Keep away from Africa or else....

While reading Achebe's account of his opinion about Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness I found that paragraph 56 was most intriguing to me. I thought the statement that Africa was "a carrier onto whom the master unloads his physical and moral deformities so that he may go forward, erect and immaculate," seemed to be a rather compelling argument not only for the subject at hand but for many other modern day debates. And it seemed to be something we are taught from a very young age, "mirror, mirror on the wall who is the prettiest of them all." Me of course, right I know. j/k. Anyways, I believe the world has always been obsessed with self-image and confidence problems, and one way we deal with that is to compare ourselves to those around us.


The more I thought about this the more I could see our society doing this as whole, over very ridiculous things, such as looks and fashion. And what about radical Islam, Christians are seen as vile and disgusting beings that must be wiped from the face of the earth. What about the Holocaust, people seen as different were seen as "inferior." There are many instances of this throughout history, and it makes me laugh, the desire people have to help there own self-confidence by tearing down others is quite ridiculous.

VERSUS

As for Achebe I believe he does make some rather interesting points about some of Conrad's possible motives and the way he could have stated some things differently in the book. He also makes the point of using a narrator behind a narrator so as maybe to hide is own beliefs. It did become rather obvious to me though that Conrad could have describe the setting a little differently if he really wanted to make a stand against what was actually taking place. After all I did find it rather hard to understand what points were being made and now that I have read Achebe's argument about the European comparison, I can see where he is coming from. The way Africa is referred to as the "Dark Continent" by the English is a rather absurd name to associate with a place because it is different and unknown.

Boring...

While I did feel that King Leopold's Ghost was a little to gruesome I was able to find it interesting. The author of Heart of Darkness had a very hard time keeping me interested. While there is a stance made in the book I seemed to easily get lost with the characters and their actual feelings. Anyways the book did not seem to be as interesting as King Leopold's Ghost and I was very disappointed in the characterization of what went on in Africa.

I did enjoy when Marlow went to go see the doctor I thought the questions he was asking him were quite humorous. Marlow was also able to pick up on something out of the ordinary was going on when he was getting ready to leave. It seemed to be a sort of sign about what he was about to experience. He was also able to recall what the doctor had said when he was away in Africa as he saw some of the atrocities at hand.

The story did make me begin to thank that what people experienced while in Africa would eventually have an effect on them no matter how much they tried to deny it did not bother them. And those who tried to fight it the longest it tore at them the most later on.

I also thought there was a unique contrast made when Marlow was describing the Thames there was a clear distinction about the beauty they were currently experiencing compared to what he experienced in Africa. The beauty vs. the beast.

History???!!

King Leopolds Ghost was a very different book from what I am used to reading as it was more of a text book as a novel. While I found some of the information in the book a little redundant, it was still a very compelling story. The book was a very appauling story of the atrocity that mankind is capable of inflicting on society. It really got me, as I am sure it did a lot of people, that something like this could just be passed over in the context of history. But it also got me thinking about what other significant events in the history of the world that have simply been left out or glazed over. I am sure there are many of these types of events that have occurred throughout history that many of us are unaware of especially in all the nations throughout the history of the world.

Even though these events are eye-opening and very appalling statements about human society it is good to know that ther eare still good people in the world to stand up and bring attention to these events. Although horrible people often are able to exploit others and often disguise their intentions, the good people are able to expose and overcome villains. I also enjoyed the irony that one of the people most important in the raising awareness of what was going on in Africa was a black manand I am glad he was succesful in doing so.

I found it quite funny the statues and coins that were made in honor of someone like Leopold. It seemed to me like there should be asterisks at the bottom of these monuments saying how much of a very mean person (P.C. term) this guy really was.

A Clever Game of Chess

As I read through the first part of this book i was amazed at the trickery and clever maneuvering displayed by King Leopold. At first I was rather shocked at some of the things he pulled off and I could not believe how a politician could pull something like this off. But then I thought to myself, well, he really is no different from politicians in today's government. It amazed me how this scenario been played out time and time again in our own government and how ridiculous favors are pulled off, anyways.

