemen because it is seen as something bad.
  Although, Mercy could take up the life that society deems as morally correct she chooses not to seeing how utterly miserable it has made her sister. Connie lives with a man who she thinks she is madly in love with; however, real love is not so cruel. James, her husband, is a very inconsiderate man, demonstrated when he has to confront her one day because she is so upset about her sister’s choices that she is brought to tears “ He hates tears, for like so many men, he knows it is one of the most potent in women’s bitchy and inexhaustible arsenal” (96). Instead of thoughts of concern he has thoughts of annoyance. He does not care about how she feels but more so how aggravating it is that she is crying. Connie has to deal with such insensitivity day in and day out, not to mention the added dilemma of his numerous infidelities. Who could be happy with such a life? Yet, ironically this is the life society deems morally correct.

             Much like Connie and Mercy, in “Something to Talk About on the way to the Funeral” Auntie Araba suffers immensely with trying to follow what society deems right in respect to her being a woman and relying on men. Throughout her life, Auntie Araba is dealt with numerous unfortunate circumstances, yet she carries herself with such class redefining what it means to be a courageous woman. Unfortunately, her downfall comes as she continually tries to follow society’s patriarchal structure by seeking happiness through men, most importantly her son.

            Auntie Araba’s disappointing experiences with men start early on. In the early stages of teenage dome she is sent to live with a female relative whose husband impregnates her. Instead, of taking responsibility for her he “sent her home quietly” (116). Most women would of sulked if put in such a precarious situation but she did not and came home “looking like a ram from the north” (116). Auntie Araba’s strength shined through and the way she handled herself illuminated how great she truly was as I can only imagine how traumatizing it would have been if a man practically twice my age would have taken advantage of me, impregnated me, and then simply thrown me away as if I were trash. However, Auntie Araba did not let that awful experience bring her down ,instead, she pulled herself together and quickly went to work to provide for herself and infant son as she “fried or baked” herself out of poverty (117). Through it all, she never once needed a man to help her.

Therefore, it is simply mystifying how she never found happiness through what she accomplished and persevered and in not doing so she committed her ultimate mistake. Auntie Araba thought that the only way she could be seen as a person of worth and value was by the accomplishments of the men in her life. She continually tried to look for happiness through her one and only son but he was a spoiled unappreciative kid who consistently let her down. Ever since he was a child he was a very difficult person to deal with and never once did he give his mother a break often leaving her cleaning up his mess “he left his mother with big debts to pay from his high living” (119). Even though he did all this Auntie Araba was blinded by her love for him and her absolute need to see him accomplish great things. She refused to see his true colors.

Consequently, by relying on her son to give her back her worth she was setting herself up for the worst type of failure. He was never one to rely on but what he did to her ruined her in the worst way. Chicha Atu, her son, had a relationship with a very respectable girl named Mansa who became pregnant with his child. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, Chicha Atu, had his mother take care of the situation. Therefore, Auntie Araba had Mansa and her son move in with her, under the agreement that they would only do so until Chicha Atu finished his education (121). Although, Auntie Araba took Mansa in because she was able to empathize with Mansa’s struggle,  she also took her in the hopes that this would give her son the needed time to accomplish what he wanted to achieve and to keep his respectability. However, Chicha Atu did not follow through and when the time came to take his son and take Mansa as his wife he, “could not marry Mansa because he had got another girl in trouble” (124). Chicha Atu knew the pain his mother endured when his biological father had abandoned her, yet he still chose a path that led him to abandon a woman who was much like his mother. Due to Chicha Atu’s abandonment of Mansa, Auntie Araba was shamed in front of her whole community. This immense embarrassment would have not happened if she would’ve just seen how amazing it was to have basically raised a child on her own and built a life for herself by her own two hands.  Unfortunately, she took on her son’s shameful actions as a fault of her own and “she never became herself again” (125).  It was so embedded in her that she should find her worth in men by Chicha Atu failing her in front of the whole community she was instantly broken, and unable to continue with life.

