To begin, when Raja and Kuti dies Rukmani is left to to suffer and grieve for the loss of life. Her reaction to the death of the two aforementioned children is one of a mother swamped with grief. When she is faced with Raja’s dead Rukmani has this to say: “For this I have given you birth, my son, that you should lie in the end at my feet with ashes in your face and coldness in your limbs and yourself departed without a trace, leaving this huddle of bones and flesh without meaning” (Markandaya 89). Above, Markandaya used imagery to describe the feeling of the corpse when viewed from a motherly perspective. Rukmani again shows no apathy to the loss of her other son, Kuit, “I crooned to him, forgetting he was dead, until the cold came creeping …show more content…
Due to various reasons food had become scarce, and that caused suffering and discontent to the people of the village. After Rukmani told Kenny about waiting until better times he said this, “‘Times are better, times are better,’ he shouts. ‘ Times will not be better for many months. Meanwhile you will suffer and die, you meek, suffering fools. Why do you keep this ghastly silence? Why do you not demand--cry out for help--do something? There is nothing in this country, oh God, there is nothing!’” (Markandaya 43). In this, Markandaya changes the tone from a somber one to a harsh one showing that they are truly suffering, but lack the resolve to do anything about it. The author exclaims, “Long before the paddy ripened we came to the end of our dried-fish stocks. There was no money left--every pie had gone to pay the land dues. Nothing left to sell” (Markandaya 78). Markandaya used foreshadowing to show that they will not have food for a long time, and will continue to suffer because of it. In conclusion, the author used tone and foreshadowing to portray the suffering caused from lack of …show more content…
The destruction caused by these natural disasters made the people feel despair as well as suffer. After the monsoon Rukmani thought about the destruction caused, “Many of our neighbours fared much worse than we had. Several were homeless, and of a group of men who sheltered under a tree when the storm began six had been killed by lightning” (Markandaya 41). Markandaya shows the suffering through the homeless, and the despair through death of people who must have families grieving for them. The author also wrote, “The drought continued until we lost count of the time. Day after day the pitiless sun blazed down, scorching whatever still struggled to grow and baking the earth hard until at last it split and great irregular fissures gaped the land” (Markandaya 76). Markandaya shows the destruction of the land and crops through the use of imagery and details. In sum, the author shows the despair and suffering through natural disasters and the peoples reaction to
Even when her son Raja is murdered at the tannery, her thoughts still don't come out in violence. She deals with her numbness and grief by thinking, "For this I have given you birth, my son, that you should lie at the end at my feet with ashes in your face and coldness in your limbs and yourself departed without a trace". After this is said, she prepares the body for the burial. Soon after, two officials come to the hut of Nathan and Rukmani to make sure she understands the tannery is not responsible for the death of her son. Rukmani is not moved to physical anger and, after much arguing, tells them what they want to hear.
“Often fear of one evil leads us into a worse”(Despreaux). Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux is saying that fear consumes oneself and often times results in a worse fate. William Golding shares a similar viewpoint in his novel Lord of the Flies. A group of boys devastatingly land on a deserted island. Ralph and his friend Piggy form a group. Slowly, they become increasingly fearful. Then a boy named Jack rebels and forms his own tribe with a few boys such as Roger and Bill. Many things such as their environment, personalities and their own minds contribute to their change. Eventually, many of the boys revert to their inherently evil nature and become savage and only two boys remain civilized. The boys deal with many trials, including each other, and true colors show. In the end they are being rescued, but too much is lost. Their innocence is forever lost along with the lives Simon, a peaceful boy, and an intelligent boy, Piggy. Throughout the novel, Golding uses symbolism and characterization to show that savagery and evil are a direct effect of fear.
covers the area, causing people, animals, and structures to practically disintegrate. Even years afterwards people were still dying and having
“For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop.” The men hanging to wither and rot for no reason other than ignorance, greed and prejudice. “A strange and bitter crop.”
A lot people struggle with being bossed around about how they look and having to be what other people expect them to be. Famous icons also struggle with this situation. Daya is a well-known pop singer who has gained fame in the recent years. In an interview about her song, Sit Still Look Pretty, Daya mentioned the purpose of the song was for people to be who they want to be and follow their dreams rather than being forced what to do. In total, the song was aiming towards independence. In the story, Raymond’s Run, by Toni Cade Bambara. Squeaky is the protagonist in the story who is participating in a big race and having to take care of a disabled brother. Besides that, her parents have different expectations about her being a girl. She is living in a time where girls are expected to be fashionable and “ladylike”,rather than being independent. Her mom is against her being so athletic, but she still wants to be herself. Squeaky is an independent, athletic, and outside-of-the-box girl who goes through many burdens, but like the protagonist in Daya’s song, still she follows her dreams.
