LITERARY ANALYSIS

KAYJATTA

A PORTRAIT IN GEORGIA: JEAN TOOMER.

Hair—braided chestnut,
        coiled like a lyncher's rope,
Eyes—fagots,
Lips—old scars, or the first red blisters,
Breach—the last sweet scent of cane,
And her slim body, white as the ash
        of black flesh after flame.

A PORTRAIT IN GEORGIA: JEAN TOOMER

This poem by Toomer is about identity and violence, racial identity and violence. It is about one race meting out violence and aggression against another. The imageries of lynching-a common form of racial violence in the South up to the 1960s and ‘70s, beating, burning, and torture are unmistakable. John Callahan (1988) referred to this poem as a description of “a white Southern obsession behind the blood sacrifice of lynching”. This is a fitting description of what Toomer sought to capture in this narrative poem, as the beautiful figure of a Southern white woman is transformed into a black victim by lynching. The imagery in this poem (A Portrait In Georgia) appears to call to attention especially the black community about the prevailing danger of daily life in the South. This fact, in consistence with Callahan’s argument, is also what psychologists might refer to as displacement of aggression. The violence inflicted on the body of the white woman is actually intended or directed to the black man. Toomer succinctly captures this in the last two lines of the poem:

         And her slim body, white as the ash

             Of black flesh after flame

George Hutchinson (1993) argued that Toomer’s poem is a “haunting evocation of the racial boundary”. As the image of the body of a beautiful white woman dissolves into the image of a lynched black man, we are reminded of the taboo of inter-racial romantic relationship (miscegenation). The lynched black man perhaps, in agreement with Hutchinson’s argument, is punished for defiling white womanhood. However, Toomer’s technique of juxtaposing or even uniting a white woman with a black man by way of lynching may speak beyond racial segregation and identity.

AMERICA: CLAUDE McKAY

America

By Claude McKay 1889–1948 Claude McKay

Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,

And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth,

Stealing my breath of life, I will confess

I love this cultured hell that tests my youth.

Her vigor flows like tides into my blood,

Giving me strength erect against her hate,

Her bigness sweeps my being like a flood.

Yet, as a rebel fronts a king in state,

I stand within her walls with not a shred

Of terror, malice, not a word of jeer.

Darkly I gaze into the days ahead,

And see her might and granite wonders there,

Beneath the touch of Time's unerring hand,

Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand.

The Jamaican-born Claude McKay, in this poem called “America”, expresses a bitter-sweet experience with America, his adopted country.  McKay was closely followed by the FBI for a long time. In the poem he quickly laid out two conflicting emotions and attitudes towards American society, one of intense love and the other an intense hatred. The poem is obviously about love and hatred, but also about hope and somewhat a sense of loss (despair). Consequently, this poem is an illustration of duality in that it traverses two different parallel worlds of love and hate, and also hope and despair. In fact Nina Baym (2008) called it tersely as a “frustrating duality”. Phrases like cultured hell, bread of bitterness, I stand within her walls, darkly I gaze into the days ahead, and etc all points to this ambivalence about America as a country and as a society. Mckay celebrates what America provided for him (bread) but also condemns what America denied him (human rights and equality). This mixed feeling about America, as Ms. Baym argues, is the “dominant attitude portrayed by blacks” during the Jim Crow years of the 1920s. In lines 8 through 10, the narrator in the poem alludes to the confidence and brevity (… as a rebel fronts the king…). This allusion is McKay’s attempt at “perverting the perceived societal norm” of yielding (or not standing up to) authority-the injustice of racial discrimination (Baym, N. 2008). In lines 5 and 6, the narrator alludes to the hope that the emerging nation called America offers.

In this poem, McKay also draws our attention to questions of justice, law and order. Perhaps law and order is presented here as a protector of the status quo- an injustice, which Mckay’s narrator boldly confronts and stands up to. In the last line (line 14)

                              Like priceless treasures sinking in the sand

McKay expresses extreme despair about America’s future, as the great contributions many great men and women (…her might and granite wonders…, line 12), fades away in the sand.

                                                              WORKS CITED:

1.      The Norton Anthology: American Literature. 7^th Ed (2008)

2.      The African-American Grain: The Pursuit of Voice in Twentieth –Century Black Fiction (1988).

3.      Texas Studies in Literature and Language (1993).

STOP THE TYRANNY; LET’S TALK ABOUT POLITICS:

KAYJATTA

The November 24^th, 2011 presidential election approaches in the Gambia, and the debate intensifies over the need and form of an opposition coalition to unseat the regime of President Jammeh. Jammeh , was a junior officer in the army when he led a group of fellow disgruntled officers in a military coup that ended thirty years of democratic rule in the Gambia in July of 1994. Since then, President Jammeh has ruled the Gambia with an iron fist continuously firing civil servants, judges, and national Assembly members; jailing, assassinating, and summarily executing real and perceived opponents.  Media houses have been torched, journalists are intimidated on a daily basis, and all forms of dissent-including opposition political parties are suppressed .It should be noted that before Jammeh took over power, the Gambia was roundly hailed as a symbol of stability, peace, and rule of law in a continent mired in civil and military conflict. Since coming to power in the summer of 1994, Jammeh has won three elections amidst widespread intimidation and violence, all controversial and described by international observers as not free and fair.

