Uzowulu: Anger Management Help?

As the title says, my character was Uzowulu, and my monologue was based on the scene on pages 64-66. Here is the "script":

Fathers, I am Uzowulu, and my hand has touched the ground.  Today, I ask that all of you listen and pass judgment on my saddening story.  My wife Mgbafo, is the beautiful young lady standing over there.  I married her nine years ago with my own hard work and money.  I never cheated my in-laws any money or any yams, nor did I ever consider doing so; yet, how do they repay me? They break into my home, beat me to an inch away from death, and steal my wife and children away from me!  Two weeks!  I waited patiently for my wife to return for two whole weeks, yet she never came home even once.  She could have at least brought the children to see me!  So, I had no choice but to go find her at her in-law’s place.  I begged them...yes, me of all people, on my knees, to let Mgbafo come home with me.  Despite my humble acts, they refused me and even threatened to beat me if I did not leave.  So, I had to ask them to AT LEAST return the bride price.  But those greedy fools! Once again, they responded with nothing but anger and violence! If they were going to take away my wife, they could AT LEAST show the respect to return the money that I paid for her! 

So, today I bring this case to you.  I hope you understand that the reason why I asked for the return of the bride price was not because I no longer love her, but because her family won’t let her return!  I understand that perhaps in the past, I may have been a bit overly harsh in punishing her.  But I can promise you that if she comes home, I will never harm her ever again.  Also, if she were to come home, not only would I forget all the harm that her family has done to me, but I’ll even give them my largest pot of wine as a gift.  All I ask, fathers, is that you ask them to give me a chance.  Fathers, my case is finished.  No matter what your decision may be, I will respect it.  Fathers, I salute you.

I sort of changed and made up sentences during the presentation, but I tried to retain as much of it as possible. =]

Underrated Hero

After completing the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, my opinion of Okonkwo’s heroic traits has not changed.  Today, there are certain “requirements” (especially in movies and novels) that a character has in order for him/her to be regarded as a hero.  The character must either have superpowers that they can use to save his community, or he must have a kind and brave heart that gives him courage to face his fears, miraculously solve his conflict, and save his friends.  Despite how he not only does not have superpowers but is also often depicted as a heartless man in the novel, I believe that he is still a true hero in the Igbo community.  As I mentioned in my essay, this is because he has dedication to his village, great physical strength, and the villagers’ trust.  His dedication is clearly shown when he is forced to kill Ikemefuna because although most readers would see this as an act of a villain, this actually shows his dedication because he was willing to kill his own son in order to obey the traditions of his village.  As a result, he gained the villagers’ trust, which is certainly an important trait to have as a hero.  Also, his physical strength is not only well known throughout all the villages, but is also feared by them.  This was shown when Okwonkwo went to Mbaino to negotiate at the beginning of the story.  When Okwonkwo arrived at Mbaino, the villagers there had already prepared a young boy and girl to give to Umofia due to their fear of Okwonkwo's strength if a war was to start.

In addition, he is a hero because he completely matches the description of a “Dark Hero”.  Throughout the novel, Okwonkwo displays a lack of control over his anger, and his love for violent ways to solve his problems.  His flawed personality traits are clearly seen at the end of the story where his anger causes him to kill a white messenger from the church.  As a result, he is forced to commit suicide, causing the downfall of the great hero of the Igbo.

Search for Self-Identity

             In the novel Towelhead by Alicia Erian, the protagonist Jasira has two different types of conflict.  The first and most important type of conflict is man versus self because throughout the novel, Jasira is trying to discover a purpose in her life by trying to find people that truly care for her.  Although most thirteen year old children seek love from their parents, Jasira has to look elsewhere for this love because her parents are divorced and cannot seem to love her like most parents would.  Jasira’s mother trusts her boyfriend more than her daughter, and Jasira’s father is not only extremely strict but is also away home for most of the day.  As a result, Jasira seeks attention from the wrong people.  For example, her neighbour Mr. Vuoso takes sexual advantage of her by pretending to love and care for her.  Another example of how she seeks attention is how she gets close with a boy, called Thomas, at school despite the fact that her parents do not wish for her to date at such a young age.  In addition, before Jasira was sent to live with her father, she had actually attracted too much attention from her mother’s boyfriend Barry.  As a result, her mother had no choice but to send her to live in Texas with her father. 

            The second type of conflict that Jasira had to go through is man versus society.  As a citizen of the United States of America, Jasira is a victim of racism.  At school and when she babysits her neighbour, she is called a towelhead because her father is Arabian.  In addition, because the United States are currently at war with Iraq, she is teased even more.  As a result, she must fight racism in her society and find a way to gain respect from others.  Another example of how she has to fight racism is when she dates Thomas.  Her parents forced her to stop dating Thomas because he was a black boy. Jasira’s parents felt that she would have to face even more discrimination than she was already enduring.  Even Jasira’s neighbour Mr. Vuoso said to Jasira, “You’re going to ruin your reputation.  Do you understand me? If you hand around with [Thomas] no one will ever want you” (100).  As a result, Jasira not only has to fight racism against herself, but also against those that she cares about. 

            Although none of the conflicts have been completely solved, the situations have improved.  For example, Jasira’s father is beginning to grow a better relationship with Jasira, and is beginning to care for her more.  In addition, Jasira’s new neighbour Melina truly cares for her wellbeing.  This is demonstrated when Melina, despite being pregnant, sits outside Mr. Vuoso’s house on the ground waiting for Jasira to return after entering his house alone because she feels that Mr. Vuoso will take advantage of Jasira.

I cannot relate to Jasira because not only have I never had to face racism at school or in my neighbourhood, but I also have a loving family that is not divorced.  As a result, unlike Jasira, I do not need to search for love from others at school and at home.  Of course, I believe that there are many children that are currently experiencing a similar situation as because not only are divorce rates extremely high today, but racism and discrimination is still really common at schools.

Fight For Rights

Post-colonialism describes the period of struggle that multiply countries are enduring due to the previous colonialism, especially from the Europeans.  Colonialism was where a mother country would colonize smaller and weaker nations around the world.  These smaller nations would then provide resources that they would sell back to the mother country.  At first, there was a mutual relationship between the nations because the colony would be able to gain money from selling the resources, and the mother country would make goods that they could benefit off of.  However, the mother countries often also forced their culture and laws onto the colonies.  As a result, as the colonial period ended, the mother countries abandoned the colonies after all they used up all the resources, causing the colonies to fall apart both economically and politically.  Thus, post-colonialism is the attempt to repair all the damage done by colonialism.



Although Intel denied an intentional use of racism, one can clearly see that six brown men are bowing down to a single white man.  This advertisement clearly shows how many people still view the white people are superior to other races due to the colonialism period where the Europeans took advantage of their colonies around the world.

Below is another, althought less serious but still strong, example of post-colonialism is our everyday lives.  As you may know, Tom and Jerry is childrens cartoon; however, it still depicts the black people as being inferior people.  In Tom and Jerry, the maids are always black!

If you're looking for proof, the maid appears in about 2:16 of the video above =].

Due to colonialism by the Europeans in the past, the whites were often viewed as superior to other ethnicities.  For example, many companies have advertisements that depict the whites as being superior to the blacks.  Below is an ad that was actually released by Intel Company in 2007! (It actually amazes me how recent this ad was!)