            Like Auntie Araba in “No Sweetness Here,” Maami Ama has a very special relationship with her son. She adored him above all else as he was more than just a son but a companion. In   “ No Sweetness Here” Maami Ama is in a horrendous marriage as her husband does not financially support her and has mistreated her ever since her son was only two, “ Kodjo Fi reduced my housekeeping money and sometimes he refused to give me anything at all” (61). Therefore, Maami Ama had to find a way to survive all on her own which she did.

            In addition, Maami Ama was not the type of woman to just let herself be mistreated. Although, initially she had a lot of patience with the situation the patience did not come from her but from the older generation of women who advised her that, “in marriage, a woman must sometimes be a fool” (61). However, Maami Ama did not see the need to be a fool as she had for many years supported herself and son. Although, the years were immensely difficult she did not see that she deserved the constant mistreatment her husband gave her and chose to divorce him (60). Her action illuminated the fact that she was an independent woman who knew what she was worth. However, her society did not deem her actions favorable. When the divorce proceedings took place Kodjo Fi was seen as the victim he got everything from her including her son (68-69). To Maami Ama her son was the world to do this to her was to basically break her spirit. Therefore, in this society women know that if they leave their husbands or try to break free from the patriarchal structure that there is the possibility that they might lose their children. What women would be strong enough to go through such a hardship? Therefore, even if a woman is capable of being independent society finds a way to deter them from being so.

            Like Maami Ama, in “Everything Counts” Sissie is an independent spirit. “Everything Counts” follows her journey of realizing the great lengths women go to in order to please the men in their lives. Initially, Sissie does not mind what men say in regards to her constant usage of her wig and claims that they criticize her in such ways because it is easier for men, “ to talk about the beauty of being oneself” (1). She wears the wig because she wants to and does not pay much attention to how others interpret her usage of it. In addition, she sees that most of the people who are criticizing her are men, and simply dismisses their criticisms as something men do because they feel it is their right to do so.

            Unfortunately, though her arguments for not accepting the criticisms about her wig are valid, she lives in a patriarchal society and as much as she attempts to ignore what men say or want, what they say goes. Sissie’s initial nonchalant attitude comes back to haunt her as one day the wig usage just overwhelms her, “From the air-stewardesses to the grade-three typists in the offices, every girl simply wore a wig” (3). When Sissie wore her wig she made the excuse that she wore it because it made getting ready everyday a lot easier. She had not really ever put much thought into what it represented. It was not until later that she saw it represented the amount of influence a man’s desires had on the appearance of women. The men in her society were constantly flying over to Europe and were so enamored by it that in turn women were now dressing and wearing wigs that reflected the European way. Therefore, in a patriarchal society women cannot even be indifferent about their wardrobe without some sort of repercussion. Unfortunately, they have to be wary about every single thing for they do not have the freedom to do things just because they like it.  However, Sissie does not realize this until it is too late and is so repulsed at the fact that, “ She hurried home and into the bathroom where she vomited and cried and cried and vomited for what seemed to her to be days” (7). Sissie feels such repulsion because she sees that due to the fact that she is a woman she has to change her entire perception of beauty just so that she has a chance of keeping her man, of surviving.

            In order for women to lead happy and successful lives, the patriarchal structure has to be destroyed. Women cannot reach their fullest potential with society constantly telling them who they have to be and the certain rules they have to follow. In addition, what makes matters worse is that men are not held to same standards and are allowed to do whatever they want. This set up make it so women are subservient to them and forever trapped. In order for women to become equal to men either society has to hold men to the same standards they hold women to, or the rules in general have to be destroyed. Women cannot be who they want to be or lead the lives they really want with such oppressive rules.

Work Cited

Aidoo, Ama. No Sweetness Here and Other Stories. New York: The Feminist Press,

1995. Print.

Cornwall, Andrea. “Spending Power: Love, Money, and the Reconfiguration of Gender

Relation in Ado-Odo, South Western Nigeria” American Ethnologist 29/4 (2002):

963-980. JSTOR. Web 30 Nov. 2010.

Sharp, Joanne. “Doing Gender and Development: Understanding Empowerment and

Local Gender Relations” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 28/3 (2003): 281-295. JSTOR. Web 30 Nov. 2010.

