“When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise” (5). Our present world has saturated itself with single stories causing people to become shocked when they meet anything other than their single story. This issue has developed into a danger in society. A danger that has “robbed people of dignity” (4), obscured society’s vision of equality, and emboldened differences in culture rather than similarities. Chimamanda Adichie demonstrates this through her own personal experience in her speech “The Danger of a Single Story.” Adichie’s speech addresses how an isolated point of view creates stereotypes, and therefore, is a harm to our society. In response, I agree …show more content…
In light of the current societal problem, Adichie provides eight personal accounts to support her claims. She starts with a description of herself as a child, in which she only read and wrote books based on American and British literature. It was not until later that Adichie realized there were other stories that involved her own culture. In addition to this, Adichie spoke of her encounter with the houseboy, Fide, in which she assumed that he could not do anything creative because he was poor. As Adichie arrived in America at 19 for college, her roommate was astonished that she spoke English, listened to American music and could work a stove. Also during this time, her college professor revealed his views to her about what is a genuine African. Not only did she verbalize stories where …show more content…
After recounting her fifth story, Adichie begins to explain how every story radiates a sense of power. She defines power as "the ability not just to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story of that person" (3). This is where the danger begins. Where dignity ends. Where equality becomes non-existent. Moreover, Adichie elaborates on the meaning of stereotypes. Before describing their outcome, she states that "the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete" (4). This is evident when Africa is perceived as a catastrophic country, yet the good in Africa is overlooked. As Adichie reaches the end of her speech, she expounds on the results of stories, be it one or many. That books can be used for good or evil. She claims, "Stories can break the dignity of a people. But stories can also repair that broken dignity" (5). For this reason, any narration, biography, or fable needs to be carefully crafted so as not to dispossess, defame, or destroy the dignity of a group of people. Overall, Adichie's three main statements create a strong argument that a single story is dangerous to the
Stories are powerful devices that “are all we have, you see, to fight off illness and death” (Silko 1). Within the novels Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko and Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie, stories serve exactly this purpose. Each protagonist, Tayo and Haroun respectively, has an obstacle they must overcome. Tayo is a Native American World War II veteran who suffers from an illness of the mind, which is implied to be Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He is told that a Ceremony is the only way to cure him. The ceremony mentioned involves stories. Haroun is a young Indian boy who has gone through tragedy at a young age. His mother has left and his father has lost his job as a storyteller. Haroun feels that both of these occurrences are his fault. Stories are how Haroun saves his sad city, his father’s job, and brings his mother back. Both of the protagonists have burdens to carry upon their shoulders. The authors, though from two different cultures, use stories in their novels in similar fashions: as healing devices. This proves that stories are universal elements that can be utilized in the same way no matter what the culture.
In MK Asante’s Buck, you’ll notice many life related issues, such as the main character, Malo getting into problems and having many issues with his family. People who struggled and been through many challenges in life, will understand every issue the characters experienced. I’ve felt like I didn’t have a voice once in my life, which was when I faced one of my biggest fears, that I thought I would never get over. Losing my mother was one of the hardest experiences I’ve ever had to face, felt like my identity was stripped from me. The purpose of this essay is to examine the theme of “voiceless” in the MK Asante’s Memoir, Buck, through a post colonialism theoretical framework in regards to Malo, his mother, and Uzi.
Claudia Rankine analyzes racism to its core, bringing to surface that miniscule events are just as problematic as televised ones. Her words are beautifully brutal, striking up emotions for anyone that reads it. As readers, we are taken through a journey from past to present events of racial incidents experienced by different genders and ages. Above all, Rankine provides a strong indication that racism is far from over.
The segregation and discrimination of any person or race is unfair and should not be permitted or accepted. Both of these stories talk about the problems that segregation causes, and are written to prove that it is a horrible thing to segregate against someone, and that discrimination causes more problems than it helps anything. Both of these stories attempt to change society’s views of discrimination to that of their Author’s own. Both of these books hopefully made a positive effect on society, as they were meant to, and helped people realize that it is never okay to treat people differently because society wants them to.
Stereotypes and generalizations have become the easy way to justify the separation of races, classes, and genders. Creating these ideas about the cultures that are different than our own is a dangerous habit that must be broken by this generation so that our children can play in merriment without the fear of being misunderstood on a day to day basis. So as Adiche said in her TED talk, stories matter, and to only pay attention to specific stories of one’s life, is to overlook all of the other formative experiences of life. “The problem with Stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” I charge you, Millennials, to go listen to the stories that fill this world, so that we might better understand the amazing things happening around us each and every
In her TED talk, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks through the role of perception in her life and the way that it changes social relationships. We have all had plenty of experiences that surprise us in regard to perception, such as the first time we meet someone from another culture, or meeting someone from our past in a new light. We have been inundated with stereotypes and preconceived notions since we were children, through stories, media, parents, teachers, and friends. Moreover, these presuppositions that we carry are rarely, if ever, based on anything substantial, yet they show up in every aspect of our life. Adichie calls the notion of this one-sided preconceived bias the “single story.” This “single story” is interesting due to the fact that even if we can overcome it, we are still affected by it. Adichie speaks about how even though she had become enlightened to this dilemma, she is still subject to it. As for her experience, she states that,
Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.
In Amanda Ngozi Adichie’s short story, “My Mother, the Crazy African American,” it presents mainly the relationship between mother and daughter’s relationship and their misunderstandings and struggles. Ralindu grew up in Nigeria. Ralindu’s father works in America and three years after his residency was approved Ralindu came to America, and she is now getting used to American style. This situation has cause problems with her mom who came to America with her. Her mother still sticks to their Nigerian traditions like foods and their mannerisms and she wants her daughter, Ralindu, to act like her. Ralindu wants to act as a typical American teenager and that induces the disconnection with Nigerian culture which causes misunderstandings and arguments in the relationship with her mother.
