Where to start? I thinks perhaps for this post I want to focus more on the last two stories we read in class vs. Decolonizing of the Mind. It's not at all because I cant connect my self with Decolonizing of the Mind, but in fact its the complete opposite. I want to speak of the two stories that were a bit different from my lifestyle, ones that I found harder to relate back to myself. The stories that really allowed me to look deeper into the true meaning that the author was trying to get across and even in some cases such as the last story... the meaning is still unknown.
Decolonizing of the Mind allowed me to understand that the Africans and I are on the same page as far as translating something from the native tongue into English is enormously hard at times. And often the definition does not always remain the same and may even perhaps lose its value through out the translation. It's always nearly impossible for me to translate English into Urdu in order for my parents to understand me better. But its more impossible sometimes for me to translate Urdu into English or try and understand where my parents may be coming from when they say something to me in Urdu since my mind thinks in English. ( I hope that makes sense) I do like when the author states that there are always good and bad story tellers and that a good one can always tell the same story many times but they will always remain fresh as the fist time they told it. With the differences were in the words, images, and tone of voice that could make someone a good story teller and a bad story teller. I know many kids my age hate hearing stories from their parents. Funny how its always the same 6 stories they continue to tell us all their life. But with my dad even those 6 stories feel as if its a new story each time i hear it from you . As if I don't know the ending, he creates a suspense with his tone.( even though I've heard the story many times before) OK. so maybe I lied when I said I didn't want to speak of Decolonizing of the Mind. Every story deserves to be told
I must say ... I do love that all the stories we have read thus far which have all been very easy for me to connect my self to . Perhaps because I come from a different culture and I can easily relate to the feelings of these narrators or the situations of the stories. Another typical story that I can relate myself to is Wedding at the Cross ... Bollywood movies have ruined me. I've grown norm to these storylines in the Asian culture. Guy and girl love each other. Guy doesn't have enough money . Father of girl says no based on economic status. Guy works hard, becomes wealthy and successful. Guy goes back for girls hand. And in most cases the girl is already married off to another guy . But in this story it was different then my 3 hour long bollywood movie! This time the girl refused to marry the guy . This time the guy changed not just in his bank account but because of being so brainwashed and chasing after money and becoming greedy that he was no longer true to himself when the girl first fell in love with him . Also in this story the dad wanted to reform the guy his daughter wanted to marry. He wanted to colonize him and make him be something else "sharing the brain washing". The determining factor for his change was the main character felt embarassed, humilated, felt as if he was nothing after even rejecting his hand in marriage the father still gave him and hope and said he had seen many people start off from nothing and make it big. Revenge against the father made him successful as well. The irony in this story was that the main character was trying to prove himself to the person he hated the most, in the end he became just like the person he hated. If you decolonize your mind you become free but with becoming free you become poor. "serving your servant" I can relate this story to myself just because I have heard of many cases where the guy will ask for the girls hand but the father will always reject based on the status of the guy. In most cases if the guy is not a lawyer, a dr. or an engineer he is looked down upon and not god enough for the girl. It's a shame how money/status is the deciding factor instead of the characteristics of the human.
The last story was by far my favorite story...yes even though it was gender bias and even though the author sends the message that woman are powerful with the use of their sexuality! But none the less it was heartbreaking! The main character wanted to be colonized in this story! She took it as far as even changing her name simply because she wanted to sound pure, strangely enough her original name was the definition of pure. Poor Beatrice has an identity problem throughout the story and was not happy with who she was. (I believe we all go through this point, most of us recover safely and others fall into terrible situations as Beatrice did) Her movement, her attitude, her confidence made her who she was. If only she could have been more confident in her self her attitude towards herself would have been very different which could have resulted to her walking around with her head help up high and not down low with shame of any sort. The main point from this story I believe was "how you think about yourself of what other people view you as" can really change a persons life. My heart went out to Beatrice especially when she tells her life story to the lori driver and he falls asleep on her I can relate this to myself because I am a person built up with walls and I only let a few in. The ones I let in I have high expectations of . But when they do not meet my expectations I feel the way Beatrice did. I feel hurt. Its an awful feeling of opening up to someone and not getting the response back that you hope for. I was cheering her on when she stole the money and went shopping and bought her self a wig and bought herself some fancy things. Its a shame how such material things can make a person change ... change the way we view our self... our attitude, our confidence... its a shame. More power to her for spitting on the ground as she walked out of the bar. More Power to her!