Proposal

 Bounded Women

 Ama Ata Aidoo’s No Sweetness Here consists of a multitude of short stories that illuminate the set boundaries on a woman’s potential. Due to the patriarchal society in these stories, it is very difficult for a woman to seek a success of her own. Therefore, a woman has to rely on the success of her husband and sons in order to attain some form of status in her community. In “ Something to Talk About on the Way to the Funeral”  Auntie Araba leads a life of character and hard work ,however,  society does not give any validity to the success of women and judges her solely on the actions of her troubled son.  In “Two Sisters”, Mercy is so disillusioned with the opportunities a woman can attain on her own that she does not seek out her own success but instead engages in relationships with powerful men. Lastly, in “No Sweetness Here” Maami Ama works hard for everything that she is given, however, society deems it unlikely that her hard work is what produces her lifestyle and constantly sides with her abusive husband.

In my paper I show the symbiotic relationship between woman and man and demonstrate how that relationship bounds a woman’s potential. Women become enslaved to men as they never seek out their own success but live vicariously through that of their men . By seeking success through that of their sons or husbands they never learn to be self-sufficient and become second class citizens. Therefore, until women are allowed to attain a form of success of their own they will never be equal with men and will be unable to break through the boundaries set on them.

The last chapter

Hey guys! I hope the weekend found you all well. As mentioned before I am currently taking an African Literature course and this week the class read a book titled Foe by J.M. Coetzee. The book is a rewrite of another book titled Robinson Crusoe and this rewrite has some pretty significant changes. For one, in Foe an entirely new character enters the picture by the name of Susan Barton. It is through her eyes that the story of Cruso and Friday are told. This new narrative layer significantly changes the story as one knew it. Although the book is very different one finds themselves adapting to the plot as the book progresses and then one gets to the last chapter and the whole of the book gets flipped on its hope. My hope is that through this post one will gain a better understanding of the ending.

For those of you who have not read Foe allow me to give you a brief synopsis. Foe takes place as Susan Barton is kicked off of a boat heading to Brazil and struggles to reach an island that Cruso and Friday so happen to reside in. She is stranded in that island with Cruso and Friday for a little over year until a boat finally finds them and she then goes back to England. During that trip Cruso dies and so she is left only with Friday whom she “takes care of” during their time in England. Susan wants her story told so she goes to the author Foe to do so. During this time, she lives in absolute poverty and does not get much help from Foe in terms of sustenance. She decides to go on a journey to send Friday back to Africa and in that journey she ends up finding Foe who went into hiding as he owed money to the government. Although, they fight about the plot of the story things appear to be changing for the better for Susan. However, then the ending sends you to this very abstract world and the whole of the plot is brought into question.

In the last chapter, it appears a new character is brought into the picture. He is scanning a house and in the staircase landing he sees what appears to be a woman’s body. As he climbs the staircase he finds Friday and a woman lying next to him. He walks downstairs and sees a plaque in Foe’s honor which gives one the impression that it is Foe’s house. On a table he finds a manuscript. The manuscript appears to be a retelling of Susan’s story. However, this story is different it seems to be told by another person outside of the story. In it this narrator sees a shipwrecked ship he enters it and sees Susan Barton and her dead captain. However, the narrator finds Friday and opens Friday’s mouth. Friday appears to have let a noise out that goes throughout the boat. It looks like this narrator is going to try to release Friday from his slave status and give him a voice as well so the story continues. However, this brings the question is this a retelling of Susan’s story or is it a continuance of her story?

This ending is mind boggling as the introduction of this manuscript shatters Susan’s story and makes one think so what really happened was Susan’s story false or was this ending false. In addition, who is this new character who appears to be fully aware of  who everyone is as demonstrated when coming into this mysterious household as he addresses the body of Friday by its rightful name, “ Kneeling, groping, I find the man Friday stretched at  full length on his back” (154). It is important to note though that although he knows that the body belongs to Friday it appears he only knows this by someone giving him Friday’s description not because he has met Friday. This idea that he knows the characters in this household by someone else’s description is further seen when he is describing Friday breathing, “Then, if I can ignore the beating of my own heart, I begin to hear the faintest faraway roar: as she said, the roar of waves in a seashell; and over that, as if once or twice a violin-string were touched, the whine of the wind and the cry of a bird” (154).  Who is this person and why is he entering what appears to be Foe’s house? Is he the narrator of that new manuscript? Did he read Susan’s manuscript and then did the narrative just shift to his retelling?

