Devil on the Cross is a novel written by Ngugi Wa Thiongo in attempt to talk to all Kenyans battling neo-colonialism. Being politically independent, but economically dependent on other countries has evidently had a huge toll on Kenya and its citizens. Kenya is a land where nothing is free. Foreigners had made their way into occupying the land and have used it as a mean of profit for them and a few citizens in Kenya. Through the use of six different characters, Devil on the Cross manages to depict the struggles experienced within the cities of Kenya. The characters of Wariinga, Robin Mwaura, Wangari, Muturi, Gatuiria, and the man in the dark glasses show different experiences of Kenya’s neo-colonialism occurrences.
The novel initially starts off with the main character of Jacinta Wariinga in the city of Nairobi. Warringa faced the challenges of neo-colonialism due to the huge separation within the rich and poor population and her oppression by the elite. She is seen being charged an increased rent rate by her landlord who states they are private businessmen. She is forced to leave her home immediately. Her
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The devil on the cross is said to be wearing a suit on a stick shaped like a folded umbrella. This devil obtained seven horns, two mouths, and a big belly as if it were to reproduce more evil people. It has been killed due to its attempt to seize men’s wealth. In this case it would refer to the foreigners attempting to keep economic ties with other countries while still profiting off of it. Overall, this novel is able to show this through the use of the six different characters who showed the effects during and even after neo-colonialism in Kenya. Some of these characters have suffered substantial damages as the gap between the rich elite and the poor peasants was highly noticeable. Others, such as, Mwaura, simply became more dependent on money through
Tom Walker’s devil is a dark-skinned man with red eyes, red sash, and an axe. Tom was a malicious, greedy person who dealt with the devil in order to gain some wealth. He and his wife would fight constantly day after day. Tom was not a wealthy person
A Faustian legend is a story in which a character trades something of great personal value to the devil in order to receive personal gain. Since this type of literature originated in the Fourth Century it has spread throughout the world. Two relatively recent versions of this legend are “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving and “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Vincent Benét. These stories show many similarities as well as a few differences. While both Benét and Irving present similar themes in setting of the tales and motivation in the Faustian character, they do differ in the nature of that character and their visual presentation of the Devil.
There are many conflicts in his mind, considering the differences he notices between Africa and America. Seeing the snow, Kek wonders if the people in this new setting will be as unkind and cold as the winter itself. Further, his desire to be like one of the Americans continues, when he meets an old woman by the name Lou, who lives on a neglected farm, and she owns a cow. The image of a cow becomes very important to Kek, as it gives him an African i...
Reformation and Its Effects on the View of the Devil The Reformation was a period from around 1520-1650. It was a time of religious revolution, where Christianity was being reformed and people were led. to reject Catholic traditions and to break with the Papacy. Protestantism was becoming a much more influential religions in the world. Levack and Oldridge mention many reasons why the Reformation led to the increased fear of the Devil, and both try to explain their reasons.
Can you imagine yourself locked up in a room with no doors? Similar to a room with no doors, there is no way out of hell if it was one's destiny. In the short story "The Devil & Tom Walker" by Washington Irving, the main character's fate is hell because of his wrong decisions in life, accepting a deal with the devil for earthly benefits. Irving reinforces his message about not making decisions that may damn your soul with the use of literary elements and figurative language. Wisely, Irving combines characterization, mood and point of view to perpetuate the theme of the story in the reader's mind.
In the novel Segu, Maryse Conde beautifully constructs personal and in depth images of African history through the use of four main characters that depict the struggles and importance of family in what is now present day Mali. These four characters and also brothers, by the names of Tiekoro, Siga, Naba, and Malobali are faced with a world changing around their beloved city of Bambara with new customs of the Islamic religion and the developing ideas of European commerce and slave trade. These new expansions in Africa become stepping stones for the Troare brothers to face head on and they have brought both victory and heartache for them and their family. These four characters are centralized throughout this novel because they provide the reader with an inside account of what life is like during a time where traditional Africa begins to change due to the forceful injection of conquering settlers and religions. This creates a split between family members, a mixing of cultures, and the loss of one’s traditions in the Bambara society which is a reflection of the (WHAT ARE SOME CHANGES) changes that occur in societies across the world.