As the 2011 presidential election approaches, representatives of the opposition parties, namely PDOIS, UDP, PPP, GMC and GDP have intensified negotiations to forge a united front to challenge Jammeh’s APRC regime that has ruled for nearly 18 years. The current negotiations for an opposition merger occurs in the shadow of the previous failed merger called NADD in 2006 that left the opposition heavily divided and disorganized. The negotiations are so far stalled for the following reasons:

1.      The United Democratic Party (UDP), the largest opposition party wants to be the unconditional leader of the coalition to be represented by its long time presidential candidate, Lawyer Ousainou Darboe.

2.      The National Reconciliation Party (NRP), represented by Mr. Hamat Bah, a former hotel entertainer insists that it is his time to lead.

3.      The People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) insists on the conduction of a primary election (convention) to select the leader for the opposition merger.

This stalemate has generated an intense debate inside and outside of the Gambia about the way forward. However, the real argument or negotiation has since been stifled and the whole effort has been reduced to accusations, vilifications and ridicule of those considered to be the obstacle. Some stakeholders in the Diaspora, including the Freedom Radio and newspaper have viciously attacked Halifa Sallah and PDOIS for their stance on the need for a convention of delegates to select a leader. These third party stakeholders are pushing for an unconditional UDP-led coalition because they believe that there is no more time for continued negotiations. Yet they failed to realize that for over a year Halifa Sallah and PDOIS/NADD has been selling the idea of “Agenda 2011” without serious support from the Diaspora and other opposition parties. Now all of a sudden, there is no time!!! All of a sudden the idea of a convention or primary election is in the domain of “academia”!!!

Again, in my humble view, the Gambians have shown their true color-the contempt for institutions, due process, and procedure. Halifa Sallah, the United States trained sociologist is the only political leader who stands for due process, a mechanism to select a leader that can be accepted by all. Everybody else in the crowd is opting for sycophancy and patronage-two familiar words in Gambian body politics. In the Gambia, it appears institutions do not matter; due process does not matter. How is democracy possible without respect for institutions and due process? Lack of time is not an excuse for this apparent tyranny of the majority. This lack of Gambian respect for institutions and due process in favor of sycophancy and patronage is again being played out in another event unfolding in the Gambia currently-in the matter of Moses Richards, Lamin K. Mboge, the Bar Association and President Jammeh.

It should be clear to all that PDOIS ( Halifa)’s significance is not measured by its less than 10% electoral share of votes as critics like to argue, rather it is measured by the weight of his ideas. That is what made Halifa an incredibly huge authority figure in Gambian affairs. Besides, if the majoritarian camp really believes that PDOIS and Halifa are so insignificant, why are they wasting so much time trying to get their support?

African politics, opposition politics for that matter is an adaptation to the succession of ruling parties since independence in the 1950s and 1960s. It is largely characterized by longevity, single candidature, and personality cults. I am deeply concerned that the Gambia is poised to preserve this legacy beyond Jammeh’s rule.

LITERARY ANALYSIS: A FEATURE POEM

KAYJATTA

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN: BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference


1. What type of choices do you think the fork in the road represents for the narrator?
The fork in the road represents only a choice to take a chance based on faith and free will since both roads are equally travelled and there is no way of knowing what lies ahead by taking any one particular road. The choice presented here is perhaps a metaphor for the daily challenges of decision making in life. It might also be a reference to fate and predetermination or determinism.

2. What reason(s) does Frost give for choosing the road he chose?
The reason Frost gives for choosing the road he chose is that "it was grassy and wanted wear" (pg. 1801, Line 8), but we know this is bogus because he later said in lines 9 and 10 that both roads are really "...worn about the same"; and "both that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black" (Lines 11, 12). Frost has made a life decision about choosing one road over another since he could not travel both roads, and there is no clear reason just like many decisions in life...
.
3. Does the sigh signal a sign of relief? Or hesitation that he should have chosen the other path? Why?
I think the 'sigh' signal is not as much a sign of relief or hesitation as such, rather it might be an attempt at self scrutiny and accountability. Frost or the narrator seems to anticipate a future reflection and scrutiny of his decision and perhaps his own interpretation of it as having taken "...the road less traveled by, / ...that has made all the difference" (Lines 19, 20). This interpretation is fraught with bias and insincerity because there is no way of knowing what opportunities he may have missed by not taking the other road....