Reader Response

                                                                           The Rabbi’s Cat

I absolutely loved the book the Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar. It is a graphic novel that talks about the clash of tradition and modernity. The book fallows a cat who is owned by a Rabbi and his daughter. The cat can talk for awhile and he starts to learn to read some of the holy stories. The daughter gets married and the cat is no longer important in her life. In the end many of the characters who were traditional end up becoming modernized.

I think it’s very interesting because this book connects to a lot of things I’ve learned about in the world. I’ve read a lot of stories about colonization and the Rabbi’s Cat also talks about colonization. The Rabbi, the cat, and the Rabbi’s daughter all were traditional in the beginning. The cat was just a regular cat who couldn’t talk. Then, all of a sudden he could. He started to lean towards modernization because of colonization. The Rabbi was very traditional at first too. She didn’t eat anything that wasn’t kosher. He did everything that he was supposed to do. However, when he went abroad he ate a huge meal that wasn’t kosher. He broke a lot of Jewish laws abroad because he was starting to become colonized.  The daughter also was very traditional at first. She did everything her father told her to do. She followed all the Jewish laws also. She wasn’t very materialistic. Then, when she went abroad, she became colonized. She wanted her husband to buy her a bunch of new things.  She also defies her father a few times which defiantly isn’t traditional.

Personally this book was very interesting to me because we do see colonialism and modernity all over the news and in all different types of other media. I really enjoyed this topic and I thought that it connected well with another book I had read called Nervous Conditions. This is because the characters in both books are traditional and then they turn colonized.  Also, in both cases the main character(s) go abroad and that’s when things really start to change. In both cases the main character(s) also like the fact, in most cases, that they are becoming colonized.

I liked that the Rabbi’s Cat was a graphic novel. It was easier and faster to read. Sometimes it’s hard for me to be able to actually picture what is going on. The fact that the pictures were actually drawn out helped me a lot. I also liked that the pictures had symbolism in it. It made some of the meanings deeper and I really enjoyed that.  I’ve always really like graphic novels so I enjoyed reading this one a lot.

I did think that the story was interesting too because it focused on not just colonization and modernity, but also the Jewish religion. I could tell that the author had to be very careful when trying to right about it without offending anyone. The aspect of religion also made the story enjoyable.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel. I think that anyone who likes graphic novels, African literature, religion, or just a good story should read this book. I defiantly think that more people should read it and I would love to read more from Joann Sfar in the future.

Nervous Conditions

                                                        Reader Response 

           There are many critiques in the book Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga. All of her critiques are very interesting.  These include gender bias and European Colonization.

            First, Tambu who is Shona starts out very traditional.  She isn’t allowed to go to school because her parents can’t afford it. She sleeps on the floor of her house. Her brother on the other hand goes to school. He lives in the European lifestyle. He lives with a white family, he has a white girlfriend, and he kind of turns white. Then, Tambu’s brother dies. After that Tambu receives money for school from a white woman. Then, she leaves to live with her uncle and goes to school. Here she meets her colonized cousins. She finds out that her aunt is well educated, which is really weird for this time period and culture. Tambu gets to know her cousin Nyasha and realizes that she is trying to rebel against the culture. When Nyasha dances with a boy her father abuses her mentally, physically, sexually, and emotionally.

            All of these things are interesting because Tambu goes from being this very traditional poor girl to a better off more modern girl. She goes to school which many girls don’t get to do. This is because of gender bias. Boys are allowed to go school, but girls (in most cases) can’t or aren’t allowed. When she does get to go to school she ends up being colonized by European ideas. She starts using a fork, she sleeps in a bed, she starts speaking English, she dresses in a uniform, she goes to school, and she starts to eat English food like gravy.

            I see gender bias in the world around me today. First, one of my friends can’t go to College unless they pay for it. Her parents don’t think it’s worth it to educate their daughters, but they sent their son to college. I am against gender bias. I think women and men should be treated equally.

            I see English colonization in the world today because one of my friend’s moms came from the Middle East. She wasn’t well educated before, she didn’t speak much English, and she was very traditional. When she moved here she got better educated. She now even has a job. She doesn’t speak perfect English, but her English is a lot better. She is more modern now and not very traditional. I understand why she changed, so she could fit in, but I don’t think she should have changed all the way. She didn’t keep much of culture so she didn’t pass on that culture to my friend or his siblings.

            These things that I’ve seen in my life make this story even more interesting. I’ve seen it firsthand happen. I don’t believe in either, but I understand it happens all the time even in the US.  I really enjoyed reading this book. I would tell anyone who is interested in African culture, gender bias, or European Colonization to read this book. 

Ngugi Reader Response

                                                              Minutes of Glory

             Ngugi’s stories were very interesting to me. They mostly talked about gender bias and European colonization of Africa. These to ideas were very present in Ngugi’s short story called “Minutes of Glory”.