This novel is basically about what all the characters did in Africa, and then how they felt about it years later. Every character has a unique view of the events that happen in Africa and it impacts each of them differently. Kingsolver says she’d feel like she was insulting her readers if she offered only one view of the events that transpired because the issues the characters dealt with were so huge. By getting into the heads of each of the characters, Kingsolver successfully creates not just one main complex character, but five.
Irving, Washington. “The Devil and Tom Walker”. Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2008. 175-185. Print.
From the excerpt from the novel, “Under the Feet of Jesus” by Helena Maria Viramontes, the main character is Estrella, a young Spanish girl with a powerful desire to learn to read. Although she is persistent, her teachers refuse to educate her because they are more concerned of Estrella’s personal hygiene. This leaves Estrella resentful because of the barrier between herself and knowledge. Estrella remains silent until a man named Perfecto Flores teaches her how to read by using his expertise in hardware and tools to represent the alphabet. Viramontes depicts the heartfelt growth of Estrella through her use of tone, figurative language, and detail.
Judas Iscariot is associated with a certain something: his selling out of Jesus Christ. Despite the fact that Judas demonstrated regret later, his name turned into an image for double-crossers and turncoats all through history. His rationale appeared to be ravenousness, yet a few researchers conjecture political longings hid underneath his unfairness.
In addition, the idea of Hell as chosen by the human himself is seen through other presences in Hell as well. In the seventh circle of Hell, Farinata suffers in a fiery tomb with other heretics. After learning of Dante’s ancestry, Farinata immediately starts with, “They were bold enemies of mine/ fierce to my party and my ancestors,/ for which twice over i sent them scattering” (10.47-48). As a heretic, Farinata was keen to start divisions in the church, and even now in hell he desires to continue these divisions by immediately pointing out the past strifes between himself and Dante. Due to becoming lost from the right path and never finding himself consumed in ignorance and fiery passions, Farinata now lays as he did when he was killed. After
Dante’s The Divine Comedy illustrates one man’s quest for the knowledge of how to avoid the repercussions of his actions in life so that he may seek salvation in the afterlife. The Divine Comedy establishes a set of moral principles that one must live by in order to reach paradiso. Dante presents these principles in Inferno where each level of Hell has people suffering for the sins they committed during their life. As Dante gets deeper into Hell the degrees of sin get progressively worse as do the severity of punishment. With that in mind, one can look at Inferno as a handbook on what not to do during a lifetime in order to avoid Hell. In the book, Dante creates a moral lifestyle that one must follow in order to live a morally good, Catholic
The setting of the novel is located in Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan, under the harsh Taliban rule. The Taliban governs most of the country and impose stringent restrictions on the Afghan people, especially women (P.7 “She wasn't really meant to be outside at all. The Taliban had ordered all girls and women in Afghanistan to stay inside their homes. They even forbade girls to get to school.”) The location of the novel influences the emotions and moods of the characters to be depressed and stressed because the location is set in a violent situation where houses continually being bombed and land mines are anchored everywhere in the city (P.16 “There were bombed-out buildings all over Kabul. Neighbourhoods had turned from homes and businesses into bricks and dust. Kabul had once been beautiful.”) Parvana and her family lives in a one-room house after moving for safety several times which cause everything to be congested in one place. This is difficult for anyone in Parvana's family to be alone which triggers tension amongst one another. The setting of the story is set in a nation under a turmoil of war and chaos which portrays the main character, Parvana, to be depressed and deeply emotional.
Mankind lives in a physical, tangible, material world, which is influenced by the invisible, spiritual world around us. The present day spiritual world is just as existent as it was nearly two thousand years ago when Lord Jesus walked the earth. The Old and New Testaments reveal to us from time to time, glimpses of this spiritual world. These Testaments provide us with the most factual information regarding Satan. Unfortunately, many have been misinformed and do not thoroughly comprehend Satan’s origin and what his purpose concerning the spiritual and physical world. There is a great need to set the record straight regarding Satan especially in our hour with its present angel craze, channeling and a belief in spirit guides. I chose Satan as the subject of my paper because I am one who does not thoroughly comprehend who he is and what his purpose in both the spiritual and physical world is.