Decolonizing of the Mind allowed me to understand that the Africans and I are on the same page as far as translating something from the native tongue into English is enormously hard at times. And often the definition does not always remain the same and may even perhaps lose its value through out the translation. It's always nearly impossible for me to translate English into Urdu in order for my parents to understand me better. But its more impossible sometimes for me to translate Urdu into English or try and understand where my parents may be coming from when they say something to me in Urdu since my mind thinks in English. ( I hope that makes sense) I do like when the author states that there are always good and bad story tellers and that a good one can always tell the same story many times but they will always remain fresh as the fist time they told it. With the differences were in the words, images, and tone of voice that could make someone a good story teller and a bad story teller. I know many kids my age hate hearing stories from their parents. Funny how its always the same 6 stories they continue to tell us all their life. But with my dad even those 6 stories feel as if its a new story each time i hear it from you . As if I don't know the ending, he creates a suspense with his tone.( even though I've heard the story many times before) OK. so maybe I lied when I said I didn't want to speak of Decolonizing of the Mind. Every story deserves to be told
I must say ... I do love that all the stories we have read thus far which have all been very easy for me to connect my self to . Perhaps because I come from a different culture and I can easily relate to the feelings of these narrators or the situations of the stories. Another typical story that I can relate myself to is Wedding at the Cross ... Bollywood movies have ruined me. I've grown norm to these storylines in the Asian culture. Guy and girl love each other. Guy doesn't have enough money . Father of girl says no based on economic status. Guy works hard, becomes wealthy and successful. Guy goes back for girls hand. And in most cases the girl is already married off to another guy . But in this story it was different then my 3 hour long bollywood movie! This time the girl refused to marry the guy . This time the guy changed not just in his bank account but because of being so brainwashed and chasing after money and becoming greedy that he was no longer true to himself when the girl first fell in love with him . Also in this story the dad wanted to reform the guy his daughter wanted to marry. He wanted to colonize him and make him be something else "sharing the brain washing". The determining factor for his change was the main character felt embarassed, humilated, felt as if he was nothing after even rejecting his hand in marriage the father still gave him and hope and said he had seen many people start off from nothing and make it big. Revenge against the father made him successful as well. The irony in this story was that the main character was trying to prove himself to the person he hated the most, in the end he became just like the person he hated. If you decolonize your mind you become free but with becoming free you become poor. "serving your servant" I can relate this story to myself just because I have heard of many cases where the guy will ask for the girls hand but the father will always reject based on the status of the guy. In most cases if the guy is not a lawyer, a dr. or an engineer he is looked down upon and not god enough for the girl. It's a shame how money/status is the deciding factor instead of the characteristics of the human.
The last story was by far my favorite story...yes even though it was gender bias and even though the author sends the message that woman are powerful with the use of their sexuality! But none the less it was heartbreaking! The main character wanted to be colonized in this story! She took it as far as even changing her name simply because she wanted to sound pure, strangely enough her original name was the definition of pure. Poor Beatrice has an identity problem throughout the story and was not happy with who she was. (I believe we all go through this point, most of us recover safely and others fall into terrible situations as Beatrice did) Her movement, her attitude, her confidence made her who she was. If only she could have been more confident in her self her attitude towards herself would have been very different which could have resulted to her walking around with her head help up high and not down low with shame of any sort. The main point from this story I believe was "how you think about yourself of what other people view you as" can really change a persons life. My heart went out to Beatrice especially when she tells her life story to the lori driver and he falls asleep on her I can relate this to myself because I am a person built up with walls and I only let a few in. The ones I let in I have high expectations of . But when they do not meet my expectations I feel the way Beatrice did. I feel hurt. Its an awful feeling of opening up to someone and not getting the response back that you hope for. I was cheering her on when she stole the money and went shopping and bought her self a wig and bought herself some fancy things. Its a shame how such material things can make a person change ... change the way we view our self... our attitude, our confidence... its a shame. More power to her for spitting on the ground as she walked out of the bar. More Power to her!
This is a great posting. I really like how you are able to weave your personal experience into your commentary so that it informs your interpretations of the stories. Your point about the Bollywood movies is so true! I am also entertained by how you show that the ending of "Minutes of Glory" can be a happy ending.
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