The Rabbi's Cat

The Rabbi’s Cat, was an interesting comic book about questioning faith, modernity and tradition. I thought it was funny that the cat gained the ability to speak after eating the parrot.  After gaining the ability to speak he began to question the Rabbi about his beliefs and faith.  The Rabbi and the cat were not always able to get along because of the questioning he did to the Rabbi but they were able to come to the conclusion that the cat was sincere to the Rabbi and tried to help him.  The Rabbi had to take an exam in order to continue being the Rabbi and the cat, although he questioned the Rabbi about his beliefs and faith, was there to help him. 

 The author did a fantastic job of drawing the cat differently when he was feeling different emotions.  I do not believe that there are many comic books that have a cat as one of the main characters.  It was unique in the way that when the cat was talking to himself, the author put it in cursive and when he was speaking out loud it was not.  There was humor and seriousness throughout this book.  It was funny to me that the animal was trying to understand ways of humans and had a difficult time doing so. 

The cat in some ways represents us in this class at this time.  We are trying to gain an understanding of other cultures and how they arrived in the positions that they sit today.  At times we question the information that we are reading because not all of the obstacles that these other countries had to go through were a part of American history.  We get to look at the traditions of these countries and how they worked through becoming more modern or how they are balancing the two.        

Decolonization of the Mind

In the text Decolonization of the Mind the author explores the oppression of Africa’s citizens and the efforts that were taken to colonize them into European culture.  They faced their world being turned upside down as they were forced to learn the language of Europeans in order for them to be able to communicate with them.  They were subjected to discipline in parts of Africa if they were caught talking in their native language.  It was hard for them to learn and understand how to relay what they were thinking when they were forced to only talk in English because they did not know how to do so. 

This story makes me think of our society in the past.  When Spanish-speaking citizens came to the United States to start a new life they had to also begin speaking in a new language because it was not common for many Americans to be bilingual.  It was a struggle for them because not only were they coming to a new country that has a totally different culture than what they were used to but also they could not communicate very well.  Without being able to communicate jobs were scarce and daily life was hard work to get through not knowing how to express their thoughts or feelings.  As the United States has progressed we have come to the conclusion that our Spanish-speaking population in growing continuously in large numbers and in order to help accommodate their lives in America we need educate ourselves also to be able to hold conversations.  This is different than in Africa because the Europeans were not willing to educate themselves in order to converse but believed that is was the duty of Africans to learn their language even though they invaded their country. 

I do not agree with what the Europeans did to the Africans and how it has affected them even to this day.  It is a sad situation that their lives were disturbed for no reason and then made to totally change from the culture they were used to living.      

Gordimer

In the story “Amensty” by Nadine Gordimer, we were able to feel the implications of fighting for what you believe in.  The narrator of this story was the wife of a man that joined a union and began voicing his opinion about his civil rights.  His wife was stuck on a farm waiting for his return after being arrested for his part in the protesting.  The story shows how sad and lonely it can be for both the one fighting for their beliefs and how it affects the ones that love them.  

I have never personally been apart of any kind of real life demonstration although I would like help support some issues that deal with Americans and our civil liberties.  I have written about the gay movement many times before and how a majority of the readings are closely tided to what is happening in our present time.  I am a follower of what is being done to help make American citizens feel as if they are apart of this country and not feel as if they are excluded from opportunities because of their sexual preference.  I feel as if everyone can voice their opinion on any subject but at the end of the day everyone should feel as equal as everyone else in their country. 

I agree with this text and how her husband was willing to jeopardize his family and reputation in order to stand for what he considers to be right although I do feel bad for her because of her suffering.  If there weren’t people like him in this world we would not have overcome different political and social issues like we have.  I give praise to people who had and have enough courage to speak against what they believe to be wrong and help change the structure of life. 

I enjoyed reading this story and being able to comprehend how both the husband and wife were thinking.  Their actions throughout the store spoke loudly of their character and demonstrated how the lives of people who go through these situations may be like.  I enjoyed all of the writings from Gordimer but felt a closer to this particular text.  I would recommend this text to anyone, especially if they are interested in how people take on the roll of helping make a change.   

