I really like these combinations, "joinimupbet," "markimbet" and "shortenimupbet." For English speakers it may sound a little silly but the truth is we say the same thing it's just we don't combine it into a word in a written sense. If you're already going to be saying "shorten it up a bit" why not just have a word for it? I think pidgin kind of shows that what one person sees as "simple" or "bad grammar" another person sees as being economical with their words. And when Engilsh itself was developing German and French speakers probably also thought that it was ruining their languages. So that's my opinion, don't judge a language for sounding silly or having simpler vocabulary because all languages evolve for the same reason: to allow people to communicate, not to have a bunch of nice-sounding words.

In the beginning of Chapter 3, I am struck by the irony of the thing that is being complained about. It's as if living in prison for committing no crime at all has become such a normal part of Khadija's life that the only concrete thing she can complain about is a math website being blocked. It's very sad that "immigration detention" is even a word existent in our language, and so much more when you realize that people are forced to adapt to it in their daily lives. Not just the prisoners, but also the guards, who act mean and ruthless, knowing that they ultimately have control over powerless human beings. Maybe the guards aren't evil to the core, but how can you ever be a good person when your job is to unjustly hold other people captive?

This poem reflects the attitude toward art held by Marjorie Bilbil's tribe, and many other groups with a strong sense of community-held culture. For them art is not just a fun way to pass the time, nor is it just an occassion for a community gathering. It is the primary way that the culture and history of the society is passed down. Since the younger people aspiring to be artists learn from the older people, they can manage to keep their art forms largely the same throughout a long time period, and also preserve the communal understanding of their history.

Contrasting this with how art is seen in a more modern context, it is much more of an individual venture, based on your creativity and ambition. The tastes for art are also very individualized. Here, art is much more of a craft than a creative outlet, as the practices of the tribe ensures it remains a staple of the community and remains mostly the same over time.

This hits a good point; there is a reason that stories about journeys are usually the most compelling. It is because they allow us to see a character change occur at the same time as a location change, dramatizing the plot to a great extent. In the Hero's Journey framework of fiction, the hero always spends more time spent in the unknown than in the known, because it is in the unknown that we are able to change and better understand what our home really is. I think this paragraph is arguing that these epic stories do the same but for the discovery of a nation or a community in the place of an individual identity.

This is a good example of one of the biggest downsides of being famous. Because people are constantly trying to take advantage of you, it is very difficult to trust strangers. I think that is especially what leaves Ka with a bad taste in her mouth at the end of this - knowing that Gabrielle Fonteneau believes she has betrayed her trust. This has repercussions too, as it means that Celine might feel she was taken advantage of, and now Ka can no longer think of Gabrielle Fonteneau the same way, knowing that she might have a personal disdain for her. (This is also the bad part of meeting a famous person - you can no longer have that idealized image of them in your mind.)

It's very hard to interpret this... while the first half of this novella had a very serious, angry tone, this section is much more mocking and almost comedic. You can't help but laugh to yourself thinking of someone dying by jumping into a swimming pool connected to a live wire designed to prevent robbery. (Okay, at least I thought it was funny... don't judge me please.) One of the themes that Kincaid has been developing in this part of the text is the foolishness of Antiguans, one of the sides of the complex feeling she has for the country, and a contrast to her anger at how her people have been robbed and exploited by the British and White people in general. An anecdote like this exemplifies the two feelings very well: on the one hand, the Acting Governer General was stupid enough to die by jumping in a swimming pool, and is clearly a corrupt man too. On the other hand, the entire reason for this is because Syrian investors found it worth the effort of live-wiring the house in order to take whatever profit they could gain from the Antiguan government.

The funny thing is that the Coliseum is actually a bit more of a landmark than Teju Cole (and most people living in the area) can even tell. In its spot was a Revolutionary War-era inn called the Blue Bell Tavern, a spot that George Washington passed when his army was retaking New York City. The tavern was burned down, rebuilt, and then demolished to build the Coliseum theater. As of today, the theater is once again being demolished to be replaced by a mixed-use development. This kind of represents how New York works much of the time, continually demolishing its past to the point where it is no longer even recognizable. Likely in 50 years someone will be passing by that development and have no idea that the Coliseum ever even existed.

why does he keep doing this? the suspense is killing me...

Hmmm... maybe this is a clue to his loneliness, that he might know that it is affecting him psychologically but he is comforted by it nonetheless?

I think this is a really good point here. We as humans have a really great capacity for rational conversation but we cannot function without accepting some things as "self-evident," and the things we do are conditioned by society. For example, Julius is very spooked by Farouq because of his prerational belief that "Al-Qaeda is bad," and a prerational tendency to watch his own speech for anything that could sound racist or anti-Semitic. On the other hand, Farouq has a prerational belief in Islam and a kind of prerational faith in "disruption" as a broad term rather than a specific course of action. This disagreement here sets the tone of Julius' perception of Farouq, despite their agreement on many manners and the fact that they generally find themselves on the left in the political spectrum.