Many people think that reading more can help them to think and develop before writing something. Others might think that they don’t need to read and or write that it can really help them to brainstorm things a lot quicker and to develop their own ideas immediately (right away). The author’s purpose of Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, is to understand the concepts, strategies and understandings of how to always read first and then start something. The importance of this essay is to understand and comprehend our reading and writing skills by brainstorming our ideas and thoughts a lot quicker. In other words, we must always try to read first before we can brainstorm some ideas and to think before we write something. There are many reasons why I chose Stephen King’s essay, Reading to Write, by many ways that reading can help you to comprehend, writing, can help you to evaluate and summarize things after reading a passage, if you read, it can help you to write things better and as you read, it can help you to think and evaluate of what to write about.
The next theme used by the author to inspire a feeling of despair in this story is the randomness of persecution. By making the villagers draw these slips of paper once a year would provoke a feeling of hopelessness. Because they know that no matter what they do one day they may be subjected to this brutal death. And it woul...
When destitution, poverty, and loss plague the life of the characters in Markandaya's Nectar in a Sieve one would expect money to be the biggest source of stability and happiness. However, if that path of thinking is followed, a re-reading of this book is recommended. Rukmani and the people around her have all struggled throughout their lives, yet they have all made a major contribution to her happiness and stability. The factors that have kept Rukmani grounded and sane are the same factors that bring out the best in people no matter what background, time period or location. The question of why Markandaya never assigned a time period or place to Nectar in a Sieve plays a significant role in how
The excitement the family had when they received the call about the dead cows, also shows their poverty. Their scavenging and meek options presented how they were in need of money and food. In my family, I am lucky enough to be able to buy clothes and food from stores. Along with necessities, I am able to receive luxuries such as eating out and going on vacation. Even though I grew up with money doesn’t mean my family has no budget, my family has the same ideals to eat what you get and not to waste food. But their family waste isn’t an option for food as it becomes part of a bread pudding when they have leftovers. (Blow, 2014,
In the story of The Island of “Kora”, the island had been devastated by a violent earthquake that had been triggered by a volcano eruption four years earlier. The island which had prior to the disaster been about twenty square miles in size and been reduced to less than a fourth that size to about four square miles. The island prior to the earthquakes had previously been able to support comfortably 850 to 900 people. It was a peaceful island where the inhabitants got along well. Because of the disasters the lives of the inhabitants had been changed forever.
Have you ever wanted something really badly, but couldn’t afford it? This is a common occurrence, but what about food? Have you ever went to be hungry because you couldn’t afford to eat? Unfortunately, Junior, the main character in the book, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, felt exactly this way for food. Even though Junior didn’t have as many resources as the other “white kids,” he still chose to look at the positives. This novel shows that even in times of great hardship, people can still choose to have hope and look at the good in their lives.
Furthermore, understanding the fact of how the villagers in that village practiced and participated in such a barbaric ritual and archaic event were not accepted by people. In addition, people who read the story commented that the modest people of the Midwest are superstitious and backward. Here, Jackson conveyed successfully with her subtle writing style that something is about to happen. She also used a third person point of view when writing this short story. The third person point of view permitted the author to keep the outcome of the story an exposure. This therefore led to the reader to consider everything is well but actually there is something wrong somewhere. Furthermore, what could be seen from the story is people were different compared to present, there is a huge difference in cultural practices. Therefore the actions of the story go in the opposite direction of people’s opinion in the present in terms of value of life, violence and the development of respect in a family.
Revka makes this remark regarding the fragility of Masada but this statement can be seen as much more than a mere description of the shelter. She mentions of “faith” to be the medium holding Masada together but also the culprit to their final downfall. For she believes that faith has blinded their sight, veiling the truth under false hopes that upon careful inspection would reveal to be “empty inside”. Like the clouds that drift onto the top of deserts, “promising rain” to those who pleaded water in the ruthless desert but failing to provide so, Masada is akin in this situation; Masada will not become the savour for these deserted people, although it may appear so. “Clouds” are also usually associated with a negative connotation, causing discomfort
The opening chapter paints a vivid picture of the situation facing the drought-stricken farmers of Oklahoma. Dust is described a covering everything, smothering the life out of anything that wants to grow. The dust is symbolic of the erosion of the lives of the people. The dust is synonymous with "deadness". The land is ruined ^way of life (farming) gone, people ^uprooted and forced to leave. Secondly, the dust stands for ^profiteering banks in the background that squeeze the life out the land by forcing the people off the land. The soil, the people (farmers) have been drained of life and are exploited:
In the novel When Rain Clouds Gather, by Bessie Head, the protagonist, Makhaya, deals with suffering, trauma and eventual healing, particularly when he arrives in Golema Mmidi. At the same time, the novel deals with problems of tribalism, greed and hate in a postcolonial state. Throughout the novel, Makhaya attempts to resolve these struggles and create a new future for himself.