Chinua Achebe

The short story “The Madman” by author Chinua Achebe gave the reader an idea of how someone can become “crazy” by events that take place in their lives.  In the story there was a madman that was known to always be crazy.  He worked hard to try to bring others to his level by doing things that are seen as aggravating pranks.  The other main character of the story Nwibe was known to be a hard worker and focused with his life.  Nwibe had a few wives that did contribute to his rise of insanity.  At the beginning, he finds himself in an argument with his junior wife about a little dog.  He was so angry with her that he continuously called her crazy and left his house steaming.  Nwibe then found himself interfered with by the Madman as he was cleaning himself in the local stream.  There his cloth was stole by the Madman and Nwibe went off chasing him into the market naked.  His anger that his cloth was stolen sent his adrenaline through the roof and allowed him to run beast like through the street.

This story connects with life personally because people do allow the influence of others actions get to them and at times it draws them to making mistakes or choosing the wrong path to follow.  For example, humans are very deceitful and are mainly out for personal gain.  You have to be aware of your surroundings and whom you allow in your life so you are not drawn into bad situations. 

    I enjoyed how Achebe used Nwibe to show that the problems Africans were facing with the Europeans makes them feel oppressed and at times makes a good man go insane because they are not able to control what is happening around them.  His use of the cloth represented that Nwibe was an educated man that did have money.  Those who did not wear clothing were seen to be poor.  Nwibe did not want people to think of his as poor which also raised the intensity of the race to get his cloth back. 

I was confused with the story before discussion because I was thinking that the Madman and Nwibe were the same people.  After reading it again and talking with others I was aware that they were two separate characters but the Madman had an influence in Nwibes life.   

The Stranglehold of English Lit.

The poem "The Strangle of English Lit." written by Mnthali, portrayed the struggle that Africans were dealing with and how other writers make the literature that Africans were writing seem to be not as important.  The literature that was written by Africans was detailed to give outside readers an idea of the situation they were encountering.  Mnthali pointed out Jane Austen because of the writings she has produced and were followed by so many.  In his poem he suggest that she has no idea how life is really disrupted by going through these obstacles.  She is able to write about similar situations but she has never had to deal with it personally.  It upsets him that she is able to write such literature and not have the experience to really back up what she is saying.   

This text reminds me of the struggle the gay community is facing in the United States and other countries around the world.  People are so quick to write their opinions about what the lives of gay people are like but not everyone has the experience of living that lifestyle to make assumptions.  I agree with Mnthali and attacking Austen because he was living in this hellhole and was trying to communicate to others what it is really like.  He felt as if people were not taking him as serious as they should have been because there are other writers out there without experience trying to display the emotions Africans were facing. 

I enjoyed the text and how well he was able to express his feelings by being direct but not so direct that is was rude or hurtful to others.  In his short poem he was able to get his point across and show people that literature is more than just putting words on paper.  It is experience that makes things more realistic and brings forth more empathy from those not involved.    

           

Borges

The style of writing author Borges uses in his short stories appeals to me because it is unlike any other author I have been exposed to.  His writing is interesting in the aspect of using parallel universes.  For instance, in the story "The Garden of Forking Paths," the two lives of Albert and the spy showed me how there were two realities existing at one time.  The spy had info about what location needed to be bombed and that needed to be communicated to the Germans who were doing the bombings.  In another life, Albert was the man that was killed for no reason other than his name because it was the same as the place the Germans needed to bomb.  Coincidently the two men were connected through Ts’ui P’en who wrote a book called a labyrinth.  No one was able to understand it except for Albert.  “ In all fictional works, each time a man is confronted with several alternatives, he chooses one and eliminates the others; in the fiction of Ts’ui P’en, he chooses simultaneously all of them,  He creates, in this way, diverse futures, diverse times which themselves also proliferate and fork.”  This story did an excellent job of showing coincidence and the power of parallel universes.       

Marquez

In the short stories, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World;” Marquez does a fantastic job of making people use their imagination.   He gives us a plot full of odd things that are taking place and the reactions of people in the text are having to these situations.  He makes the reader step out of our comfort zone of reality and for us to visualize things from a fantasy world.  He questions the limits of human faith and shows that we are blinded to true miracles because we are set in our beliefs that keep our imagination limited. 

I did not like when people were throwing stones at the angel just because he was different from them.  It was also irritating that the “priest had his first suspicion of an imposter when he saw that he did not understand the language of God or know how to greet His ministers.”  These people were oblivious that an angel can exist that does not know the language of God and that their ideals of what an angel should be were blocking the path of their imaginations.  These stories both reminded me of being a child and constantly living in a make believe world because the norms society has set for us had not yet effected my mind.  Miracles happened everyday when my thoughts weren’t confined to reality.  The imagination is a wonderful asset to our lives but it gets put on the back burner because it is not seen rational for people to let their thoughts roam freely.