            In “Minutes of Glory” the main character Beatrice hates herself. She thinks she is ugly because she doesn’t fit into the European colonial mindset. She has dark skin, she is a little over weight and she is unconfident. There is another girl named Nyanguthu who is more confident. She didn’t care about her looks as much as Beatrice. She was also more eloquent than Beatrice. Nyaguthu was numb though and didn’t have a lot of feelings. Beatrice, however, did have a lot of feelings.

            Beatrice went to the city thinking automatically things would get better. The city was horrible and she became a barmaid/prostitute. There was a lorry driver that came in and Beatrice stole his cash. She bough herself shoes, hose, a dress, and earrings. All of these things were disposable which was interesting to me. She could have gone home and helped her family with that money. She could have bought herself a house. She could have done so many good things but instead she bought disposable items. This ties into colonialism, because she thought she needed these things to be a beautiful better person. I see this all the time around me. I work in a store so I see what people buy. Most of the stuff they buy is disposable. They don’t need it, they just want it. We see things on TV and they automatically want it. I can’t say that I’ve never bought things that were disposable, because I have, but I try to spend my money on things I need.

            Nyanguthu escapes away from the European dream. She keeps her traditional name which is very interesting. She didn’t give into the European dream and she was much happier. At the end of the story she wept from Beatrice. At first, I was confused about why she wept. Then I realized that she was weeping because she saw how pathetic the false victory was. Beatrice went back to the bar where the lorry driver was to show off what she had bought with the money she stole from him. She was arrested and so Nyanguthu wept. This happens to me a lot. I see people wanting to win small victories that don’t matter. Sometimes they are pathetic victories, yet I feel empathy for the people.

            The story focused on gender bias too. The only women’s power was to be able to have sex with men. Women and men see power rules differently in the story. This was interesting to me too because I see this all the time. There are a lot of men out there that see women as objects only and that’s what happened in the story. Also, men and women in reality do see power rules differently.

            I do believe that Ngugi is right when he talks about European colonization and gender biases in the world. There is a lot of both going on. People want items that are unimportant just because we think it’ll make us better. Gender biases happen all the time. I really enjoyed his critique of this story.

            I would tell anyone who enjoys stories about European colonization, gender bias, or just a great story to read this book. It was interesting and I really enjoyed the story and critiques Ngugi brought up. I would love to read more of Ngugi’s stories.

            

Nadine Gordimer

                                          Good Climate Friendly Inhabitants Reader Response

                Nadine Gordimer so far is one of the most interesting African writers I’ve read. Her stories are fun to read and the meanings are always interesting to me. I really enjoyed reading her stories. Three of her stories are “Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants”, “Amnesty”, and “Six Feet of the Country”.

                In “Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants” the main character is a ditzy, racist, mean white women. She looks young except for her face and legs. This makes her ditzy because your legs and face are what you mainly see when you look at someone. If neither looked young then you don’t look young. She was racist and mean to the black people around her especially at the mechanic shop she worked at. There was a guy named jack who ended up being a voice of reason in the story. He had two different names. Jack and Mpanza Makiwane. He says that Mpanza Makiwane isn’t really a name because its African not European. He thinks Jack isn’t a name because its English and not African. He’s kind of stuck in the middle of two totally different cultures. Finally, there is a conman who is white. He says he’s from zymbabya but he’s not. He cones the narrator using her for food, money, a place to stay, and sex. He threatened her could of hurt her. Jack stepped in even though he didn’t always like the main character and sent the man away so he couldn’t harm her. The moral of the story was the world is full of people you can’t trust.

                I think the moral of this story is very interesting and true in my life and in the world. Personally for me it’s always hard to know who you can and can’t trust. This includes the government. English colonies in Africa don’t know if they can trust their government and the people around them also so this is on a world wide scale. This affects everyone. The world is full of crime and of people who take what they can get and try to con everyone else. I think people should become more aware of who they can and can’t trust in the world.

                I think this is a very important moral because there are so many people who use each other and con each other in the world. This sometimes includes the government and we have to be aware of this just in case it does happen.

                I really enjoyed this story out of all the other stories. Not just for the story line. The bigger picture and critique she includes just fascinate me. I really didn’t think much about this before until now and I really liked it. I would tell anyone who is interested in African literature, colonialism, or anyone in need of a good story to read this story.

Chinua Achebe

                                                    Achebe Reader Response

             Chinua Achebe’s stories were very interesting. His thoughts on culture and heritage were most prominent in his stories. Achebe also believes one should be tolerant of everything except intolerance.

