Out of all of the authors we have read this quarter, Ngugi has been the hardest for me to personally connect with. Throughout his stories I have learned that language shapes thoughts and how having a colonized name changed your appearance. Ngugi’s stories taught me about the colonization of Africa I was not previously familiar with. I was fascinated by the change colonization caused in people, and how truly confusing the people must have felt. I also learned that Christianity was a huge role in colonization.
Out of all three stories I connected most with Minutes of Glory. In this story gender bias plays the largest role. Beatrice believes she is ugly and does not like who she is, while Nyaguthu is beautiful. Beatrice spends the whole story wanting to be like Nyaguthu, but finds in the end Nyguthu wants to be like her. I feel this happens commonly in today’s society. I often look at other and believe if I looked like her, or was as smart as another girl, my life would be better. It is like the old saying grass is greener on the other side. When in all actuality my life would not be better if I was those other girls. In fact, those other girls probably see things in me that they would like for themselves. The only thing I did not like was how Ngugi portrayed women’s power as sexual attraction. I believe many people probably believe that, but I disagree. I think women contain power by how smart and independent they are, not involving the opposite sex.
I agree that these are harder to relate to because they are more deliberately foreign to the North American experience. Nevertheless, you do a good job explaining the troubles of Beatrice. Of course, I agree with your final summation, but as you point out, many people see it from the other angle.
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