Things Fall Apart

Lexi Crow

January 8, 2012

Period: 4

Postcolonial Lens

            After reading Things Fall Apart I have decided to write about the novel through a postcolonial lens to the text while analyzing it. Postcolonial theory reveals the novel in a way to better understand the characters and their actions.

            In postcolonial theory the people being colonized take on a “double consciousness” where their identity as a person and culture is compromised. The colonized get trapped between their initial culture and beliefs and the newly instilled culture by the colonizers. Those being colonized lose a sense of who they are because they cannot really identify with either the new or old culture, due to the clashing of ideals. This is relatable to Things Fall Apart in how the Ibo tribe was colonized and many of the people got caught up between trying to fit into two polar opposite cultures trying to dominate a person.

            Many being colonized face a conflict with their original and supposed ‘new’ identity. "The message sent to these "Others" by the dominant culture has been clear and consistent- conform and be quiet; deny yourself, and all will be well" Those being changed by colonizers suffer from undergoing rapid change to who they are. If they didn’t conform quickly there was reprimand from the colonizers; however, if the colonized did conform they were typically banned or exiled from their tribe or original culture.  “Others” are the minority group and can be found in different tribes or even in our culture today. Unfortunately, these Others are usually forced to conform to the social norm or accepted nature or they are banned- much like in Things Fall Apart.

            The postcolonialist ideas are apparent in Things Fall Apart, and the lens is fitting to relate to the tribe and the trials they face while figuring out what culture and identity they hold while undergoing colonization.

Singularity

The singularity is a multi-dimensional concept full of opposing view point and opinions- none of which being right or wrong since the singularity is so controversial. It involved man and machine coming together a one full functioning super smart cyborg.

            The merge of a man (full of emotions, feelings, and creative thought) and technology (a fast thinking, computing, and calculating machine) seems unreal but inevitable at the same time when you stop to think about all of the technological advances in the last 100 years. I can’t go for either side of the argument in saying the singularity is a good or bad thing. It is true that it would make human brains faster and stronger, and it would be the only way to keep up with the intelligence of technology since computers “keep on developing until they are far more intelligent.” However, it is hard to imagine a robot that has the emotion and humanity of well, a human. I would lean in the side of the singularity having a negative effect; the thought of not being able to control technology is frightening.

            Humanity is something often taken for granted by some scientists and those in favor of a single type of ‘human’- one made of man and machine. The qualities of being human include free thought, free choice (even if it is only justified by emotion/ feelings), and the appreciation for things of nature or an art form. Grossman states, “Creating a work of art is one of those activities we reserve for humans and humans only.” Technology shouldn’t be allowed the privilege to create a work of art that Picasso or Monet has. That is a painting that a human made, and a human can appreciate. If you put those paintings in front of a robot it would do such things as analyze the brushstroke patters and use of colors, not the beauty of it. The singularity would take away from our humanity, definitely. Also, human qualities include dying. The singularity would in fact cheat death and illnesses that keep humans living to their full potential- wanting to accomplish all they can before dying. The fact of cheating death is quite scary, in our generation death in inevitable; but in Kurzweil’s eyes, the singularity in inevitable.

Cultural Diversity

Lexi Crow

Period: 4

In a culturally diverse country such as America, there could be people who have immigrated here but also face a degree of homesickness. This concept of juggling two different cultures and ‘homes’ is identified in Salman Rushdie’s novel East, West. He bases his novel around a family who tries to settle into a new country, but they face adversity in identifying themselves as British.

Cassandra Clarke seems to be a student writing a literary analysis for a professor or teacher of some sort on Salman Rushdie's novel link to analysis . Her writing is very effective in explaining the characters troubles and trials in Rushdie’s novel without just summarizing the entire work too much (especially compared to some other essays). She kept a fair balance of explaining the original text, but kept away from going on and on about only Rushdie’s published work.  Her paragraphs flow smoothly in order of each child and their individual troubles becoming a British citizen while still feeling close to their homeland in India. Despite her generally solid writing style, her ‘concrete’ details are somewhat weak, since they don’t use very substantial parts of the novel. It seems as though her concrete details could’ve been taken out of any old page and been applied to what she was trying to say in her essay. However, because of her narration and opinions, her quotes from the novel serve a purpose still in her analysis. She didn’t aim to so much persuade her audience; rather she just made her opinion known and broke down the novel in a straightforward way. She makes it known that Rushdie's novel was about a family moving from India to Britain, a hard transition for children and teens. Clarke’s analysis makes sure the audience realizes the hardships of identifying with two different cultures, keeping their homeland culture in their hearts but learning and growing to love a new one.

Clarke’s writing is overall appropriate for an essay that is to be turned in for academic purposes, and it isn’t ‘over-written’ to the point that a high school student couldn’t understand her main points and views. Her writing style is simple yet effective and formal enough. She comes across as a knowledgeable writer, which gives her more credit as a writer. Clarke’s structure in her essay includes well-organized essays, very standard to high school students who ‘group’ ideas into paragraphs, and this method does make reading the essay more manageable. She doesn’t follow Schaffer formatting per se, but she does include concrete material from the novel, and her own views and opinions regarding those details. She does leave out the ‘for example, in addition’ Schaffer component, which ultimately weakens an essay more so than it strengthens it.

Cassandra Clarke effectively analyzed East, West. Her ideas were clearly thought out and they were well organized. She addressed her audience well, and overall came across reputable. Her essay, which in my opinion was a strong one, had very few weaknesses.