Old Niakoro, Fa Keita’s wife and Bakayoko’s mother, exclaimed despairingly about the events of the strike, “Our world is falling apart,” to which probably Fa Keita responded, “No, woman; it was your son who said, “Our world is opening up” (87). Consider the events of the chapter and the novel thus far and explain how both could be simultaneously true.
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February 22, 2009 at 3:12 pm |
In the eyes of Niakoro, Tiemoko seems to be losing his African culture. Tiemoko has picked up the toubabs’ customs, and he is advocating that a trial be held for Diara, his own uncle. He reads the book by toubabs to learn about conducting trials. The machines and books of the white have corrupted the minds of the younger generation, but they have also opened up doors too. If it were not for the presence of the white men, there would not have been a strike. This common enemy has united most African and Bakayoko understands. By striking the ultimate goal is to have a country run by Africans, not the Europeans. And I think that it is what Niakoro wants but she doesn’t understand the concept of a strike.
February 22, 2009 at 7:15 pm |
Both of these statements are true, depending on the speaker’s definition of “our world”. If “our world” is the town’s close-knit community and traditional customs and jobs, then yes, it is falling apart. The Europeans came in and forced their own customs and jobs onto the African culture and tore it apart. However, if “our world” is the world as a whole, it is opening up because the Africans are being introduced to new cultures and new traditions that are making them more worldly than before. It completely depends on whether or not the speaker wants to remain the traditional African village or be transformed by the Europeans.
February 22, 2009 at 7:44 pm |
In Niakoro perspective she feels as though their African culture is rapidly vanishing when she says “Our world is falling apart”. She resembles Okonkwo in a way because when Okonkwo had come back to his village after being exiled, he felt the same way that Niakoro is feeling now, but only she is literally seeing everything fall apart in her society. However, Maddy and Gulaid, I disagree with the fact that both of you guys are saying the Europeans are introducing Africa to new cultures and traditions, because theoretically those are the main components that is corrupting and destroying the African society. This is what Niakoro sees happening. Although it seems reasonable that the influence of the western civilization is leading Africa into better opportunities, it brings us back to the aspect of dehumanization in which Conrad was doing. I strongly believe that Niakoro understands the concept of the strike, which is what Gulaid you disagreed with. It doesn’t make sense how the strike “unites” the Africans because all its doing is segregating them apart.
February 22, 2009 at 8:19 pm |
I think as well that both are true statements. Many of the traditions are starting to fall apart which would bother Niakoro and others of her generation. These new concepts may be troubling to people of the elder generation because they are unfamiliar with these new concepts and feel that the ‘world is falling apart’ because they see that some of their traditions are falling apart. However, these new concepts while braking apart some traditions are bring forth more modern ideas that the younger generation are working for like Tiemoko’s effort to try Diara because he wants his people to “move forward to a point where it will no longer be necessary to punish men as… [they]… have in the past” (89).
February 22, 2009 at 11:33 pm |
Both tese quotes can be true in relation to this chapter because when Niakoro says, “Our world is falling apart,” she signifies how the onslaught of europeans, and the resulting stike that forces the Malian people into near starvation is ruining the peaceful coexistence and culture of the native people. However, the sentiment that Bakayoko illustrates, “Our world is opening up,” can also be seen because the influx of european culture and technology brought trade, wealth, and jobs into Africa. At the same time, the French brought in concepts of higher education such as N’Deye Touti, someone very close to Bakayoko, had been given.
February 23, 2009 at 4:16 am |
These quotes are both true when Old Nikaro said ” Our world is falling apart” she is expressing her true feelings towards change and sees it in a negative aspect. From the beginning she didn’t want the strike because she knew along with the strike their would be struggle..struggle in which she did not want. With Diara going to trial she only sees things falling apart. When the other quote is said ” Our world is opening up” it expresses that not only did we go through the hard troubles but finally their is good coming out of this strike that people have stood up for themselves that wiht the europeans coming in and imperailizing and seizing control that caused people to fight back.
February 23, 2009 at 4:39 am |
To me, it is profoundly that both of these statements are happening simultaneously in post World War II Africa. Niakoro’s world, the former, traditional Africa, is disappearing. As she notes in the beginning of the book, Niakoro and her fellow elders no longer receive the respect that, at least in Niakoro’s time as a child, the elders used to inherently command. So as Niakoro, the elder, with not much time left on earth sees it, the world is falling apart, and it is a travesty to her that Ad’jibid’ji will not grow up in the world that she did. However, her son, Ibrahim Bakayoko, has embraced the onset of European culture by becoming well-read in European literature and well-versed in the practices and traditions of Europeans, and he sees an opportunity for his people to enrich their lives and become more understanding of the world in which they live as a whole. To me, although the people are certainly in crisis with the strike and the forced westernization of the culture, there is also the silver lining of exposure to a completely different culture and an opportunity to learn something about another culture in the world. It’s a shame that that particular opportunity had to come at the expense of much of the traditional culture of the Africans in that area.
