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Month: May 2021

Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight – Chapters 8 to 12

Published by benjaminlewis on May 12, 2021

Chapter 8 – Anecdotal Storyboard

Chapter 9 – How does Fuller create unity between this chapter and the previous one as well as in other parts of the memoir so far?

‘Ja? Well at least I’ve never had a tick on my downthere’ calls back to the previous chapter, and the anecdote of the tick. This introduces a rare fluidity to the text, as one chapter leads directly into the next, perhaps to remind the reader that they are experiencing the story of one life, no matter how chaotic it may appear. 

Chapter 9 – Comment on her use of detail – especially on place. 

Fuller recalls exact, specific details during this chapter, such as the ‘shiny African waiter with impeccable hands and careful, clean nails’ and the branding of the Coke she drank: ‘‘Adds life’’, implying that these experiences have left a lasting impression on her, and thus are still vivid. For example, describing the waiter with adjectives such as ‘impeccable’ and ‘shiny’ connotes absolute purity, as well as immense value, perhaps significant because they directly defy the stereotype of an African women that Fuller has been fed by her colonial upbringing: a dirty woman worth nothing. Furthermore, the slogan of the coke bottle might have awakened her to how Western culture had been forcibly injected into the native atmosphere, as even in the text it stands out like a sore thumb, surrounded by parenthesis. 

Chapter 10 – How does Fuller portray the increasing danger of living in Rhodesia and nearby Mozambique in 1974. 

Fuller describes 1974 as ‘the year (she) turned five’, drawing special attention to her young age, connoting vulnerability and the notion of a childhood surrounded by war. This idea is reinforced by referring to the length of the civil war like one would a child, calling it ‘8 years old’. This personifies the war, perhaps reflecting her twisted childhood as a result of its roots in the conflict, and by explaining to us that it was around before her birth, she implies that the war could continue long after. 

Chapter 10 – Identify effective writing techniques in the part about landmines. 

The quote ‘If we were killed in an ambush or blown up on a mine, we will be wearing clean brookies, our best dresses’ hints at the privilege of white colonialists in Rhodesia: even in death they are above others, wearing symbols of their wealth and status. Additionally the decision to use the more definitive future tense instead of the conditional in this statement emphasises the severity of the danger she faces everyday, and the high risk of death. 

Furthermore the italicised chant at the bottom of page 55 speaks to Bobo’s desensitisation to violence and war at such a young age. Unlike many who lose their innocence later in life, Bobo never had innocence to lose, as she was raised as a child of war. 

Chapter 11 – How does Fuller identify her parents?

Chapter 12  – Comment on Fuller’s effective portrayal of her mum shooting the Cobra.

Fuller writes that her ‘Mum screams for milk’. The verb ‘scream’ is highly emotive, connoting extreme distress and pain, and therefore depicts a reaction unparalleled to anything we’ve seen from her mother thus far. This could suggest that she cares more for her pets than she does for Bobo and Van, perhaps because she has lost children before and is therefore desensitised to it, but Fuller also informs the reader that the average lifespan for a dog on the farm is very short, so perhaps not. However, it does reinforce the aspect of her personality that is sympathetic to nature.

Thousand Cranes – Minor Textual Analysis

Published by benjaminlewis on May 10, 2021

Chosen passage: p.g. 50 ‘I made her die.’ – End of page.

Death is a central, but abstract theme in ‘Thousand Cranes’; the characters’ perception of it is constantly shifting, and, by the end of the novel, no character holds it in the same regard. Kikuji, the protagonist of the novel, experiences several turning points in his personal relationship with death, one of which takes place at the climax of Part I of Figured Shino, upon his discussion of Mrs Ota’s suicide with her daughter Fumiko.

After evading the subject of blame all evening, Kikuji proclaims that ‘(He) made her die’,  a short, simple, declarative statement that acts as a clear admission of his guilt, an admission that opens up a conversation with Fumiko that allows their shared, muddled feelings to flow. The boldness of such emotional vulnerability stands in stark contrast to both traditional Japanese culture, which values conformity and emotional suppression in promotion of better relationships, and Kikuji and Fumiko’s interactions in the novel up to this point. Even when first informing Kikuji of her mother’s suicide, Fumiko did so entirely through euphemism, allowing the subtext to convey the gravity of the situation, and she only did so because she needed his help in covering the situation up, in order to preserve her and her mother’s honour. The verb ‘made’ connotes force, as well as an active effort, implying that Kikuji feels his role in her death was decisive, and had he not interfered with her affairs she would undoubtedly still be alive; he is the sole cause, and it was no accident.

However, Fumiko counters this thought by explaining that to blame anyone would be to make ‘her death seem dirty’. Describing the death with such an adjective, ‘dirty’, could reflect how suicide was considered as morally reprehensible in post-WWII Japanese society, a sinful act, or, it could connote impurity, and therefore suggest that Mrs Ota’s death was a pure act, one of sacrifice that is more reminiscent of the ancient Japanese tradition of seppuku, a ritual suicide preformed to protect one’s honour; to tie blame or guilt to her death would be to taint it with the same negativity that she was trying to vanquish.

After Fumiko goes onto explain that forgiveness is enough for the dead, and as he reflects on this, ‘a curtain in Kikuji’s mind (seems) to disappear.’ He comes to the revelation that ‘The dead did not press moral considerations upon the living’, and thus realises that Fumiko was right: to apportion guilt to himself would be to taint the nobility of Mrs Ota’s death, reinforcing my earlier point. The nouns ‘living’ and ‘dead’ act as classifiers, which denote a clear separation in Kukuji’s head; Mrs Ota is no longer a ghost, an apparition somewhere between the world of the living and the dead that can haunt him, but distinctly dead, thus implying that he is free of the unprocessed emotions he was left with after her passing. Kikuji recognising the threat of guilt to the legacy of Mrs Ota also implies that he has empathy for the dead, something he has not yet displayed towards his father, whose death often crosses his mind, highlighting Kikuji’s growth and development as a character as a result of his evolving perception of death and loss.

 

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