The Girl Who Can

The story, "The Girl Who Can", was one of my favorite to read so far! The story is told from a seven year old point of view of a little girl. Not only could I relate to the story on a personal level, I have watched friends raise their children thru this age and have had plenty of good laughs over the things that have randomly come out of their mouths. The authors portrayal of the interaction between three generations of women (daughter, mother, and grandmother) was very representative of the average family I thought. The grandmother, "Nana" was quick to criticize her daughter and granddaughter, but in a loving way, the granddaughter seems respectiful of her elders but at the same time a little distainful of the way they treat her, and the mother seems to be your typical maternal role. Nana is very proud when her granddaughter is selected as one of the school's top runners and just like a grandmother always does, dotes on her granddaughter. Nana's quips about her granddaughters thin legs are silenced once the granddaughter starts winning trophies for the village school.

Snapshots of a Wedding

This story about a man named Kegoletile, who has impregnated two women, Neo and Mathalta, is a tale about a mans choice between the woman he loves and the woman he marries for financial gain. Neo, who has been educated and holds an office job, is a very rude young woman who looks down her nose at other people in her village who are not educated. She is spoiled and mean, and extremely lazy. Mathalta, on the other hand, is a kind woman who is uneducated, but has a good heart. Kegoletile is clearly in love with and dedicated to Mathalta, but makes the economic decision to marry Neo. This story, while steeped in traditions regarding the marriage ceremony in Africa, is completely applicable in today's society. In fact, Kegoletile is even ordered to pay child support, a trend which has not always been around in the United States. The main theme of this story was that money cannot buy happiness.

Protista

This is the story of a man who has been exiled to a barren wasteland for his "political crimes". The severity of his situation is apparent as the author describes the winds "which were dry and dusty and would sting into the very coolness of our minds." The land that the man lives on is described as "red and clayey and scarred with drought fissures from the burning sun and the long cold nights..." The author paints a picture of total desperation, one in which no human being might actually be able to survive. The total amount of time the man has been exiled for is fifteen years, and it is apparent that he is very strong willed for having already survived twelve of them. The mans wife, Maria, has long deserted him after living with him in exile for an amount of time. As this man passes in and out of consciousness from starvation and dehydration, he remembers his father and also imagines monsters which he refers to as "manfish". These manfish, which dwell in rivers, are symbolic of this mans impending death. As the author states, "And they all wanted company; they were all hungry for me, thirsty for me."

The Betrayal

In this story, a man named Dr. Kamal finds himself faced with a serious choice. Dr. Kamal has become submerged into a world of politics and is considering the endorsement of a violent protest against a rising political faction. He is the poster child for an educated man who has become too wrapped up in his belief system and now thinks that murder is acceptable, as long as his beliefs and values are supported. The title of the story, "The Betrayal", is quite ironic in itself because as the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that the actual betrayal that takes place does not occur as the result of some well-hidden secret within another person, but instead the doctor actually betrays himself. During a meeting between the two rival parties, the doctor jumps up in defense of his faction, putting himself on display as a person who has strong hatred for the opposing group. I also found it interesting that here is a doctor, a person in power, who is described as "religious", and we can assume educated, using his power to incite a large group of people to do his murderous bidding. This type of person is very symbolic of every dangerous leader and ruler that has ever run a country. Dr. Kamal knowingly made the decision to sacrifice the lives and health of his supporters, without any thought as to their sufferings.

The Bridegroom

The Bridegroom is the story of a white man who is the supervisor of a "road gang" and he is spending the evening observing his workers and their interactions and also day dreaming about his pending marriage to a young girl. I found it interesting that this man seemed to have, quite literally, fallen in love with a picture of this girl. The photograph of the seventeen year old fiance was referred to numerous times within the story and this reference made it clear to me that while these two people were engaged, they seem to barely know each other. This man also clearly looks down upon his workers, although he seems quite interested in their musical revelry, who are all black. He is also, clearly a man with strong prejudices towards his workers as the author states in the story, "He thought for a moment that he would give them the rest of the bottle of brandy. Hell, no, man, it was mad. If they got the taste for the stuff, they'd be pinching it all the time." Furthermore, this story also did a pretty good job of painting a picture of what life was like at this time for workers in Africa. The white man was given a job as a supervisor, while all of the African Americans were workers for him. The "boss" even had a servant who cooked and cleaned for him, and he seemed to treat this man with heavy condescension.

A Conversation from the Third Floor

This story is about a woman who's husband is imprisoned and being transferred to another prison facility. She has brought one of their young children with her despite the hotness of the day and has also brought cigarettes to her husband. What struck me about this story was the desperation that this woman must have been feeling despite her "cool" attitude. Her husband is imprisoned, she is left to care for any children they have, and also she is responsible for bringing her husband any items that he may require while he is locked up. I felt her isolation as the writer described the "hot sun" and how the woman sat up against the prison wall and fed her child in a small patch of shade. She was completely ignored by the prison guards for the duration of her visit with her husband (which consisted of her standing outside the prison walls and yelling back and forth) as if she did not exist. Furthermore, towards the end of the story, the shadow of one of the prison guards reaches the woman's foot and she quickly withdraws it from reach. This action was very indicative, I thought, of the way that this women must have felt her place in society was. Almost as if she had been beaten down to the point of withdrawing from any type of interaction with these men, from even allowing their shadows to touch.

