Government by Magic Spell

In this story, a woman named Halima has tricked her entire town into thinking she is possessed by a jinni. She uses this "power" to make all of her local people think that she can control what the jinni does and also predict the future. This story reminded me a little bit of "The Crucible", where all of the young women pretend that they can see evil spirits. This would be a typical example of a child who discovers that she can twist the truth to her advantage. And so she does as she continues to grow up and amass more and more power. When Halima is summoned by the government (which is currently being run by her own clan), they place her in power because they know that people will be to frightened to question her decisions. She continues to abuse her power to gain money, build businesses, and restrict and control natural resources to her benefit. When the story ends it is apparent that at the expense of her native people, Halima has made sure that her own clan has benefited and stayed in power. I would say a revolution is in order.

A Night Out

I had a serious problem with the man named Mika in this story. He has sex with a prostitute and spends the night in her home. He is fully aware upon arrival at this woman's home that she has a gravely ill child. When he awakens the next morning while the mother is still asleep, he discovers that the young child has died in the night. The man makes a quick getaway, (but has some conversation with the mother) before the mother discovers her child has died. Now, I know that this woman has been paid to have sex with this man, and therefore "feelings" aren't supposed to be involved in this situation. But the fact of the matter is, that when this man left that home knowing that the child was dead and did not alert the mother to this fact, he really shows what a cowardly, low-level creep is capable of. Humanity in this man is nonexistent and it really saddened me to think that one human being could act so cruelly towards another. Almost as if this man, Mika, has no feelings whatsoever. Regardless of whether or not she was a prostitute, this woman is still a person. She is a single mother of a child and that child has now perished. Mika must have been a gutless person.

Cages

This story is about a shopkeeper named Hamid who seems to have lived a very sheltered life. He is single, never married, and keeps generally to himself. Until one day a young girl starts coming into his shop. He falls in love with her over the next multiple visits that she makes and it is at this point that I begin to feel sorry for Hamid. Hamid gives out little "extras' to the young women when she comes in and really seems to form a fascination about her. It was obvious to me right away that this young women was "working" Hamid. She knows that he is interested in her and she is going to use it to the best of her ability for personal gain. Sadly, Hamid sees her interactions as an indication that he may have a chance. Hamid continues to put this woman on a pedestal so to speak. Until finally the woman comes into the store one night and indicates that she knows Hamid wants to sleep with her, and that when she finally submits he will have to compensate her more than an extra bag of sugar. It is at this point that Hamid realizes he has totally built this woman up to be something that she is not and reality comes crashing down on him. Such a sad story! I felt so bad for Hamid.

The Man

"The Man" is a story surrounded in irony. A man assassinates the leader of his nation and flees without getting caught. The policemen spend days tracking and trapping him, refusing to give up until they find him! Finally the soldiers gather a mass of people people and randomly pull a man out of the crowd threatening to kill him unless someone reveals who the true killer is. This seemed like a dumb tactic to me anyway, I mean what are the odds that anyone in the crowd knows the actual name of the killer? If the killer acted alone then no one will be able to give up any information. So the police execute the man that they have randomly selected not realizing that they have just killed the actual murderer! The killer almost seems to be glee full as he is shot, in essence because he is getting what he wants, he is succeeding with getting away with the crime. Serves the police right! Here they are murdering an innocent man (at least they think he is innocent) as a threat. I also felt that this leader which he killed was probably a tyrant anyway. It seems like most leaders in these era in Africa were all blood thirsty killers.

The Rubbish Dump

This story, about a young boy who would much rather be at the local airport watching planes land and take off than in school, was a little bit gross. The young boy watches the workers come and go from the planes with their wheelbarrows full of discarded food and garbage from the planes. The childs fascination with the planes as they take off and land is easy to understand considering he lives in a part of the world with very little connection to everyday technology. He is in wondermeant of how a machine can fly in the air. The gross part was when the young boy reveals that the workers are actually spending time foraging for food in the garbage pit (after it has been discussed that the barf bags have also been tossed in the pit ew!) Although this again just shows what kind of impoverished area these people must live in. Also, it was very interesting that the workers thought of the planes as nothing more than a vehicle for the "fat white man" to be transported into their country in. Kind of a sign of the changing times I suppose.

The Prophetess

I really enjoyed "The Prophetess", so much so that I wrote my second essay on it! The young boy in this story is scared for his life when he approaches the mystical prophetesses house to retrieve holy water for his mother. All of his fears which have been fed by the rumors spread about town come to a culmination as he trembles outside of her door wondering if he should flee or continue on inside. It is finally when the young boy is inside the prophetesses house and he smells camphor oil, which his mother uses for her ailments, that the young boy realizes that the prophetess is human just like everyone else. His fear turns to slight comfort as he begins to see the prophetess in a motherly fashion. Finally when the young boy gets the holy water and begins his trek home I was filled with trepidation as he encountered obstacle after obstacle out on the streets. I knew before I read it that the bottle of holy water was going to be dropped and broken all over the street! But thank goodness it did because it helped the boy to understand that it is not necessarily the holy water which will heal his mother, but the love and devotion that mother and son have for each other. Good story!

Clocks Like Horses

"Clocks Like Horses" may have been in my top 3 least favorite stories of the semester. It was very difficult at times to understand exactly what was occurring in the story. Essentially there is a man who travels to a town to have a watch which he has inherited, from an original seamen, repaired by one of the only watch repairmen left who knows how to repair the watch. I did think that it was kind of cool that the watch repairman had clocks that track all of the different times throughout the world. Then there seemed to be a discussion about the Turkish war and sailors shipping horses for sale. And the saddest part of the whole story was when the man tells of the horses who drowned once the ship sank! The end of the story was the most confusing for me when the man arrives to his bedroom and observes another man already in his room? Overall this story just confused me!