Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach was a German surgeon (if you couldn't tell by the name), who specialised in skin transplantation and plastic surgery. He modernised plastic surgery by introducing various new techniques. Curiously enough, he initially studied theology in university but focused on his research on plastic surgery later on in his life. He then worked as a professor in the University of Berlin. I find it curious how the author, who is obviously well educated, knows about a random German surgeon of the 19th century and has nightmares about him? (p.108)

I think this summarises the entire novella and every piece of imagery Marechera presented. We can connect this to the film we watched and how disappointed the author was to return to Zimbabwe and see no change whatsoever since he left. However, this time we see everything from Harry's point of view, and it seems way more objective than Marechera's description. The whole notion of failure seems to be part of the theme of the novella, but I can't exactly wrap my head around it--why can no one imagine a better future? Perhaps, they have lived their entire lives in this "prison"; their mindsets don't allow them to see further than the present day. Why would Harry state that evil and failure are the same? I think this has to do with his masculinity--he cannot be seen vulnerable at any point, thus failure is the same as all the evil things that follow. (p.111)

This is important to consider when analysing the relationship between white and black people. Africa was to a huge extent a colony to European countries, and the US still have a lot of influence over it; I think this is the central issue of the novella but presented through the inner experience of Marechera. The fact that they've only studied European and American history shows the Western bias in their society and corruption amongst key political figures--the education that the youth receives is entirely based on decisions made by "the bloody whites," which I think is what angers Marechera in the first place. (page 89)

No one has talked about this so far; I'm surprised. This is interesting having in mind the previous sentence "a typical African bully in an ordinary African school." Everyone interested in politics/history, please consider this annotation ;)

DAMN,YES,ABSOLUTELY

This whole paragraph seems to be the most important one so far. We finally get an insight as to what angers the author, what drives him to write the book, and it isn't recalling events anymore, but he rather expresses his emotions through all this imagery and fool language. The whole paragraph explains his anger, but he also says "a lot of anger gets you nowhere". The fact that Marechera has realised that but cannot help the anger shows his rational and at the same time irrational thinking. Honestly, this isn't the only contradiction in the book so far--everything is told from a subjective point of view after all. However, in this paragraph he also utilises nature to describe the behaviour of people--all those who managed to escape abroad. I find this interesting not only because it seems to be the culmination of the story, but also because the author finally expresses his thoughts and emotions! (page 84-85)

This is an interesting sentence if you are interested in philosophy. First of all, the verb Marechera uses "stitched" show some kind of a wound that needs to be treated and healed. But then, he talks about "needles of existentialism". Existentialism is a problem in philosophy exploring the depths of human existence and the experiences of "the thinking, feeling, acting individual" (wikipedia). We can make an obvious connection to how Marechera feels in his surroundings. With his education he obviously questions the meaning of his existence, and I can imagine what he feels like. Without analysing this sentence too deep, I think the author draws a picture in the reader's mind of a wounded, self-searching individual. (page 83)

Before Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, there was a Southern Rhodesia Communist Party, which was illegal. It was formed in 1941 when the Rhodesian Labour party split and was predominantly made up of white people. However, the group disbanded in 1940s. I don't know if this is related to the story, but it was an interesting bit of information I found online. Having in mind the party consisted mainly of white people, there is even more justification for the main character's hatred. However, I don't understand why he connects communism with terrorism as he asks in the next line. Did I get something wrong or miss something? (page 81)

This may seem like a silly observation, but Marechera mentions the word "fat" twice in this passage. There's an obvious connection to the title "House of Hunger", which we still don't know whether it should be interpreted as a physical place or a state of mind. In this context, there is an obvious negative connotation to the word "fat" and is connected to the white people in the region as well. I think this is done in order to juxtapose the lifestyle of the white and black people, but also to give the reader a better understanding of the hatred between the two groups. This is starting to form as a theme of the novella. (p.81)

(47) Elijah was a prophet and a miracle worker who lived in Israel according to the Books of Kings. It was believed that God performed miracles through Elijah, such as resurrection, "bringing fire down from the sky, and entering Heaven alive "by fire"' (Wikipedia). This once again shows how knowledgable the narrator is.

This is an interesting simile and somehow personification at the same time as the narrator compares a natural phenomenon to a human activity. It is also worth mentioning the dimensions of description of the rain: sure, there is the natural element of it, but the author also uses a lot of people-associated words like "drums", "talking", "fist". (page 45) We can say that for the following passage as well: "That rain: it chattered its sharp little teeth; it foamed at the mouth against everything. The argument of it left us stunned." (45)

We see once again the sun as a motif. As I've talked already, it probably symbolises a new beginning or an important change in the narrator's life. However, I don't understand what the author means by "the sun had rings around it." The narrator also tends to describe natural phenomena in a peculiar manner, so I am honestly not surprised that as I continue reading the paragraph, I actually understand the author is talking about rain. Such literary tools show for sure the outcome of the narrator's education. (page 44)

The narrator tends to digress very often. This also aids the fragmentation of the overall story, but to me it proves the authenticity of the autobiography. Not only does the author share the events in a randomised order, but he also includes his thoughts in random places, making it very difficult to follow. However, I understand the human psychology behind it, and since Marechera isn't a professional writer, I would say this thought-sharing process is as authentic as possible. (page 43).

this is another reference to how intelligent the narrator actually is. It isn't only about his education, but about the amount of time he puts into learning and reading as well. His curiosity is what I think pushes him forward no matter how discouraged he is by the rest of the world. Encyclopaedia Britannica was originally published in 1768, and now it serves as an online general language encyclopaedia. (page 43)

What would be the cause of these voices?

Something interesting I found out about the name is that it means "home ruler"coming from old German. I know the character isn't fictional, but the name actually fits his personality.

The narrator focuses on eyes a lot in this passage; while eyes are usually perceived as a gateway to someone's soul, they can be very misleading as well. In the context of this book, I think the narrator focuses on eyes so much because they show sincerity. Here are some curious facts about eyes I just researched: eyes are slightly asymmetrical. We perceive light through our eyes and thus can see colours depending on the visual spectrum of light. As people get older their vision gets worse due to macular degeneration. This isn't entirely related to the book, but I find it interesting, considering the narrator subconsciously follows this psychological aspect of eyes. (page 35)

The sun is mentioned twice in the first page by itself. I predict that the sun is going to be an overall motif throughout the novel, and I cannot go without symbolising what the sun means despite Mr. Henrick telling me that I shouldn't use this as a form of analysis... Since the passage begins with a lot of short sentences with the narrator obviously going somewhere, the sun is a nice addition to this feeling of the upcoming revolution. I don't know if I am the only one who feels this way. (page 11)

The book begins with an interesting paragraph full of short sentences with a fast pace: the short sentences create rhythm, and the reader is immediately involved in the fast pace of narration. This is probably done in order to engage the reader but also to contrast the slow pace of the following passages (and to anticipate what is going to happen). page 11