By utilizing an unbiased stance in his novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe promotes cultural relativity without forcibly steering his audience to a particular mindset. He presents the flaws of the Ibo tribe the same way he presents the assets—without either condescension or pride; he presents the cruelties of the colonizers the same way he presents their open mindedness—without either resentment or sympathy. Because of this balance, readers are able to view the characters as multifaceted human beings instead of simply heroes and victims. Achebe writes with such subtle impartiality that American audiences do not feel guilty for the cruel actions of the colonizers or disgusted by the shocking traditions of the tribesmen. The readers stop differentiating the characters as either “tribesmen” or “colonizers”. They see them simply as people, much like themselves. With this mindset, the audience starts to reflect upon their own cultural weaknesses. Conversely, the colonizers forcefully declare their religion onto the tribesmen instead of neutrally presenting their beliefs. Achebe prevails over his anger to present his opinion without forcefulness and with open-minded consideration. Yes, the colonizers succeed in converting many tribesmen into Christians; however, their success is subjective because they destroy African culture in the process. Ultimately, Achebe is successful in delivering his political views, but he does so by encouraging open-mindedness and cultural relativity instead of forcing his individual ideals upon his readers.
Adichie portrays the persisting existence of traditional African culture through Odenigbo’s mother – who symbolizes the extreme end of traditional beliefs. When Odenigbo’s mother visits Odenigbo and Olanna at their apartment in Nsukka, she is immediately personified as the traditional Nigerian village woman. Unaccepting of modern attitudes and advancements, she “peered suspiciously at the stove, knocked on the pressure cooker and tapped the pots...
Novels often depict realistic situations and outlooks on life. This enables the reader to view and learn about different aspects of life through the author’s depictions. Authors expose world issues and their opinions through their novels and create stories about them. In the novel, The Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill exposes the issue of racial discrimination through a fictional character named Aminata. The protagonist is abducted into slavery and experiences hardships, tragedies, oppression, and betrayal. She encounters the many horrors and obstacles of the world in her long journey to freedom. Aminata’s story captures the truth behind other people in terms of their treatment and judgment of the unfamiliar. Hill’s novel effectively exposes
According to the reader the danger of a “single story” is related to how people tend to attribute an image to something regarding to the background information that they have about the thing. In this case having less information or the same information about something is likely to impact on the idea that they will have about something. To support this argument she talked about how during her childhood she used to read book with foreigners characters and about things that she didn’t identify with such as snow and ginger beer. Because of the fact that all her book were similar, she ended up believing that all books have to be same and always include foreign characters with “Blue eyes” and are about things that she couldn’t identify with. Further, she also talks about Fide and how the fact that her mom kept telling her that his family was poor made her think that his family was poor and that it was the only story about them. She couldn’t see them as hard workers or anything else but as poor. Also, she talked about the stereotypes that she had about Mexicans related to immigration in the U.S and how during her trip to Mexico realized that her thoughts were wrong in many ways. Lastly, she talked about her roommate and how she felt pity for her because she was African. Her roommate was surprised to see that she speaks English as well as her and that she knew how to use a stove just because all the information that her roommate has about Africa was a poor conti...
By asking thought-provoking questions of her audience such as: “What if my mother had told us that Fide's family was poor and hard working?” (Adichie 14:08) and “What if my roommate knew about my Nigerian publisher?” (Adichie 14:33), Adichie revisits her initial anecdotes with additional factors to change the scenario showing how people’s thinking will change if they learn the stories of the people they are around. She argues that in real-world relations, ignorance is not bliss; knowing more about each other helps us form a more complete and distinguished opinion of each other. In the heart of her speech, Adichie asks rhetorical questions to make her audience realize how their opinions of each another change as they learn more about the
This speech provides a fair amount of information about the dangers a single story can bring. Therefore, it makes individuals more cautious when it comes to relying solely in the media and believing the stereotypes that are present ubiquitously. In addition, she also makes use of flashbacks in order to put her individual perspective and explain the importance of her view of a single story. She said, “Their poverty was my single story of them.” referring to the houseboy, Fide. Her use of personal anecdotes also places a sense of empathy to the audience, as it is an issue that affected her personally. She demonstrates how the danger of a single story affected her when she talks about her roommate “My roommate had a single story of Africa: A single story of catastrophe”. The idea her roommate had of her depicted Adichie as an incompetent individual who lived in constant fear without knowing how to function a stove, or speak english. Adichie also ends her speech by using rhetorical questions such as “What if we had an African television network..?” “What if my mother had told us that Fide’s family was… hardworking?”. Using rhetorical questions are extremely persuasive as they were are asked with a purpose and intention, making the reader think twice before answering. There was also a presence of the Aristotelian appeals being Ethos, Pathos and Logos. Adichie was able to successfully employ ethos
Throughout time, humans struggled with issues of conformity and individuality. In the modern world, individuality is idealized, as it is associated with strength. Weak individuals are usually portrayed as conforming to society and having almost no personal ideas. In “Desiree’s Baby”, a short story, the author Kate Chopin deals with the struggles of African descendants in the French colonies during the time of slave labor. The protagonist is a white woman named Desiree who is of unknown origin and birth as she was found abandoned as an infant at an aristocrat’s doorstep. Eighteen years after her discovery, she and a fellow aristocrat, Armand Aubigny, fall in love and get married. They soon have a child, yet conflict arises when the child is discovered to be black. The young family is destroyed when the baby’s father, Armand, refuses to accept the child. In “Desiree’s Baby”, Chopin demonstrates through Armand’s conflicts how weak humans conform to environmental norms.