My voice is reduced to a whisper. “What of Mbiti?” Mary gives me a deep glance, fiercely bright. She says: “Mbiti is lucky. She has not been caught. Until she is caught, she will be one of the guardians of the forest. Mbiti is always an ogre and always the sister of ogres.”]
Spoiler alert: Mary is Mbiti. she guards the forest and asks certain individuals who come to eat of the fruit of knowledge if they will become her disciples/children
[“My brother,” Mary says.
foreshadowing
I imagine clasping the hand of this young man, who is like Mary and like myself. Beneath our joined hands, my employer lies slain. The ogres tear open the tins and enjoy a prodigious feast among the darkling trees.
Ogres are freedom-fighters apparently.
Eldoret
major city in Kenya
There is nothing, he tells me, more odious than a German
Employer is definitely British
ghee
a type of butter
He will be betrayed by song. He will die in a pit, pierced by spears.
foretold by whom I wonder....
I ask myself if there are words contained in Mary’s margins: stories of ogres she cannot tell to me
A very interesting and essay worthy concept. What is the difference between irrelevant truth and important story. What would we consider our own relevant truths?
Mary’s mouth twisted. “So is Kibugi,” she said.
This is an excellent burn. Calling him a monster (probably because he helps a monster) I wonder if this might be foreshadowing ...
In fact, we all pray together. We are tired and far from home. We are here for money, and when we talk, we talk about money. We can discuss calculations for hours: what we expect to buy, where we expect to invest. Our languages are different but all of us count in Swahili.]
Without the actual cause for this truce, I wish this type of camaraderie was more commonplace.
This, he tells me, is a racial defect, and therefore not my fault, but I may improve myself by following his example.
Ah racism of the imperialist. I was wondering what time frame to put this in but now it is all but stated that this is during the time period that Africa was controlled by varying entities such as the British.
plaiting
old term for interweaving thread or hair into a braid
Its great pleasure is to impersonate human beings: if your dearest friend wears a cloak and claims to suffer from a cold, he may be a ba’ati in disguise.
This sounds very similar to another mythical creature: the doppelganger. I wonder if the etiology of these creatures is related
A girl gets sick of a rose.
I feel like this is en keeping with the concept that college students experience when they are "let off their mother's apron strings" where the individual longs for the new and can become overwhelmed by it if no self control has been instilled within them
Gwen (Moldova) = very tough, due to Moldovan youth: used bloody sheets found in trash + duct tape to make soccer ball, then, after much practice with bloody-sheet ball, nearly made Olympic team (!). Betty (Philippines) has daughter, who, when swimming, will sometimes hitch ride on shell of sea turtle. Lisa (Somalia) once saw lion on roof of her uncle’s “mini-lorry.” Tami (Laos) had pet water buffalo, water buffalo stepped on her foot, now Tami must wear special shoe. “Fun Fact”: their names (Betty, Tami, et al.) not their real names. These = SG names, given by Greenway at time of arrival. “Tami” = Januka = “happy ray of sun.” “Betty” = Nenita = “blessed-beloved.” “Gwen” = Evgenia. (Does not know what her name means.) “Lisa” = Ayan = “happy traveller.”
We see the writing switch back to refering to the name as the primary because we are seeing the SGs as people once more
Replacement Debit
There is another dystopian tale told in the form of a rock opera called "Repo! The Genetic Opera" which this tale is beginning to sound like. It would be interesting to compare these two tales
Point is, I said, everything relative. SGs have lived very different lives from us. Their lives brutal, harsh, unpromising. What looks scary/unpleasant to us may not be so scary/unpleasant to them, i.e., they have seen worse.
Another debatable topic for an essay
So, just because everyone is doing it, that makes it right. This cute. Eva parroting me, Pam.
Yet another philosophical topic. There are so many in this text. Dystopian readings are rife with debatable topics.
Typical house. (Can tell is meant to be our house by mock-cherry tree = swirl of pink.) In yard, SGs frowning. One (Betty) having thought in cartoon balloon: “OUCH! THIS SURE HERTS.” Second (Gwen), pointing long bony finger at house: “THANKS LODES.” Third (Lisa), tears rolling down cheeks: “WHAT IF I AM YOUR DAUHTER?”
