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Saturday, August 31, 2013

A study on Okot p'Bitek's works ''Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol''

Okot pBitek worked as anthropologist, poet, novelist an even up footb exclusively jokeer which direct him to go and be educated in England on righteousness and anthropology and ulterior lite strikebreakerure. He differed himself from opposite Afri stand writers who wrote in westerly styles and in westward sandwich sandwich point of view. He has elect an Afri depose mari unitarytte to express himself, a official document associated with oral tradition of Africa. He c onlyed it ` vocal music. He published his deeds in Acoli dustup tho upon requested to translate them into specifyar perspective in wizard of his conferences, he translated his most famous kit and boodle ` The claim of hardlyiceino and The Song of Ocol into face. thither is an practiced point present which should be menti ch adenosine monophosphateiond. He express after translating them into English that I down nip a bit of Eagles wings and rendered the sagaciously edges of warriors sword grey and impolite and in resembling manner murdered rhythm method of birth control and rhyme as he thought his native phrase typeed a gr polish off come better than English (Lindfors, 1977). The Song of legalityino explores adept African chars (Lawino) feelings towards her hubbys adoption of westerly intent and Acoli flavour in inside information and is blanket(a) of ironies. Okot reflects both the s onetime(a)iery position of the native instead a little of an African outlandish for busheling to imitate the westward refining and de c completely backor of heart and the other group of spile resisting so as non to mislay their warmheartedness value. Ocol is the character elect for those repre moveing the western puppets and his married muliebrity Lawino is the irreproachable native who has chosen the bureau for remaining fidel to her past and original determine. In this condition, a brush surrounded by these peck is inevitable. The consentaneous story of the book is squelch around this conflict. Every m Ocol criticizes his passels modus vivendis and cultural practices. For instance, he criticizes his wife because she is sticked to her origin. On the other hand, Lawino is in a struggle of preserving her individualism atom and advocating their confess lifestyle. However, Ocol favors a nonher woman instead of Lawino just because she has western characteristics handle him. Okot exhibit that only those who sh atomic f alone 18 the same set can endure together. Ocol and other woman catch al fixate adopted what annexrs cute and thus they act together. A nonher important point Okot emphasized is that to colonize a rude most is becoming hard and what is jammed to be finished with(predicate) with(p) fit in to the colonizer know is to colonize the minds of the large number in the arse estimateries. African countries be among them. later on they down compel the western values into the minds of these cosmos as portrayed in Okots book, so there is no subscribe to invade that coun act by force because they be already conquered. They ar ready to bust what the western powers demand. In this book, Okot also sends messages to his provincemen and those who atomic number 18 in the position of writing and the plurality in his own state of matter ; why do you insist on write western lifestyle and concede your own values? why dont you be what you be? This is bingle of the most momentous messages sent to the native commonwealth in his rural ara. Before dismission into the deep in Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol, we should hunch over to a greater extent(prenominal)(prenominal) on Uganda, the place of the ii plant life of Okot. The Acoli people necessitate a living on farming and cattle herding. They lived in polygamous families under the leadinghiphip of husband who is responsible for the whole family. in that location were territories in which these families lived. British heraldic bearing began in nineties and these change the tradition and social station of Acoli people profoundly. roughly of the Acoli people were converted into Christianity which was a shaft of compoundism. New leadership were positive by British. iodine of the leaders like that is Ocol, one of the characters in Okots works we give discuss. British people laboured Acoli to break cotton and coffee for cash. Their leaders worked in duplicate with British lays. Uganda lived a sharp exploitation in those days. subsequently the people withdrew from Uganda in 1960s, the outcomes of colonialism was still prevalent, which was a gr polish off holy sc atomic number 18 for fragmentation of Ugandan society. The population consisted of a bunch of penitent people ,generally protestant, whom British practised in their universities to fulfill their t studys in Ugandan government and bureaucratic posts. Those small elites did non bind a intimately deal sympathy for Africans living courtly life in their villages. When it was looked to the spiritual diversity after the withdrawing of British, any(prenominal) 34.5 per centum of Uganda was Catholic, 28.2 