However, what is most important is not who this person is but what he does which is introducing the manuscript that retells the story of Foe which is already retelling the story known as Robin Crusoe. This only furthers the message that I think Coetzee is trying to exemplify which is the many ways a story can be told. Each story somewhat achieving a new perspective and information to what really happened but each giving very different perspectives.

  This ending brings about many questions. It introduces new characters and does not explain them, a new way of retelling a story and no explanation to why it is so different, and it also exemplifies what a mysterious character Friday is. I do not think this ending really goes hand in hand with Foe that seemed to be resolving all the questions that were brought about in the beginning of the novel, but it is most definitely an interesting way to end it.

100 days too many days

           Hey guys!  I'm writing a response to a movie I recently watched titled 100 Days by Nick Hughes. The movie follows these two Tutsi families as they attempt to survive the Rwandan genocide that occurred in 1994. What occurred in that genocide are atrocities that one can not even attempt to comprehend, however, that does not mean one should not know about them as many people even nowadays do not. For those of you who don't know the genocide started on April 6, 1994 due to the assasination of the Rwandan President Juvenal. President Juvenal was part of the Hutu clan which were and are in great opposition to the Tutsi clan.  This is important to know because it is universally thought that the RPF an organization comprised of exiled Tutsis were responsible for the assasination. Hutu's who already hated the Tutsis due to years of oppression decade back and a belief that Tutsis thought themselves better than them took this opportunity to lash out. They murdered hundreds of thousands of Tutsis. The murder of Tutsis only stopped as the RPF entered Rwanda. However, when they entered they too began their own atrocities and killed many Hutu. In the end, it is thought that any where between 800,000 and 1,000,000 million Rwandans were killed.
             100 days is set in this absolute chaos. I think what made the atrocious actions even more appalling was the misleading start of the movie. The movie starts with the two protagonists (Josette and Baptiste) chasing one another. They are in love and their love is portrayed as something ideal and pure. This love misleads one as it is in stark contrast with all the events that happen afterwards.
               What sets the movie in motion is the assasination of President Juvenal. When he dies the rug underneath Josette's and Baptiste's lives are pulled right underneath them. Immediately after the assasination a gang of Hutu's come upon Baptiste's house and murders his entire family. Baptiste narrowly escapes but after this the movie is full of atrocities scene after scene.
                  However, what I find most disheartening is that the evil that occurred in Rwanda was not only committed by the lowly people, but by people who had power and who should of led their society down a more righteous path. The puppeteer behind all the atrocities acts occurring in Josette's and Baptiste town appears to be a normal Hutu man.  I did not really see him as a person of power initially but just a man with leadership qualities. I was wrong this man wasn't a normal Hutu but it appeared he was French. Their was a scene where French soldiers pick this man up and basically tell him they are not certain of other people's welfare but that the French will take care of the French. What I understood of this was that since the man was being picked up and being driven to safety that he was French. Therefore,he had colonial power supporting him which would of made him a powerful person. Instead of using his power to help his people and to make a better world for them he drags them to utter chaos. It was he who lit a match on to the gasoline that killed many Tutsi children and it was he who made the speeches that put seeds of hatred into the people's hearts. He was a monster.
                Another person who did much the same was a Rwandan priest. Priests are supposed to be men whose morality people strive to have. However, what this priest did was take advantage of families when they were most scared and vulnerable. The priest lies to the families he is taking care of in his church telling them that he will protect their daughters if they go with him. Instead, what he does is take them up to his room and rape them. Josette is a victim of this manipulation and becuase he rapes her she becomes pregnant. This is probably the event that broke Josette's spirit  for you see ,although, in love with Baptiste she had saved herself so that when they did get married no one would think they did so because she was pregnant, but more so know that they got married because they were in love. Therefore, her pregnancy really tugged at my heart strings because she had fought temptation so hard only to have what she most did not want to happen with a man who was a complete stranger. The priest was also in the wrong because he had full knowledge that Hutu men were coming and going to kill off all the Tutsis in his church. He tells the Tutsi people nothing and lets the mass killings happen. He was a horrendous man.
              Other people in the wrong were the U.N. and the media people. The U.N. abandoned the Tutsis in their time of need and just left them in their churches knowing full well that they would be murdered. They should've of just murdered them themselves in that way they would've been killed more "civilly". The media people also did not do much to help as all they did was make sure there was a camera on people who were being murdered. With all the connection they have you think they would've done more.
          Why couldn't anyone do something? The tools were there to prevent the events that occurred so why weren't they utilized? The movie just had me realize how truly racist and prejudice our society is. If this would've been a European nation or any other predominantly white country the atrocities would've been stopped immediately. Instead they went on for approximately 100 days. The international community were as much to blame as the Rwandans who committed the crimes.