Painful imagery but all too familiar given some of the ads in today's society (possible talk topic)
(Actually have never been to Europe myself. Dad felt portions there too small. Then Dad lost job, got paper route, portion size = moot point
Irony
Try to extend positive feelings associated with Scratch-Off win into all areas of life. Be bigger presence at work. Race up ladder (joyfully, w/ smile on face), get raise. Get in best shape of life, start dressing nicer. Learn guitar? Make point of noticing beauty of world? Why not educate self re birds, flowers, trees, constellations, become true citizen of natural world, walk around neighborhood w/ kids, patiently teaching kids names of birds, flowers, etc., etc.? Why not take kids to Europe? Kids have never been. Have never, in Alps, had hot chocolate in mountain café, served by kindly white-haired innkeeper, who finds them so sophisticated/friendly relative to usual snotty/rich American kids (who always ignore his pretty but crippled daughter w/ braids) that he shows them secret hiking path to incredible glade, kids frolic in glade, sit with crippled pretty girl on grass, later say it was most beautiful day of their lives, keep in touch with crippled girl via e-mail, we arrange surgery for her here, surgeon so touched he agrees to do for free, she is on front page of our paper, we are on front page of their paper in Alps?
At least his dreams are consistent throughout the entirety of text.
Possible topic: "having a dream without waking to see reality"
Greenway folks who come by 3x/day to give SGs meals/water, take SGs to SmallJon in back of van, deal with feminine issues, etc., etc
First real indication that SGs are still actually alive. I wonder about how long they actually last without actual movement ability. Their muscles must atrophy quite a bit as time goes on.
Correction: Pam not raised wealthy. Pam’s father = farmer in small town. Had biggest farm on edge of small town. So, relative to girls on smaller farms, Pam = rich girl. If same farm near bigger town, farm only average, but no: town so small, modest farm = estate.
Possible topic on theory of "big fish in little pond" effect
re
internet slang used to denote what something is "about". The author uses this several times throughout the text
if kid too sensitive, kid goes out in world, world rips kid’s guts out, i.e., some toughness req’d?
Another possible topic to consider writing about
Lilly, on other hand, wrote all thank-you notes tonight in one sitting, mopped kitchen without being asked, then was out in yard w/ flashlight, picking up Ferber area with new poop-scoop she apparently rode on bike to buy w/ own money at Fas Mart (!).
The passing on of values...questionable values but values none the less.
Do not look sad. Are in fact quietly chatting in moonlight.)
Don't know if they are actually chatting or just appear to be given their suspension together. I thought that they would be turned towards the road in the front yard but maybe they went outside?
Laotian (Tami) applied due to two sisters already in brothels. Moldovan (Gwen) has cousin who thought she was becoming window-washer in Germany, but no: sex slave in Kuwait (!). Somali (Lisa) watched father + little sister die of AIDS, same tiny thatch hut, same year. Filipina (Betty) has little brother “very skilled for computer,” parents cannot afford high school, have lived in tiny lean-to with three other families since their own tiny lean-to slid down hillside in earthquake
Notice that SG's are now refered to primarily by their origin rather than their names. Shows dehumanization. Possible topic here.
Also, (please parden the expletive) but HOLY SHIT this is severely messed up but also very realistic view of actual situations in the world.
Eva: I don’t like it. It’s not nice.
Out of the mouths of babes....
Crack the Whip
Interesting game choice given their latest lawn ornament addition
Tami (Laos), Gwen (Moldova), Lisa (Somalia), Betty (Philippines).
I kinda wish one of their shoes had fallen off. Then the shoe could have metaphorically and literal dropped. This is disturbing beyond belief and yet somehow completely believable at the same time.
masseuse scenario—do not ask!
We may not ask but we may laugh and comprehend
Showed her Scratch-Off ticket.