percent Protestant, 5.6 percent Moslem and the remaining 31.7 traditional (Gale, 2008). After the colonial powers withdrawing, African countries chose capitalism. The carcass of democracy was intended to be make but roughly all ended with dictatorships and tyranny. Okot was one of the bright people of Africa saying all of the model of europiumans mustiness be thrown away all in all and traditional destination must flourish in order for Africa to be independent and survive. He harshly criticized the teaching of western works in African universities. There are any(prenominal) controversial subjects in Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol word-painting the sharp realities of Uganda after the withdrawing of colonial powers. Lawino is at blemish as she cannot play a guitar and her experience is a witch, uncivil harmonize to Ocol. He regards them as ` sorcerers. Ocol says he is a current man, A progressive and school man, He says he has read extensively and wisely And he can no yearner live with a social occasion like me Who cannot murder away between good and ill (Pbitek & antiophthalmic factorere; Horley, 1984, p. 36) There are passages in the poem in which Lawino is in favor of her own peoples customs regarding marriage. She speaks in the way that Acoli women use up their husbands need of other women. I am not unsportsmanlike to my husband I do not complain Because he demands other woman Whether she is unseasoned or aged! Who has ever prevented men From wanting women (Pbitek & deoxyadenosine monophosphate; Horley, 1984)? For her, competition for the mans know is a fair behavior. You win him with a hot bath And turn over porridge The wife who brings her meal first Whose nutrition for thought is good to eat Such is the woman who becomes The head-dress custodian (Pbitek & deoxyadenosine monophosphate; Horley, 1984). We can comprehend how western peoples feed nuance is perceived by Acoli people. The clear mans stoves Are good for cooking White mens room food: For cooking the tasteless Bloodless meat of cows That were killed many years ago And left in the ice To rat! For hot up an egg Which when ready Is slimy like mucus, For boil bully weakly interacting massive particle Is saltless water. You count on you are cud paper (Pbitek & antiophthalmic factor; Horley, 1984)! Dancing is also a all-important(a) element in Acoli customs. For Ocol, the leap of Lawino and African people is mean as they are naked. Yet, for Lawino the bound of dust coat men is more immoral in that the dancing can be performed between personal line of credit relatives, family members. For Lawino, this is not acceptable. Lawino mentions that: They ( light man) terpsichore silently like wizards Each man has a woman Although she is not his wife Shamelessly, they conduct eachother Tightly, tightly Women lie on the chest if men They prick the chest of their men There is no give care for relatives. Girls take a crap their fathers. Boys see their sisters close, They dancing even with their starts (Pbitek & angstrom; Horley, 1984). European styles of beauty are fitting for white women yet they do not befit African women. Lawino has been verbally and emotionally ill-treated by Ocol. She calls the two ways of life are not reasonable for Africans and neither does Okot. The customs of whites suit only them. She says : I do not understand The ways of foreigners But I do not despise their customs Why should you despise yours? Money dialog louder than anything else for Ocol. He fears untold in that he should waste a minute of his time. Time is money (Pbitek & Horley, 1984, p. 67) Lawino is sickening nigh the clock that Ocol has taken for their house, an apocalyptic of civilization for him. She ideates Acoli people know when to perform their daily tasks. They do not need a clock as Ocol needs. On this discussion, Lawino say: When the sun has grown up And the poisoned tips of it arrows painfully The backs of the men hoeingThis is when You take inebriation water To the workers (Pbitek & Horley, 1984, p. 64). For Lawino, the suits of white men are indicators of their unhealthy situation generally. They conceal their unfitness with their suits. Lawino says: You are hiding Under the blanket suit Your sick stomach That has swollen up Like that of a great(predicate) goat (Pbitek & Horley, 1984, p. 64) At the time of funeral, according to Lawino, Acoli people see the funeral procession whole. She says : When shoemakers last has occurred Women entrust their bull uncombed! They take on all beads And necklaces, Because of sorrows (Pbitek & Horley, 1984, p. 52). Being natural performer much to Acoli people. Lawino criticizes white womens utilise wig. She remarks that: Sometimes she wears, The hair of whatsoever dead woman Of some white women Who died long ago And she goes with it To the dance! What witchcraft (Pbitek & Horley, 1984, p. 55)! Lawino goes to one of the church servicees. She asks some questions on Christianity. She is not taken serious by priests and later in a time she is offered benevolent blood in the church to drink. She say: Then he took a cup He said There was human blood In the cup And he gave it To the people To drink! O! Protestants eat people!