This is a video to help you better understand what occurred:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVEQHhsOcFQ

Shrug

          Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well. As many of you might know this semeseter I am taking an African literature class and in this class we are reading a book called No Sweetness Here and Other Stories by Ama Ata Aidoo. In this class I was assigned to rewrite one of the stories in No Sweetness Here and Other Stories in a character's persepective of the story. I've decided to rewrite "In the Cutting of a Drink" in the perspective of the character Mamsa. The story was about the journey of Mamsa's brother who goes to the city in search of Mamsa only to be shocked by the city culture and to discover his sister who he had not seen in twelve years is a prostitute.

The teacher’s words don’t make any sense. I raise my hand but he dismisses it quickly. I hate mathematics. I look out the crooked window and some of the older boys are playing football. I envy them.

                “Mamsa so what do you think the solution is,” the teacher asks. I look around frantically hearing some of the girls in the back laughing. How am I supposed to know the answer? I sometimes think the teacher purposely does this to ridicule me. I shrug. He shouts telling me I am nothing like my brother, and that I should apply myself more but I look away. Soon his words drown out as I imagine myself outside playing football.

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                “Mamsa at last your home.”  Midway in smiling my mother hurriedly takes my hand and drags me in front of a pot. I am told we are preparing tuo tonight and my mother is behind on preparations.  I start helping with the rice but my elbow hits the pot and the rice falls to the ground.  My mother is infuriated and sends me out of the kitchen.  

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                My father is a voracious eater. The meal that had taken my mother hours to make is finished in just a few minutes. My brothers are much the same. I’ve never really liked tuo and my mother scolds me for playing with my food. “I have an announcement to make children,” says my father as he chugs his food down.  I look up as my father pierces me with his eyes. “We are sending your sister ,Mamsa, to a family friend to learn housework and sewing. Mamsa, we have heard your complaints about school and have agreed that this is what’s best for your future.”  But why? Why can’t mother teach me? I begin to protest but my father’s glare shuts me up quickly.  I pack my things immediately. My mother comes to talk to me and asks me if I will be ok. I look at her and shrug.

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                The woman is nice. Her name is Siara and with her son’s death she has no family to speak of. She sees how incapable I am at housework so she just humors me.  I have a little cot and share a room alongside three older girls. There all nice but I don’t get to talk to them much. They sleep most of the day and only have time to talk to me for a little while at night before they leave.  It is quite lonely. I count the days before Christmas when the woman promised to take me to my parents’ house.

 BANG. The door is slammed and I’m awaken from my thoughts. I turn and it’s Cheruba one of the girls I share a room with. She is crying. I run toward her and her face it is swollen and her left eye is bleeding. What happened? I run to go grab water as Siara runs in. She begins scolding the girl about leading the man to the house and for not finishing him. “Cheruba how are we to get rid of him now,” she asks.  I can hear the man screaming. I am horrified. The man is demanding for his money back and Siara looks distressed. “Cheruba the neighbors will hear and we will soon be discovered. He specifically wanted a young woman so I can not take care of it myself. Oh but why must the rent be due so early in the month cause then I would have had the money.” Cheruba looks worried and looks at me. “Why not have him see if he will take Mamsa,” she asks. “Cheruab she is only a child.”  “I was younger than Mamsa when I started and besides stop fooling yourself. Mamsa is a horrible housekeeper we will be doing her a favor by leading her to another profession. At least this way she will be able to work and as you always say any kind of work is work.” Siara looks sad. She goes outside and talks to the man. She whispers in my ear, “ It will all be over soon.”

