“There is no power to match that of honest men and a just cause.” (Page 323) Elephant Song, a novel by renowned author Wilbur Smith, deals with just this. The 519-page novel takes the reader on an adventure through Africa. The tale expounds the beauty of Africa, the greed of mankind as well as the fine line between revenge and justice. It clearly illustrates the power that honesty and determination hold over wealth and rank. The novel is no doubt, a universal tale of the evil and corruption that is slowly poisoning our world, a reminder to the reader to remain strong and determined to battle this.
The novel begins in Zimbabwe, a small country in Africa. Daniel Armstrong, a famous television naturalist has travelled to the Chiwewe Camp to film a cruel but necessary process, the culling of the beautiful Elephants. Armstrong quickly becomes tangled in a web of lies and deception as he soon realises that the ivory warehouse at the camp has been robbed and his long time friend, Johnny Nzou and his family, have been brutally murdered by the offenders. Armstrong embarks on a journey of rev...
Cormac McCarthy’s novel All The Pretty Horses depicts the constant search for justice in a world plagued with injustice. John Grady, while never given the justice owed to him, never gives up on his search for a place wherein he can find justice. Through John Grady’s experiences we can more clearly view the idea that, even though you may never find justice in the world sometimes it’s more important to focus on your quest for justice than your outcome.
So far this book was a nice little surprise. Like previously stated, upon picking this book up one would think that the author is crazy for writing about the lifestyles of elephants. But when it is actually explored and read its written style and messages make for this book to be taken in very easily and fluently. This language used is at the perfect level, and the subject level is complex enough that the reader has to make connections themselves or else they will become confused almost guaranteed.
Elephants'." Studies in Short Fiction. 17.1 (Winter 1980): 75-77. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 75-77. Literature Resource Center. Gale.
...e the Congo, for all of Africa, the heart of light" (Kingsolver 184). Through the courage of such leaders to provide a voice, the oppressed blacks in these novels begin to experience liberation from the constraints placed on their rights to make their own choices.
Every day, each individual will look back on decisions he or she have made and mature from those experiences. Though it takes time to realize these choices, the morals and knowledge obtained from them are priceless. In George Orwell’s nonfictional essay, “Shooting an Elephant”, a young Orwell was stationed in Burma for the British imperial forces, tasked to deal with an elephant who destroyed various parts of the village Moulmein while its owner was away. Backed by second thoughts and a crowd of thousands, he finds himself shooting the elephant and reflecting that it was not justified; however, it was a choice pushed by his duty and the people. Written with a fusion of his young and old self’s outlook on shooting the elephant, Orwell’s essay is a sensational read that captivates his audience and leaves them questioning his decision.
The story begins with Col. John Patterson arriving in Mombassa in March of 1898 on the East African coast. All Patterson knows is that he is supposed to help with the railroad being built across Kenya to Lake Victoria, and eventually Uganda. He quickly receives his orders to proceed to Tsavo, a little over a hundred miles from Mombassa, to help build a bridge over the Tsavo River. Upon his arrival, he realizes the harsh nature of Tsavo, with its thick underbrush and rough terrain. Immediately, Patterson is faced with a number of problems, such as a source for quality stones to help build the bridge and the problem of the lions. The stone problem is quickly solved, but the problem of the lions takes much longer.
In The Looting Machine by Tom Burgis, the author discusses corruption and the effects of corruption on Africans living under the resource curse, or Dutch disease. He also talks about a system responsible for the looting of Africa’s natural resources to benefit individuals and companies from Chinese, French, American, Brazilian, British, Israeli, and African elites. Burgis suffered from PTSD, which stemmed from the aftermath of the Jos massacre and other events he experienced in Africa. To cope with his PTSD, Burgis wrote down what he saw during his research, experiencing tremendous guilt in the process. Instead of his initial reasoning that the Jos massacre occurred due to “ethnic rivalries”, he started to see the real reason and how the massacre
The novel starts of by an entire first chapter giving a thorough and symbolic description of setting in South Africa and Stephen Kumalo’s village of Ixopo. This detailed portrayal not only gives you great view of the land, it creates the mood and atmosphere that will carry throughout the entire book. The story starts with Stephen Kumalo receiving a letter from Johannesburg, where he has lost mush of his family. The letter was from Father Vincent alerting Stephen that his son, Absalom, has been found. Stephen rushes to Johannesburg and arrives to a very harsh and racist city. His search began with the finding of his sister, Gertrude. That search was completed quickly. Gertrude had changed much ...