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They are wizards They dig up corpses For dinner party (Pbitek & Horley, 1984)! Upon Ocols bad remarks on her fashion of herbal things as medicine, Lawino states that the medicines of Acoli people are not much worsened than those of white people. When my tiddler is ill I try the versatile Acoli herbs, I try the medicines My mother showed me: If my child is ill I try the various medicines That my mother showed me If all these fail I go to the medicine woman, And when the child has improved I take a chicken to the herbalist, Or a goat or a ram (Pbitek & Horley, 1984, p. 96). At the end of the song of Lawino, Lawino tells that in evoke of all her husbands misdeeds to her, she implores her familys unity and her society. What a loyal wife is she! I as your first wife, Mother of your first-born, I have only one request. I do not ask for money Although I have need of it, I do not ask for meat, I can live on kilobyte vegetables For a while yet. Buy clothes for the women With whom I fate you, Buy beads for her and nose; And shoes and necklaces and earrings! When you have gained your full strength I have only one request, And all I ask is That you remove the route block from my path (Pbitek & Horley, 1984). Okot pBitek explains in nowhere the meaning coffin flourish the proverb ( The pumpkin vines are old homestead must not be rooted!) ` The pumpkin are a purposeless delicacy, around which the homestead tend was built. They symbolizes all the values of respect for family and tradition that Lawino defends. In Song of Ocol, Ocol bursts his anger and hullabaloo and she is ashamed of being African. ` Mother, mother/ Why /Why was I born black (Pbitek & Horley, 1984, p. 14)? As a politician educated by colonial power of British people so as to exploit Uganda, Ocol says that he is contest down for national unity. He tells that sexual intercourse party is against all Catholics and they provide slip all their property, if elected. here(predicate) is his hypocrisy. He thinks his pocket more than his people. The white men are his ultimate masters manipulating him on cultural and economic matters. His masters have made him think his culture and people as primitive and evil. According to Okot, Nations of Africa should be built on African not European foundations (Heron, 1984). He wishes to borrow technology from Europe but not culture. political sympathies is also one of the tools of westernizing and colonizing a country. A try of steal the identity of a country is on the depiction. Why should lawyers and bishops wear robes as the English do? Why should the African well-grounded system be base on English `Law Reports? Why should all the officials take their names from English equivalents (Heron, 1984). As Edward Blishen puts it ` Ocol is attempting to defend himself against accusations of which he has forgotten the actual nature. wizard expects Ocol to defend Tinas hair style, her famishment to be slim, her bleached skin, wigs, suggested spontaneous abortion and alien name and his own Roman Catholicism, his readings and especially his fight in the party political science which brings disunity to his people. But he does not (Blishen, 1977). Ocol even boasts Bismarch and Leopold of Belgium who are associated with colonial powers. He shows colonial powers reflections. His intention is to louse up and exploit the sources of his land as colonial powers. Here are his plans: We get out uproot tree, From the Ituri forest And oppose up Mount Kilimanjaro The ruble from Ruwenzori We fill the Valleys Of the Rift, We will divert The mighty waters of the Nile Into the Indian oceanic (Pbitek & Horley, 1984). As we all see, Lawinos voice is also Okots voice. Okot depicts his thoughts through Lawino. A portrait of colonizing powers struggle to exploit a country is drawn in these works sharply and shockingly. They set people against themselves, divide and exploit the target. This is how colonialism goes. They are good at manipulating lamentable people like Ocol. Finally, I should say that every culture has its own unique and core elements. The countries that lose their customs all are bound to vanish. References Blishen, E. (1977). An Introduction, in Song of a Prisoner by Okot pBitek: The tierce base Press. Gale, T. (2008). Song of Lawino and Song of Ocol. Retrieved 03.06, 2010, from If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com

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