I’m led outside and the man takes me by the hand toward some bushes.

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                  Christmas is as it always is. My parents are talking about the local gossip, my sisters are playing with their new dolls, my brothers are fighting over the last piece of chicken but I feel so out of place. My mother must of seen my face for she excitedly gets up and tells me she wants to show me something.  My mother has sewn a white dress for her friend’s daughter that is soon to be married and tells me one day she will do the same for me. “Nothing less for my righteous daughter,” she says. I cringe.

                The next morning Siara comes to fetch me and seeing that both my parents seem happy to see her she knows I’ve said nothing. As we walks out I turn at my house knowing this will be the last time I will see it. I shrug.

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                Another work day or night I should say. I enter the bar and see many lonely men and know that tonight is going to be a good night. I dance with a few men and have them promise that they will meet me soon after for business. As I walk toward the bar another man dressed quite strangely asks me to dance. He begins to question my profession but who does he think he is. I quickly get upset but he has me look at him. Wait, I recognize him. He is my brother. How long has it been since I last saw one of my family members? He tells me my family is looking for me and so I promise Ill return for Christmas. It’s been too long. And if they want the whole family together for Christmas I can play the charade I can be the daughter who got good grades, excelled in her housework, and married a big businessman.     

The Color of Your Skin

“Well if you do, tell me why you do. A black man isn’t an object to be liked or disliked like an orange or a pear or a piece of furniture. So why should you say, “ I like them”?  The simple question perplexed Isnard.  He had never thought of Negroes as anything but children –often contrary children, but easily enough managed if you knew how. He sought for a subterfuge. “Negroes are men, just like white men and just as capable-sometimes more so.” “Then why don’t we have the same advantages?”

            The above passage is taken from a book I am reading in my African literature class titled “God’s Bits of Wood” by Sembene Ousmane. The book is about Africans residing in French West Africa in the late 1940s who after fighting for the French in WWII went on a strike as they rightfully believed that they should be given all the rights white workers received. During the strike their community vastly changes as the reversal of gender and age-related roles commences and as starvation rattles people into committing outlandish actions. In my class I was assigned to find a passage and analyze it. I chose this passage as it illuminates the ignorance of the white man and demonstrates the African’s struggle in proving their worth as human beings.

            In the passage Doudou, the secretary of the union that is supporting the strike, is pointing out to Isnard, the supervisor of the factory many of the Africans who are on strike worked in, that he is lying when he said earlier “I like the Negroes”.  He does so at the very beginning of the passage as he throws Isnard this question, “Well if you do, tell me why you do”. Doudou’s question which can not be answered demonstrates how ridiculous Isnard’s statement was.  By saying that he likes the “Negroes” Isnard is bunching up all the Africans as if they were one body. A group of people as diverse as the African race or any group that has hundreds of millions of people can not be referred to as one body. Therefore, one can see the little regard he has for Africans. He could have referred to them as people of a certain nation or he could have said I like my factory workers those could have been labels he could have come up with reasons for liking. But just simply referring to them under a label that just represents the color of their skin is ridiculous because in reality that could be all the African people have in common.

            Isnard’s statement also dehumanizes the African people. Doudou points that out to him as he says in the following two sentences of the passage that, “ A black man isn’t an object to be liked or disliked like an orange or a pear or a piece of furniture. So why should you say, “ I like them”?  Africans are not one entity that one can uniformly define. They are people who have different characteristics, aspirations, and emotions. To say you “like” them is putting them at the level of fruit which one has no problem saying they like today and hate tomorrow. How can you like every individual of a race that contains hundreds of millions of people? It is impossible and degrading that Isnard does not even see it that way.

            In the next sentence it is seen that Isnard is astounded by Doudou’ rebuttal, “ The simple question perplexed Isnard”. When reading this one thinks is Isnard “perplexed” because an African made an intelligent rebuttal and he thought them incapable? Can he actually be that ignorant or did Isnard really not see how offensive his statement was and was simply feeling guilty? I thought that he did know how offensive his words were and was simply surprised that Doudou did?

