A Wasted Land

I think the title of this story should be "A Wasted Life". The main character of this story is telling the tale of her uncle who has been leading a double life in England. He is mentally ill and suicidal when he arrives home back to Africa. Come to find out he is married with a family, not only in his native land, but also is married with a family in England. When he eventually commits suicide my cutting his wrists I was angry. Mental illness is a horrible thing, but this man has left nothing but a wake of destruction in his path. Not only do both of his wives have to live with what he has done by his betrayal but his children have to try to accept it. The main character also talks about how the war in her country has cost her family so much. Her father has died soon after her country has won its independence and the family has been left in ruins by the debt that they have incurred. It seems to me that even though this family wasn't directly involved in the fighting they have still suffered losses. The strain of debt seems to have sucked the life right out of this family in a way that disabled them so severely that they never recovered.

Wake...

I had almost no idea what was going on in this story. From what I could tell it was being told from a child's point of view? It seemed like their were some references to a war and a lot of killing surrounding Johannesburg which is a major city in Africa. Further into the story though I think the author was writing about displaced people? Maybe people who were forced away from their homes because of fighting in their area and were forced into the city as refugees. There were also references to "the regime" and a reference to the regime giving back the children? Overall I didn't really understand the story other than to gather that their was a lot of misery coming through the pages and that people had been killed and displaced. Perhaps there were children who were left behind because their parents were killed in fighting. Without more background into the history of this particular time in Africa it is just really hard to understand what exactly is going on.

Amnesty

In "Amnesty" the young mother in the story has a very strong love for her husband. She has stayed with him for almost a decade while only getting to see him a handful of times. Because her husband is an activist and is a supporter of unions at a time in Africa when this viewpoint could cost you your job and your freedom, this young woman must have been very brave. It saddened me to think that the best part of their lives, their younger years, was spent with the husband in prison (for his beliefsand actions) and this young woman was raising their only daughter without a husband to help and support her. The level of responsibility for this young mom to take care of herself and her family without any support from her husband must have been unreal. Nowadays women worry about whether or not they look good in their new outfit for Saturday night, but in this story this poor woman had to survive on her own while the man she loves is imprisoned. Kind of puts things into perspective!

The Home-Coming

"The Home-Coming" was a melancholy, sad story. A woman who seems to be somewhat elderly is coming home to her native land and is met at the bus station by her daughter. Her daughter has obviously grown into a young woman that this mother seems proud of, but her sadness is palpable as she reflects on the fact that she has missed out on so much of her daughters life while she has been away. It never becomes clear exactly why this woman has been forced to live away from her home and her family, even as she reflects on the fact that her "homecoming" is a bit less than a jubilant celebration. She does reveal that she has been working for a woman (I'm assuming a white woman) and her family, but she never states if this was imposed on her by force, or if this was the job she undertook in order to support her family. The end of the story does seem to be a bit more promising as the young woman's daughter says that their are people waiting to greet them at their intended destination. I wish the story would have continued on because I felt so sorry for this mom that I wanted to read about her having a little bit of joy at the end of her journey.

A Perfect Wife

"A Perfect Wife" starts out very suspenseful. I wondered what the big secret was that everyone was so intent upon keeping. When we finally read that it is a secret about war I was surprised. It seems to me that war is not something that people whisper about, as the author writes, but something that here in the U.S. anyway, is heavily debated in the public forum. As the story shifts to Sira, who is a 12 year old bride, my disgust rose. A 12 year old...bride. I realize that we are talking about a whole different part of the world with different cultures at a slightly earlier time in history but the very thought of a 12 year old being married makes me ill. Then when Sira's husband dies I breathed a sigh of relief! Regardless of whether or not she is ok with being married and he is a good husband I just could not get over the age thing. And the thought of being shut in a chamber at the age of 12 with your dead husbands other wife seems like an unimaginable amount of torture to take for one hundred and thirty two days. When finally Sira is married off to another man and then gives birth to a daughter 9 years later, I even found myself thinking, "I wonder how long that young woman will have to wait before being married off as a pre-teen." Sometimes cultural differences are hard to look past. Especially when they involve pedophilia.

The Barrel of a Pen

"The Barrel of a Pen", was the most disturbing story I have read so far this semester. Abortion is never a fun topic anyway but the light-heartedness that these young women approached this topic with was unsettling. Particularly when the pregnant woman states that the baby these three girls are aborting has "a hard head like her mother". I literally wanted to be sick when I read that. Here this woman is paying another woman to stab her baby with a pen barrel and she is cracking jokes. Furthermore, the baby is old enough not only to be identified as a girl, but old enough to kick. I also felt this story was a perfect example of what happens when abortions are considered illegal and women are forced to perform them "in back street alleys" as they say. The danger that a woman may face when attempting to abort a fetus in this way is unbelievable.

Night Thoughts

"Night Thoughts" was definitely an interesting read. The opening paragraph was absolutely depressing and desolate with the main character giving scenes from what seems to be the inside of a hospital "of death". He is surrounded by the dead and dying (of AIDS possibly?) who seem to be in agony. As the story progresses and the main character continues to share his story I found it a little confusing in my own mind to understand how in a particular time their can exist 1) a ruling king, 2) cars, and 3) tabloids! The tale that the main character tells is basically a story about the king in power during his lifetime and all of the "rumored stories" surrounding that king. The character is speaking to someone who has already passed on. Finally towards the end of the tale we learn that this man is confined to a hospital with a brain tumor that is slowly killing him, surely a painful way to die. I found it very odd that this man would think to himself that his brain tumor was the only thing he had ever "owned". Was his body and mind not ever his own? It almost seemed like this guy welcomed his prognosis and was eager to die.