Cole is maintaining his super-realistic style with this part here, as this is something that happens to all of us but rarely shows up in fiction: suddenly, days after the event in question happened, our unconscious has mulled over it long enough for us to reach a realization about it. I am not exactly sure what Julius' realization is in this case though. I think he is saying that he and the cabdriver, both being Africans, have come through rougher ports of entry than even Ellis Island, and for that reason the cabdriver wants respect from fellow Africans for being able to tough it out in New York as an African immigrant. (After all, native New Yorkers and even other immigrants will not understand what he has to go through.) This was never said in words, however, so Julius was left out of the loop until he is in a more understanding and less impatient state of mind and this realization comes.

This part is pretty weird, I think because it is a representation of how people's emotions get from prior events get carried into later ones and also what happens when social expectations are not fulfilled. Clearly the cab driver is a bit pissed off about something, so his annoyance is translated into a greivance about a social custom not followed (saying hello before entering). Although, it could really just be that he follows social customs that carefully as to be offended for it. But I would think that the social rules are simply a way to translate a preceding anger into something logical.

Then, on the other hand, there is Teju Cole, who is a bit discombobulated and not in the best mood due to the violent traffic and rain around him, as well as deciding to reject letting someone else have the cab. If he were in a better mood, he might not have cared so much about what a random cab driver thought about him. However, his attention to this might also be due to the cab driver being African - he also had a social script that he expeceted to be filled, that of the African greeting the fellow African, seeing them as more than just another customer.

I think the reform movement Coetzee is likely referring to is a movement of Whites to enjoy equal relations with Blacks without actually giving up any of their social or economic power. They no longer want to be masters, because being a minority in South Africa it is too lonely only among themselves. So they would like to be able to be friends with Blacks, but nonetheless close their eyes to the ways in which their wealth and power spells doom and creates poverty for the Blacks. They would like to get rid of the caste system, but still keep many of the privileges they have always had under it.

I think seeing racism in these two parts - fraternity, and oppression - is pretty useful lens for understanding it today. It might be confusing that you could have someone who is friends with many people from oppressed racial groups, and at the same time be extremely scared of losing their privileges over those people.

I think the inclusion of this anecdote adds complexity to the story, it makes it much more nuanced than being simply about Gloria's refusal to accept her past. Because, even though Kerry seems to be a respectful person in the present, he has this instance of sexual harrassment / assault in his past that he is not willing to come to terms with. This also builds on the theme of the interconnectedness of race and gender in this story: the oppression of Black people overall is inherently tied with the rape of Kerry's mother, and Gloria also feels much freer doing sexually provocative things than vice versa because as a White person she has the trust of police while he does not.

It's pretty funny how the narrator is so unconventionally subjective here. Maybe the reason for that, and a judgement about whose side the narrator is taking, will be apparent by the end, I don't know.

I think Margaret is a very unique person to be able to take something positive out of her caste position and her relationship with her mother - essentially, receiving unconditional love from neither. For any normal person this would just be too much to handle, they would have to burst at some point. Maybe that moment is coming for Margaret, but at this point in the story it seems she simply takes the best out of her situacion.

It's interesting how differently Maru talks about Moleka compared to how Moleka talks about Maru. Maru sees himself as arranging things for Moleka, while Moleka sees himself as arranging things for Maru. Each sees himself as the little brother.

I think this reaction shows that a big part of maintaining a caste system is the oppressed people becoming ashamed of their own identity. The elites are taken aback that anyone could ever proudly proclaim their identity as a Masarwa - in their mind, if a Masarwa ever were to become a teacher they would have to be extremely ashamed and try to hide it. However, Margaret never internalized this type of self-hatred or shame - although people had teased her she built up a mental armor with the support of her mother.

I think what Wittengenstein is referencing here is the phenomenon where you can perceive or anticipate pain in something that you think is part of your body but it is fact not. A good example of this is the rubber hand illusion, produced in an experiment where people will begin to believe a rubber hand to be their own if one of their real hands is hidden from view and stroked in an identical way as the rubber one is. Another example is phantom pain. The basic reason for this is that our brain makes a lot of guesses on what actually is part of our body and what isn't, and also makes a lot of guesses on when it should be feeling pain or not, so it is definitely possible to feel pain or have a visible reaction of anticipating pain when it is actually happening outside of your own body. Although this type of phenomenon is pretty rare, we could think of empathy (the sharing of emotional reactions with others we identify with) as a similar thing but for emotions.

To me this part was conveying that the speaker does not wish to keep passing on the stories of Partition through the generations, as she feels they are too traumatic or dark for her son to handle. The fact that her mother told her son about this when asked about it for a classroom assignment creates a weird juxtaposition of the life-or-death scenario of war and the much less serious situation the son is in now, where the most he has to worry about it finishing his paper. I think this shows how family trauma will survive even if the family themselves no longer has to worry about war or starvation.

I think these lines are referring to the insistence on keeping alive the family stories, however traumatic they may be. The inherited trauma of the memories of Partition is being compared to water passed down through generations, but if a family member fails to keep the stories alive they will face the wrath of other members. While some may respond to trauma by refusing to talk about it, this can be another response - insisting that the stories be kept intact for eternity.