Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing is considered a South African writer, although Africa is not the place of her birth. She was, in fact, born in Persia (now Iran) to British parents in 1919. As a child, she and her parents moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where she lived until 1949 (Sage, 15). White colonists had not previously settled in the part of Africa to which her family moved (Charters 894). In 1949 she moved to London where she still, apparently, resides.
Lessing's life appears characterized by displacement. Charters tells us that "Lessing left school at the age of fourteen in rebellion against her mother" (894). Although neither Charters nor Lessing tell us for certain, it seems she may have been pushing against a representative of the colonialist mindset and way of life that she fought as an adult. Her unease with her status as a British national in Africa can be clearly seen in an event related by her biographer Lorna Sage in a quote from Lessing's "Being Prohibited," a piece written for The New Statesman. At the age of 16, Lessing was waiting in a train at a border crossing between Southern Rhodesia and South Africa. The forms she had been given to fill out at the border required her to declare nationality, birthplace, and other information. In this quotation, Lessing relates her discomfort at being one of the "Herrenvolk" (Sage 16):
I had written on the form: Nationality, British, Race, European; and it was the first time in my life I had to claim myself as a member of one race and deny the others . . .
The immigration man . . . looked suspiciously at my form for a long time before saying that I was in the wrong part of the train. I did not understand him. (I forgot to mention that where the form asked, Where were you born?, I had written, Persia.)
"Asiatics," said he, "have to go to the back of the train…"
"But," I said, "I am not an Asiatic."
(Sage 16)
For Lessing, this incident seemed to display her lack of a secure "place" in the world. Insecure in the role of British national, unable to be a "real" national of her adopted homeland, she is further separated by the place in which she was born. According to Sage, in the same piece Lessing investigates the idea that maybe "it was her Persian birth rather than her 'red' anti-racist politics that made her a prohibited alien" (16).
Ayn Rand, in Anthem, illustrates a futuristic, socialist society. In the novel, Rand destroys any sense of individuality and describes the social setbacks endured after living ‘only for the brotherhood’. The individual person fails to exist and is but a ‘we’ and recognized by a word and a series of numbers rather than a name. Additionally, she describes the horrors encountered within this different system of life: from reproduction methods to punishments. Through the life of Equality 7-2521, Rand demonstrates a person’s journey from obedience to exile in this socialist society. Throughout the entire novel, Rand criticizes Marxist theory as she demonstrates socialism’s failure to suppress revolution, thwart material dialectic, and its detriment to humanity.
Regarding the autobiographical nature of Kira, the main character in We the Living, Ayn Rand said "The specific events of Kira's life were not mine; her ideas, her convictions, her values were and are." (xvii) So by examining Kira's views on different things one can conclude Rand most likely shares the same views. If one reads We the Living it is very evident what Rand's views of Communism are: she is out rightly opposed to it and its core values.
It was mainly written as a response to the widening acceptance of philosophies of totalitarian governments, but also to the belief of sacrificing individual liberties for the public good, ever-present during the "Red Scare." In place of these ideas, Rand developed her theory of "Objectivism," which celebrates reason, capitalism, and individuality. Rand expresses these beliefs throughout the entirety of the book by showi...
We the Living by Ayn Rand therefore becomes a social commentary on the evils of communist dictatorship. Rand tells the heartbreaking stories of three individuals who demand the right to live their own lives and to pursue their own happiness, to no avail. The struggle for survival behind the Red banners and slogans speaking of a perfect world and society provides a startling contrast of ideals and society, because no matter what, those who defy and those who succumb meet the same fate: an empty life devoid of the elements that make life worth living--love, happiness, and dreams.
...de effects of ‘nontraditional’ immigration, the government officially turned against its immigrant communities…” In this line, Mukherjee is showing that she had also been a victim of the new immigration laws, and that was the reason she had conformed to the country, in order to feel a sense of belonging. In this instance, exemplification is used to develop her argument in an effective manner that causes the audience to feel a sense of guilt and even listen to her argument.
As the author points out, “joining the faculty at Howard in 1912, he eventually moved from teaching English to teaching philosophy, but was prevented from teaching a subject of increasing importance to him- race, and especially the interaction of races affected by what is called the African diaspora” (Rampersad xi-xii). His limited opportunity of expressing and committing what he is interested in give him limited understanding of the movement of the Africans creating the social change.
People often dream of a perfect world, where nothing could ever go wrong. Some people attempt to create these utopias, and in doing so, create a society that can be described as anything but this. These societies are considered to be dystopian, places of total misery and wretchedness. Many authors of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have created a society like this in their works. The Party in George Orwell’s 1984 and the Council in Ayn Rand’s Anthem are two dystopian societies that share similar traits. Both societies severely restrict the freedom of the individual, eliminate the feeling of family, and physically contain the people that society governs.
“…combination of swarthy skin, European dress and deportment, knowledge of local customs, and multilingualism” which “…gave them inside understanding of both African and European ways” (Berlin, p.23),
In conclusion, Tanorexia refers to being addicted to tanning. Something as innocent as tanning can end up going to something that may affect you for the rest of your life. Being Tanorexia you have the side effects of having a physical addiction, psychological addiction, being tolerant, having withdrawal, have habit-forming and many more.
o In matters of “race” and “nationality”, in the way in which classifications work is especially apparent.
After exploring the backgrounds of Joseph Conrad and Alan Paton, we realize the differences in their upbringings and how that may have had an effect on their outlooks of Africa. These authors grew up in completely different settings in completely different time periods; Joseph Conrad in a predominantly white area amongst those who would be the colonists of Africa in the future, and Alan Paton in the Africa itself amongst those who the colonization affected most greatly. These factors contribute to the different viewpoints that are apparent in their respective works. From analyzing the content of their writings, it is apparent that, although, both authors have the same overall opinion of colonialism, these opinions are due to two very different reasons.
To show how stories can affect colonialism, we will be looking at British authors during the time of colonialism. During this period of British colonialism, writers like Joyce Cary, author of “Mister Johnson” wrote novels about Africa and more specifically, a Nigerian named Johnson. Johnson in this novel is represented as “[an] infuriating principal character”. In Mr. Cary’s novel he demeans the people of Africa with hatred and mockery, even describing them as “unhuman, like twisted bags of lard, or burst bladders”. Even though Cary’s novel displayed large amounts of racism and bigotry, it received even larger amounts of praise, even from Time Magazine in October 20, 1952. The ability to write a hateful novel and still receive praise for it is what Chinua Achebe likes to describe as “absolute power over narrative [and...
In We the Living, Ayn Rand describes a girl’s battle against Soviet Russia and the struggle to remain resolved amidst the conforming society. Though some believe Communism is noble in concept, Rand agrues the opposite throughout her novel. Ayn Rand argues in We the Living the theory of communism is innately evil by demonstrating its failure in implementation, corruption within the party, and embodying the very argument with Kira Argounova.
?A definition of race might rely on an outward manifestation such as color or some other physiological sign. Race and ethnicity (and to some degree nationality) also imply a shared socio-cultural heritage and belief system. Finally, race and ethnicity harbor a physiological self-identification. Indeed, this factor is perhaps the most important in defining the identity of an ?ethnic? or ?racial? individual. It implies a conscious desire on the part of a person to belong to an aggregate of people, which possesses unique cultural characteristics, rituals and manners and a unique value system.
The constantly reoccurring issue of race is one I'm familiar with. It annoys me sometimes. I'm biracial and I love it, but I detest standardized forms that demand I label myself as one race. I don't see my ethnicity as "check only one," and I don't feel that picking only one is an option.