...e, Brian. "A Wartime Alliance." White Hunters: The Golden Age of African Safaris. New York: H. Holt, 1999. 167-73. Print.
Chinua Achebe was an influential Nigerian author during the 1900’s who was credited with his three essays which have been fused together into the book “Home and Exile”. In his stories he discusses things such as his own Igbo people, the problems with colonialization, the strength that stories can have and many more topics. A big part of his essays are on his thoughts of colonialism, the impact it has had on his home of Nigeria, and how stories written by others either helped justify colonialism or rejected it. Chinua argues that stories have their own power to fight, and while stories themselves do not have the ability to directly fight colonialism; they do, however with their power of words, stories can motivate and encourage people to stand up against colonialism. In proving this thesis to be a true statement, I will be providing evidence of the how, why and the extent to which stories can fight colonialism.
He fears he will never see his friends again and wonders where he is. A churlish crow visits Adir when he is in the depths of despair, eats the ant’s hard-earned food, tells him about an oasis and flies away, refusing to say where this haven might be. Elgo, a young elephant, wanders the savannah after leaving his parents. Drought parches the land, so each elephant wanders alone as all the animals compete for water and food. Elgo knows about an oasis and dreams of getting there, but he follows the familiar patterns of migration and behavior of his ancestors for centuries.
The initial responses to the Green Hills of Africa fall into three categories: poor, indifferent, and promising. Starting with the poor reviews, always Hemingway’s favorites, John Chamberlain of the New York Times calls the novel “simply an overextended book about hunting”, not the “profound philosophical experience” that the foreword proposes it is. Further, it is “not one of Hemingway’s major works.”2 Newsweek says, “He said he wanted to write a novel and earn enough money to go back to Africa to "learn more about lions" and that is all he did.”3 Perhaps the most biting criticism comes from Edmund Wilson:
The quest for power is one which has been etched into the minds of men throughout history. However, it can be said that true power is not a result of one’s actions but comes from the following one’s own beliefs without being influenced by others. This principle sets up the story for Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell. The protagonist, Orwell himself, is a sub divisional police officer in Burma, a British colony. Orwell must try to find and use his inner power when he is faced with the decision of whether or not to kill an elephant which has ravaged the Burman’s homes. The state of power established through the imperialistic backdrop show that Orwell, as a colonist, should be in control. As well, the perspective and ideas given by Orwell show his true character and lessen the overall power set up for him. Lastly, the symbols shown are representations of traditional forms of power, but take on different implications in the story. In Shooting an Elephant, George Orwell uses setting, characterization and symbols to show that true power comes from following the dictates of one’s conscience.
Throughout history, Africa has been a vulnerable player in the eyes of the rest of the world. From the slave trade to various civil right injustices that have taken place over in every century, from what we have studied in this class, we have been able to see the lasting impact on the continent as a ramification of certain events occurring. Using various sources from the text, which serve as evidence, and help prove how the western world exercised its power in order to capitalize on the African continent and exploit the African people and land.
"Shooting an Elephant" is perhaps one of the most anthologized essays in the English language. It is a splendid essay and a terrific model for a theme of narration. The point of the story happens very much in our normal life, in fact everyday. People do crazy and sometimes illegal moves to get a certain group or person to finally give them respect. George Orwell describes an internal conflict between his personal morals and his duty to his country to the white man's reputation. The author's purpose is to explain the audience (who is both English and Burmese) about the kind of life he is living in Burma, about the conditions, circumstances he is facing and to tell the British Empire what he think about their imperialism and his growing displeasure for the imperial domination of British Empire.