Almost thought the register guy took the ticket and was going to get the money not the author but then this
Wow wow wow is all I can say! Remember how I always buy lunchtime Scratch-Off ticket? Have I said? Maybe did not say?
For the majortity of the reading I have presumed that the writing style was meant to show excitement or emotion (or in some cases drunkenness) but I finally get the idea that the writer is conveying their lack of writing/vocabulary skills.
but poor girl. Poorish girl.
Refusal to acknowledge poverty continues
paucity
Small amounts i.e. poverty without calling it poverty
Perhaps was bad call re letting her bring condom box? Thought, being historical, it would be good, plus perhaps kids would not notice it was condom box. But teacher noticed, pointed out, kids had big hoot, teacher used opportunity to discuss safe sex, which was good for class but maybe not so good for Lilly.
Definitely good for class but why would anyone ever think that it would be good for their daughter to bring in and not get made fun of.....
explain that it does not hurt, they are not sad but actually happy, given what their prior conditions were like: they chose, are glad, etc.
First indication of what the SG actually are
Well, huh, amazing the strange, arcane things our culture requires some of us to do, degrading things, things that offer no tangible benefit to anyone, how do they expect people to continue to even hold their heads up?
....ouch. This is degrading to talk about degrading
kitsch
in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality
gabled
Triangular pointed
smocks
A loose dress or blouse
SG
Semplica Girls (disturbing revelation as to what they are comes later)-viewed as dolls from reference to their smocks
Am getting off track, due to tired, due to those fighting cats.
I have done this many times so I sympathize with the writer
Will future people be aware of concept of “demons”? Will they find our belief in “demons” quaint? Will “windows” even exist? Interesting to future generations that even sophisticated college grad like me sometimes woke in cold sweat, thinking of demons, believing one possibly under bed?
I feel like this part of the initial passage will act as foreshadowing for the rest of the text as in will the autobiographer even recognize himself at the end of the story
truly the tower was titanic
Without knowing it, this shows more foreshadowing later than when it was written. By calling this tower "titanic", it references (not intended by the writer) the doomed ship that would come to be known by the final line in this story.
y the charitable that deed was but imputed to sudden transports of esthetic passion, not to any flagitious quality.
dacostak3, I would hazard a guess that this sentence is basically describing the view of the city of the homicide incident. It is, in my opinion, saying that Bannadona took an temporary insanity plea. He is viewed as being in an altered state of mind because of his art and thus is recuse of any such crime as much as (as in the next sentence) an Arabian charger is of killing someone by kicking them.
as with Noah’s sons, soar into Shinar aspiration
More Hebrew references as imagery/enhancement . Was Melville a devote Jewish writer? Could this be for the sole reason of creating a new religious parable for the masses to interpret and defy their darker nature?
great mechanician, the unblest foundling, Bannadonna.
I agree, dacostak3, this does seem like an interesting way of introducing the main character. An "unblest foundling" in my interpretation refers to the fact he was not favored by God and that he built his wealth and reputation rather than inheriting it from a family member.
Anak and the Titan
A reference to two old world giants of mythical history. Anak, from Judaic texts, was the forefather of a tribe of large muscular people. Titans, from Greek texts, were massive beings that were the cousins of gods (the cyclops was a titan). This reference is used to heighten the reader's imagery of the size and age of the "tree stump".
arquebuss
an early type of portable gun supported on a tripod or a forked rest.
domino
a loose cloak, worn with a mask for the upper part of the face at masquerades.
At last, when the hidden thing had attained its final height, and, obscurely seen from below, seemed almost of itself to step into the belfry, as if with little assistance from the crane
Shows subtext and foreshadowing
The unleashed metals bayed like hounds.
This passage reads to me as the sound the liquid metal made when rushing through the mold gave the workmen fear like that a convict feels when they hear the dogs are after them.
Shadrach
A Hebrew who refused (upon threat of fiery death) to bow down before a false idol
Levant
Area that borders the Mediterranean sea which encompasses Lebanon, Israel, Syria and others.
frescoed
A watercolor style of art. The author's use here is to demonstrate the rich sunk in color (culture) of the city in the time before