                In Achebe’s story “Girls at War” irony was present. The story is ironic because Nwankwo was the minister of Justice and yet he hoarded food and didn’t help anyone except who decided should be helped. He was also married but he was sleeping with a prostitute. At the end he doesn’t even want to help the one legged soldier. He was a bad unjust person yet he was the minister of Justice. Then, there is a prostitute named Gladys who evolves during the story. First, Gladys had signed up for the militia. She was rejected so she joined the red cross. She had to search cars even the minister of Justice’s car (he got mad at that). Then she became a prostitute. She was dressed in expensive prostitute clothing .She was now a business women and she had protectors. She had to sell her body to survive. Finally, at the end she goes back to be a revolutionary and she abandons the “I need to look out for just me” idea. She tries to save the one legged soldier, but they both die. This whole story is Ironic because even though Gladys did some questionable things but was still a good person. She does die, but she dies to try to save someone else. This symbolized the dying of ethics. The Minister of Justice lived even though he is the bad person which symbolized the corruption that is still happening.

 In my everyday life I do see corruption. There is corruption everywhere, but there are a lot of ethical people amidst it all. I of course don’t live in a war torn totally corrupt country, but I see it on t.v. all the time. I do see struggles of race and racism which Achebe talks about in is other short story “Image of Africa”.  I do think it’s important to learn about what Achebe writes about because it is happening. We sometimes ignore the fact that there is corruption and a struggle in Africa.  My views on the world have changed a lot. I knew that there was a lot of problems in Africa but nothing to this extent. I really believe knowing about the world is important.  Achebe’s writing really illustrates the problems of the world and that really interests me.

The stories were really interesting and entertaining.  I really enjoyed them. I think his views are very interesting and they make for good stories. I would recommend these stories to anyone who is interested in African struggles and history.

Felix Mnthali

                                                  Felix Mnthali Reader Response

       The Stranglehold of English Lit was very interesting to me. In my life I’ve read a lot of Jane Austen’s book and they are always about the same thing. Rich or poor women try to figure out how to stay or become rich. They are always proper and they usually go to balls and tea parties.  People in Africa had to read these books in school. These stories had nothing to do with Africa and that’s what Felix Mnthali is trying to say. He’s mad that Africans are forced to read English books in school when the problems in the book are very different from the problems actually happening in Africa. African’s aren’t trying to figure out how they can find a rich guy to marry. They don’t sit around at tea parties and go to balls. Most work very hard to put a meal on the table. In the poem Felix Mnthali talks about how history mocked “the victims of branding irons and sugar-plantations that made Jane Austen’s people wealthy beyond compare!”(Mnthali) This shows that the people of Africa were slaves, working hard and having a terrible time. The people in the Jane Austen books got rich off the Africans while they had a great life. Then, the Africans had to read about the great existence of the British people who got rich off of the Africans. This is very interesting to me.

                I don’t think that anyone should be forced to learn and English or read English literature when it has nothing to do with their cultures. I agree with Felix. I think that people should be able to keep their own cultures. They shouldn’t be pushed into a new one. This is an issue that I’m actually really interested it. Language, traditions, and cultures are very important and when someone tried to take them away I would be mad just like Felix Mnthali is.

                I really enjoyed the poem. I think what Felix is saying is very true. I would recommend this poem to anyone interested in poems and the African tradition. I would love to read another poem from Felix Mnthali in the future.

Like Water For Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate was a very interesting book. There were a lot of characters too keep track of but they all had very unique personalities so it was easy to remember who was who.  I didn’t like Tita’s mother, Pedro, and Rosaura. I liked Tita, Gertrudis, Nacha, Chencha, and John.

The book was full of passion, love, and of course food. In everyday life I see all of these things in relationships. I love my friends and family like Tita loved her friends and family in the book. Even when her mom treats her bad she still loves her. Nacha and Chencha are her friends and she loves them. I see the passion people have for each other just like Tita and Pedro had in the book. “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”. This is so true in this book and in real life.

I liked in the story that Mama Elena was a very strong women. A lot of times women especially in Mexican stories aren’t very strong. Even though Mama Elena was a bad person she was a very strong willed lady. Tita and Nacha, however, were shown as kind of weak. This kind of goes back to the stereotyping that women in Mexico are weak. John, Tita’s fiancée, was from North America and he was seen as a weak, not very passionate or emotional man.  Even though Pedro was a jerk, Tita ended up with Pedro in the end instead of John. This is because the book was showing that Pedro was passionate like Tita, and John was not. I didn’t like this about the book.  I really wanted Tita to end up with John, but I do see why she ends up with Pedro instead.

Mama Elena in the story represented authority. During the time of the book the Mexican Revolution was going on. The story as a whole kind of represents what was happening in the revolution during this time. Mama Elena was in charge of the house (the old government) and Tita was rebelling (the revolutionaries). I thought this critique was very interesting.

I really enjoyed reading this book. To me it was a very quick read. I liked half of the characters and the cultural critique. I thought the ideas in the book were interesting. I would tell anyone and everyone to read this story. It ended up being one of my favorite books!