Minutes of Glory

This is the story of a young African woman named Wanjiru who has been transplanted from her home in her native village in Africa to a bar in the city. Wanjiru, who quickly changes her name to Beatrice, spends much of her time pining away for acceptance from the new African "elitist" crowd. These wealthy businessmen who have profited in this impoverished country, frequent the bars that Beatrice works at as a barmaid and often pay for prostitutes that work in the bars. Furthermore, Beatrice feels insignificant and unattractive next to her peers and assumes it is due to her looks when really it may be her poor attitude. Ironically, it is the fact that Beatrice does not herself become a prostitute that makes her co-workers jealous of her. Beatrice feels that if she can just attract wealthy men who will buy her clothes and other worldly gifts, that she will find happiness. Eventually, Beatrice ends up robbing a man who has found himself stuck in the same level of social status as she. With the money she has stolen, Beatrice purchases various items which she thinks make her more attractive to the men that frequent her bar. Sadly, Beatrice does not know that her attractiveness comes from a level of confidence that these items give her and not from the items themselves. I found multiple themes within this story such as "Money can't buy happiness", "The grass is always greener on the other side", and "Don't judge a book by its cover".

A Handful of Dates

This story is a tale of disillusionment between a boy and his grandfather. As the story of "A Handful of Dates" unfolds, the reader is first shown the awe and untarnished love that a young boy feels for his grandfather. Initially, the boy is shown to be very young and this is evident as the author writes, "I must have been very young at the time. While I don't remember exactly how old I was, I do remember that when people saw me with my grandfather they would pat me on the head and give my cheek a pinch." As the story continues, the boy tells about his time which is spent in his grandfathers presence, and of his stark adoration for his grandfather. One day the boy asks his grandfather about his apparent dislike with a neighbor named Masood. The boy has shown that he identifies with Masood on some level and does like him as a person. The boy almost seems to find Masood as an honest and relatable person. When the boys grandfather tells him how he has slowly purchased all of Masood's land on account of Masood's womanizing, the boy seems to draw back from his grandfather a bit. Finally, upon being present for the harvesting of date's on Masood's remaining property, the boy witnesses his grandfather taking possession of the majority of the harvest and remarking to Masood, "You're still fifty pounds in debt to me." Once the boy witnesses his grandfathers lack of concern or forgiveness of this debt of Masood's, the boy runs off and becomes ill, throwing up the dates he has eaten as if they are poison in his stomach. In this way the story ends, and the reader becomes aware that the boy no longer thinks of his grandfather as the center of his world. The story marks a right of passage wherein the boy becomes a man and for the first time sees his grandfather clearly.

An Incident in the Ghobashi Household

This story is about a young girl who lives with her mother and siblings and is pregnant with an illegitimate child. The mother, Zeinat, is caring for her brood while her husband is away earning wages to provide for the family. Zeinat spends much of her time contemplating what they will do when her husband returns to find his eldest daughter is pregnant. If I understood the story correctly, it seems that a hired man named Hamdan is responsible for the unplanned pregnancy. Finally, Zeinat decides to send off her pregnant daughter, Ni'ma, to Cairo before it becomes apparent to the others in their village that Ni'ma is pregnant. Zeinat gives Ni'ma her life savings and tells her not to return home until after she delivers the baby. At which point Zeinat tells Ni'ma to return home at night, when no one can see that she carries a child with her, and that they will pass off the child as Zeinat's. This story was an excellent example of the types of family bonds present in North African culture, as well as the expectations and judgements that many women faced at this time. It was also representative of what the reputation of a family meant within a village and just how far a mother would go to protect that reputation.

The Spider's Web

In "The Spider's Web" the author, Leonard Kibera, tells a story about a man named Ngotho who is a servant for two white people. The man and woman are married and Ngotho seems to see all of their interactions and dissects them in his mind. Ngotho cannot stand being the servant to these two people as is evident in the opening of the story where he is imagining being dead and buried inside a wooden coffin. I interpreted Ngotho's thoughts to mean that he was suicidal over his job. There are multiple references in the story to "The Queen", which I assumed was a reference to the wife in the story, Mrs. Njogu. I was, however, very confused when the thoughts about "The Queen" also seemed to include bees in a hive. Although Ngotho spent much time thinking that Mr. Njogu should be more of a man and stand up to his wife, I had a very difficult time finding where the bee metaphor fit in exactly. Perhaps the reader is supposed to draw on the similarity between how a bee hive is run and how this particular household seemed to be run. That is to say that "The Queen" of the bee hive is the boss in the bee community as was Mrs. Njogu within her own home. The very end of the story ended quite dramatically I thought, when Mrs. Njogu slaps Ngotho across the face and he retaliates by stabbing Mr. Njogu in the thigh. Then as a consequence of his violent act, Ngotho heads off to hang himself with a rope. In essence, the story comes full circle because Ngotho was originally thinking about suicide when the story began.