            I feel this way as he explains what his idea of the African is in the following sentence, “He had never thought of Negroes as anything but children –often contrary children, but easily enough managed if you knew how”. Children? These are men who are responsible for wives and kids. These men get up every morning and put in long hours of work and have to worry about how they are going to pay their bills and provide. Yet, Isnard thinks of them as children. To make matters worse Isnard does not see them as normal children but as “contrary children”. When I think of children I think of little people who if guided right will turn out ok. However, to say “contrary children” I think that Isnard sees Africans as so incapable that even with the proper guidance they are never going to amount to anything.  

            However, with Doudou’s intelligent question and his argument that dismantled the idiotic statement that Isnard made one could see how Isnard would as is stated in the next sentence of the passage seek a “subterfuge.” Could it be that an African had just out done a white man so much so that he has to think up a ploy to catch up? I find this statement amazing as it demonstrated that a lowly African had overwhelmed Isnard in a manner where he had to really think up an action and at that not a very good one.

Therefore, Isnard responds, “Negroes are men, just like white men and just as capable-sometimes more so.” Isnard is being really heartless when he says this. He knows this is what Doudou wants to hear. Is it so wrong that one would want to be acknowledged for what he is and for his potential. However, thankfully Isnard’s ploy does not work. Doudou does not take the bait for he intelligently says, “Then why don’t we have the same advantages?”   Doudou sees right through Isnard’s statement. He knows that if Isnard would of really meant what he said there would not have been a strike to begin with. Isnard does not answer his question but if he would have been a man of character he would have at least given Doudou the ugly truth and told him it was because of the color of his skin.

            Doudou demonstrated himself in this passage to be strong of character and mind. Those are the characteristics one should be judged by and not the color of their skin. The white men in this novel did not understand that and malevolently played with the African’s hope that one day they would be treated fairly. The way of thinking illustrated in this passage is really what set the strike in motion and caused the cultural revolution in the African community that was the core of the Sembene’ Ousmane’s “God’s Bits of Wood.”

Sia and Editing

In watching Sia, a movie about a young African virgin woman chosen to be sacrificed by the oracles of the village in hopes that doing so would stop the immense poverty occurring in the village. I found the editing to be very helpful in portraying the overall feel and message of the movie. The editing effectively reflected the chaos that was happening in Koumbi and the underlying evil that was creating such a troubled village.


The movie had a very disconnected feel to it. It often just jumped from one scene to another. However, I think that was the feeling the editors hoped their audience would feel for as author of A Short Guide To Writing About Film Timothy Corrigan says editing is often done to “make a statement of some sort” (69). An example of the disconnected feel can bee seen right at the beginning as the movie jumps from the ceremony the oracles were performing to Kerfa , the village madman, rambling at the women in the river. Due to the lack of transition I initially had no idea what was happening or what the movie was about. However, looking back now the choppy editing really did help illuminate the extent of disarray the village of Koumbi was experiencing. The choppy editing also reflects how divided the village is over the decision to kill Sia. Some villagers like Sia’s father think that “ Customs should be protected”, and others such as a townswoman sing “ sacrificing human beings how appalling”. There is really no cohesion and that is mirrored in the editing.

Toward the end of the movie the editing really does make a significant impact. When Sia is brought over to the oracles for her supposed delivery to the snake god the editing makes it seem that there was a significant time gap between the moment the oracles received her and when her fiancée comes to supposedly save her from the snake god. When they find Sia she is withdrawn and discovered to have been rape. Not showing the violent rape scene makes it seem as though it was not important enough to be shown. I felt that skipping all that reflected real life as the fact that Sia was raped is not really acknowledged by the men who rescued her. They think it was no big deal. Lastly, another important edit happened at the end when Sia refuses to be the Queen as she finally sees the truth. She is awakened and realizes how ridiculous all of society’s customs really are. The edit happens as she is seeing leaving her fiancée practically nude in front of the whole village cutting to her raving as a madwoman in the city. She is now Kerfa the madman who no one could understand. Therefore, it plays at the message that because one speaks the truth that they are considered crazy. In this scene, she is all decked out in village clothing and raving as a madwoman in the city greatly contrasting the mundane village life she was once content with. This edit really does play at the idea of how quickly things can change and how crazy society’s parameters really are. So crazy that if you speak against them you are considered a madman or madwoman.