BANYAGA : A SONG OF WAR

Banyaga: A song of war was written by Charlson

Ong is a Chinese-Filipino fictionist, writer and a singer
extraordinaire. He finished A.B. in Psychology from the
University of the Philippines, in 1977. Some of his
famous short stories are White Shadow, Conversion
and Other Fictions, and Banyaga: A Song of War. The
story was all about Ernesto who is the main character,
the one who adopted both of his nephews. Ah Tin who
is the weak one, he cannot survive in the greediness of
the customs that’s why Ernesto adopted him too. Ah
Fan who is nephew of Ernesto, the first one that
Ernesto adopted. The author want us to show that it’s
very hard to forget the past and being one of the
immigrants in the world full of sufferings just like the
main character, namely Ernesto. The main attention in
the story is about the horrible experience of Ernesto
which he doesn’t want to be experienced by his two
nephews, namely Ah Fan and Ah Tin. There is this time
that Ernesto is waiting for the apprentice that his
brother promised on the letter that is given unto him. It
makes him a little bit sad because he remebered how
he was treated in his past. When many teenagers
arrived, he asked who is his nephew, the Custom man
told that there’s this two young men who is his nephew.
He can only adopt one of them, but he remembered that
that Customs is too greedy and he knew that Ah Tin
can’t survive in the customs, so he decided to give his
watch to them, but the customs refused it, instead they
wanted the silk, so Ernesto gave his silk and adopt the
two young men.
The story takes us to the past that cannot be
changed, instead we can change someone’s past for
their future. The story also tells us that we need to
accept our family members whatever their imperfection
is.
 A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
The story was all about Mariam, an illegitimate child, and
suffers from both the stigma surrounding her birth along
with the abuse she faces throughout her marriage. Laila,
born a generation later, is comparatively privileged
during her youth until their lives intersect and she is also
forced to accept a marriage proposal from Rasheed,
Mariam's husband.
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set
against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty
years from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban
to post-Taliban rebuilding that puts the violence, fear,
hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms.
It is a tale of two generations of characters brought
jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where
personal lives the struggle to survive, raise a family, find
happiness are inextricable from the history playing out
around them. Propelled by the same storytelling instinct
that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A
Thousand Splendid Suns is at once a remarkable
chronicle of three decades of Afghan history and a
deeply moving account of family and friendship. It is a
striking, heart-wrenching novel of an unforgiving time, an
unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love a stunning
accomplishment. The moral lesson that I learned in the
story is we should be grateful for what we have, by never
taking the people that bring happiness and fulfilment in
our lives for granted.
 THINGS FALL APART

Things Fall Apart is a novel written by Nigerian author Chinua

Achebe. Published in 1958, its story chronicles pre-colonial life
in the south-eastern part of Nigeria and the arrival of the
Europeans during the late nineteenth century. It is seen as the
archetypal modern African novel in English, one of the first to
receive global critical acclaim. It is a staple book in schools
throughout Africa and is widely read and studied in English-
speaking countries around the world. In 1962, Achebe's debut
novel was first published in the UK by William Heinemann Ltd.
Things Fall Apart was the first work published in Heinemann's
African Writers Series.

The novel follows the life of Okonkwo, an Igbo ("Ibo" in the

novel) man and local wrestling champion in the fictional
Nigerian clan of Umuofia. The work is split into three parts, with
the first describing his family, personal history, and the customs
and society of the Igbo, and the second and third sections
introducing the influence of British colonialism and Christian
missionaries on Okonkwo, his family and wider Igbo community.

Things Fall Apart was followed by a sequel, No Longer at Ease

(1960), originally written as the second part of a larger work
along with Arrow of God (1964). Achebe states that his two later
novels A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the
Savannah (1987), while not featuring Okonkwo's descendants,
are spiritual successors to the previous novels in chronicling
African history.
 REFLECTION
PAPER
IN
21 ST
CENTURY
LITERATURE

SUBMITTED BY: KEINT JAY A. SODE

G11- LEYTE (STEM)