I must say there was quite a similarity between Leopold and Stanley. Both of whom seemed to be dealing with some kind of void in their lives that they were obsessed with filling. They both seemed to be very good candidates for a sit in on the Dr. Phil Show to explain their emptiness. But as vile as the two of them came off as they were very admirable in their determination and ability to get something accomplished.

I was able to find a somewhat humorous depiction of King Leopold on YouTube that describes his story fairly well. The harshness that one man's desire was able to inflict on so many people is not totally evident yet in the story but given the fast steps taken by the Imperial King, one is able to guess the amount of damage he is about to unleash. Very interesting how a couple of men with their deceitful language and misleading information can turn a world upside down.

One thing I did begin to question as I read the story was how accurate the information was being portrayed given the stories made by many men at the time about Africa in particular. Especially those of the delusional Stanley.

African Diaspora

The African diaspora describes the movement of people from Africa to other countries both freely and forcibly. The slave trade is largely responsible for the movement of Africans across the globe. The word diaspora is derived from the Latin word diaspairein, which means "to disperse." Colonists from Arab countries began enslaving and moving Africans all the way back to the 5th century into the Middle East and Asia.

Then in the 15th century European countries began to trade slaves first into Europe and then into the Americas across the Middle Passage. This is the result of European countries seeing the Africans as a "resource" that they could exploit and enslave when the Europeans began to settle in Africa. As a result of the Atlantic slave trade, African families and communities were destroyed and many of Africans were killed in the process. Not only were Europeans involoved but also some Africans would sell their own communities in order to trade for something of value to themselves.

The Atlantic slave trade is referred to as Maafa by Africans and African Americans, which is Swahili for "great disaster." Many people died as a result of the slave trade, either from warring kingdoms trying to sell slaves, or from the movemetn of slaves to coastal cities to the New World because of the shortage of labor.

As many European countries began to colonize Africa some tried to legitimize slavery claiming that Africans had been selling each other since long before the Europeans arrived. As this continued the Europeans established borders of Kingdoms that did not exist before their arrival. This in turn broke up some existing tribes and their interaction amongst other tribes. Europeans also carefully manuevered their way into the local legal systems and in turn chabnged many of them around in order to lessen the status of the native Africans.

Ibo Warrior

I found this image of a masked warrior on the cave path on my first visit to the village of Umuofia. When I saw it I was reminded of the night Okonkwo went after his wife and his daughter after the daughter had been taken by the priestess. The headdress on the individual did look quite sadistic and intimidating to me, as did what appears to be a machete in his right hand. I am amazed at the intricacy of the artwork and attention to detail on the mask. The mask appears to be molded to the individuals face, which I would assume is advantageous for vision and movement if this is some type of war attire.

The hair or grass that adorns the outside of the mask almost seems to work as some sort of camouflage to hide in the bushes if he was hunting prey. I would guess that the artwork and the design of the mask is meant to honor or look similar to a god in their culture. This way they are able to bring their god with them to watch over them in battle or on the hunt, as well as intimidate others.

The masked individual also seems to be wielding a cane or stick of some kind. This is probably what the Ibo people used to beat their wives and children when they spoke of a cane, and they may have also used it to block attacks from other individuals.

I found a video of an alleged war dance in Nigeria because the picture reminded me of a warrior I might expect to see in Umuofia. I thought while the dance was simple it seemed very interesting to see how the people of Africa would prepare for war.

Imperialistic Times

With the way the story first started out, I thought it would be a story of tribes fighting amongst each other, and one mans struggle to stand out in his tribe. Although the setting of the story is much different then today, I felt that I was able to relate to Okonkwo's struggles, both with his father and his struggle in the tribe. Every man has a strong desire to stand out in his community, including myself, and also a strong desire to be different from his father, and in Okonkwo's case it was not to be lazy like his father. If he achieved this he would be happy with himself and with his standing in the Igbo (Ibo) tribe.