February 23, 2009 at 5:34 am |
These statements while addressing the obvious issue of the European’s impact on the African society, also bring up the issue that the book began with: the older generation versus the younger ones. Yes, it is true and clear that the Europeans caused civil conflicts and obviously tested and in many ways did cause their “world” to “fall apart” because for elders like Niakoro, to watch the younger generations submit to a different way of life and therefore leaving traditions behind is the worst thing that could happen, for it is those traditions that Niakoro and elders hold so highly. Meanwhile, for the younger generation they see the new way of life, the books, the education as a sort of opportunity because in one way, good or bad, it is new. So although Fa Keita’s words may have held optimism, like Bill was saying for people like Niakoro in no way is this influence a positive. Either way, both statements hold elements of truth in them simply because of the reality of the situation.
February 23, 2009 at 6:14 pm |
The two statements are opposing but they are obviously true for the people who said them. Niokoro truly sees her heritage, culture, and traditions falling apart and there is no point in resisting change considering she is old and obviously not everyone agrees with her. It is difficult for her to accept changes, and western modernizations that defy everything she lived for all her life. It would be almost exactly like comparing Okonkwo, stuck to the past ways, and Nwoye who fell in love with the music of the new god. In both books the younger generation is not only more apt to accept changes, but they seem to love them. many of the younger characters we have met would like to welcome these changes but are feeling divided because the old culture of their people forbids it. Both N’deye and Ibrahim Bakayoko, of the younger generation, can read and thus have read european literature. Their minds have been opened to so much interesting, different, new material that it would be impossible for them to believe that the “world is falling apart”. One’s outlook on the future in this novel and in the total situation in Africa depends on their ability to let go of the past.
February 23, 2009 at 10:31 pm |
These two statements are true during this fight, with Niakoro seeing the Europeans as an absolute evil, ruining her culture and heritage, whereas basically everyone else sees differently. As Maddie said earlier, “our world” most likely is the town community, and how in reality, that world is falling apart, as the Europeans came and pushed their changes onto the Africans. Niakoro really sees all the changes as a negative aspect, where the younger people know that the Europeans were a cause for the strike, they aren’t overall negative about what the Europeans them, as they had brought/pushed forth new literature and a new perspective onto them.
February 24, 2009 at 12:26 am |
These statements can both be true in the context of how the character perceives the world around them. Niakoro is old and has seen how Africa used to be when she was a child, and the changing world around her frightens her because she realizes that the old culture is being destroyed by the European invaders. However, Bakayoko’s statement that “our world is opening up” shows what good can come from the Europeans. The building of the railroad has given jobs to all the African men, and as a result they are given something to do and in return get paid. However, as a consequence the old African culture is destroyed, just as Niakoro sees it. Both of these statements are true, but it depends on which character looks at these two contradictory statements, which could probably more generally be put into the categories of young and old.
February 24, 2009 at 1:41 am |
These statements can be, simultaneously, be true because their world can open up as a result of it falling apart. Niakoro is reacting from seeing culture she grew up with, and relies on, rapidly changing. The young people are making decisions without the old, and now Tiemoko wants to hold a trial. Then Fa Keita brings in Bakayoko’s perspective. Their world is opening up because out of all this destruction, or change, they are also given the chance to develop their culture.
February 24, 2009 at 11:23 pm |
The elders believe their world is “falling apart” because the old traditions are slowly dissolving. The younger generation believes that their world is “opening up” because for them change is good. Both of these statements are true, and parallel each other. The perspective of the elders is different than that of the younger generations so the opinions are different.
March 12, 2009 at 12:41 am |
I agree with Bill’s statement and I believe that both of these statements can be falling apart. True of many elder generations that live long enough to see the profound changed of their culture, Niakoro’s world is indeed falling apart. I think a recurrent theme in the novel is that western culture has brought opportunity in the form of independence especially for women, which ab’jibid’ji addresses in the very first chapter. As true for many cultures undergoing change, the old is falling apart and fading away making way for a new opening up. Whether positive or negative, it is hard for me to judge, but there is definitely change nevertheless.
March 15, 2009 at 11:00 pm |
Both Niakoro and Fa Kieta are traditional africans who love their culture with a passion, but the difference between them is Fa Kieta’s openness to new things instead of Niakoro’s rigidness to the old ways. Niakoro is clearly focused upon the negative aspects of the Toubabs and the strike, such as the new dependence upon the white people, the destruction of their old traditions, the low wages and bad pay, or the new disrespect that is shown to the elders. Fa kieta sees these things but also feels grateful for the new jobs available for them and the education that has been brought in. Therefore depending on perspective this could definately be true both ways.