At the beginning of the story, I often found myself thinking of how easy it would be to live in such a place at that time. But as the author made me more aware there is definitely a greater struggle to survive. While working the land may seem to many people as something primitive and easy it is not because of who you provide for. I enjoyed the way the people had certain rituals and rites that they followed closely like the planting of the yams at certain time s of year and the festivals they held.

Anyways, after reading the book I came to the conclusion that a better title for the tragedy would have been "All For Nothing." While Okonkwo lived his life the best he could, he lived it worrying about what other people in his community would think of him. In a way i felt very bad for Okonkwo because he held his community and tradition in such high regard and in the end right when he thought things were going to start to go his way it hit rock bottom. His tribe had changed and there was nothing he could do to bring it back to the way things used to be, the way he wanted it. He reminded me of many people today who spend their life working for something and not focusing on the present and enjoying themselves. He was in a constant struggle with himself and this anger was taken out on those around him.

The character that I was supposed to follow was Okonkwo's father, Unoka. And while many people regarded his father worthless, he was a happy man and enjoyed himself. He didn't spend his whole life trying to achieve something he knew he may never get which is exactly what happened in Okonkwo's case. His main fascination was for music of which he enjoyed playing his flute also called an opi, as well as other instruments such as the udu, which was a jug looking musical instrument.

As for the imperialistic white man and his religion, well maybe not the religion, because I don't think that this was REALLY an honest endeavor on their part. At this point in time the white man was really just power hungry and wanted to spread their culture, and I believe they used religion as a motive to go into other countries. Regardless I don't feel that they should be allowed to go into other countries and change their cultures around because even today I don't feel any culture is better than any other, we all have our problems and we can address them on our own.

Arabs in East Africa

Known Arab immigration into East Africa goes all the way back to 5th century B.C. Many south Arabian armies settled in the Ethiopian highlands and eventually formed the Axum Empire, which was a powerful empire at the time and is believed to be the resting pplace of the Ark of the Covenant. The empire was one of the first African empires to convert to Christianity.

Some cultures in Africa that we know today, are the result of the immigration of other cultures into an area and the intermingling of those cultures. One of those specific immigrations is the immigration of Arabs into East Africa. Probably the most notable example of this is the immigration of Arabs fleeing wars in Arabia into Africa. From this blend of Arab and African cultures the Swahili were born.

Swahili live mostly in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique according to Wikipedia and the culture is mostly the result of the Arab and African cultures, in fact, the word Swahili is derived from an Arabic word that translates to "coastal dwellers."

The religion most often followed by the Swahili is Islam, as much of their exposure from other cultures has continued to be from Arabia. The Swahili speak a native language, but has many similarities to that of Arabic language. One of the first known literary documents in Swahili was a poem called "The history of Tambuka," which was an epic story which was believed to have originated around 1700.

Me

My name is Craig Downer and I am a senior hoping to graduate in the Spring. I am currently applying to Dental School and hope to be attending that this time next year. I am taking African Literature this semester because I need an upper level class in order to graduate in the spring.

While English is not one of my favorite or strongest subjects I thought it would be a good class for me to take in order to get better. My favorite subjects in school would have to be Biology and Chemistry because of how things seem to always go together in science. There is a lot I hope to learn by taking this course about African cultures and hope to do so while having fun.

I like to spend a lot of my time relaxing at home in front of the television most of the time with my wonderful girlfriend. I don't typically enjoy t.v. series that are on these days. I love watching college football, especially Notre Dame, hockey, soccer, and the occasional basketball game. As I stated in my profile I love being outdoors either hunting or fishing. One of my other passions is music, I love listening to music, I think it has a profound effect on people. I love listening to hard rock and a little metal, my favorite bands of all-time are Tool and Led Zeppelin, but I listen to a little of everything. I am a very relaxed and friendly person and I like meeting new people.

I spend most of my time now working and studying. I am a cook at a small local restaurant out in the Richland area and for the most part I enjoy it because it is a pretty chill job.