Natanael Fortunato INTL 3111 Mr.

Robert Arnold 08 June 2011

Microtheme 4 In his Interview with Charles H. Rowell Chinua Achebe talks about the power of Literature in a culture because literature shapes our vision of the world and of course our political vision of it. Through Achebes interview I noted that he can not talk without using a proverb (a miniature tale, short story). Achebe places a big responsibility on the poet/writer saying that the poet provides us with the vocabulary or new vocabulary to describe the world he is talking about what Charles Rowell did with the English-speaking world as a writer, and what Jorge Luis Borges did with the Spanish-speaking world and what Aime Cesaire does linguistically for the French-speaking world (An interview with Chinua Achebe 5). I would like to say in relating this to politics that the political vision of the world that any culture may have depends on the poet/writer. I also wanted to compare Achebe with Nugi. Achebe is diplomatic in the way he refers to colonialism/imperialism and I think he can achieve better results in reaching out other people than Nugi. Achebe says things in a way that sounds soft but it is very strong and powerful. On the other hand, Nugi speaks blatantly about the same things and I think that because of his attitude in writing. Nugi does not entertain the reader as Achebe does of course because Nugi is a

leftist and Achebe is a rightist. Through his writings Nugi does not define himself as religious. However Achebe expressed that he is a Catholic. I believe that the impact that Achebe has on the reader is more powerful because of the way he approaches things. For example Achebe has a proverb for everything. If we follow his interview with Charles H. Rowell he is answering all the questions with a short story. However he is saying what he wants to say in a funny way and as powerful as Nugi says it. Nugi is not open to the English language while Achebe is open to it and any language. For example, through my observations and conversations with African-Americans I have discover that there are some of them who are stuck with the grudges of slavery of the past in the United States dont improve in any area in society, but the ones who are open to take advantage of the opportunities are successful because they forgot the slavery of the past and proceeded ahead to reach their goal. Because of the way Nugi writes I feel he represents the first group from my example and Achebe represents the second one. When Haiti got its independence from France it destroyed all the sugar factories left by France because they said that they did not want anything that reminds them of the white man but instead of taking advantage of it and work it out to make it productive for the economy of the country. How we react is what makes the difference. I found similarities in Nugi and Achebe. They are both African writers, come from countries that were colonized by The English empire, they both advocate for a better lifestyle for their people and they are both successful writers. Going back to literature and politics I have said in class that literature is so powerful in a person or culture that totalitarian and communist governments take it over to change the way people think and to control the people. I will finish with a couple of quotes just to show the

power that literature has on the people. One is a Chinese proverb that says; One, who doesnt read, doesnt have the right to speak. The next one is from the Catholic education system; Give me child to educate him and I will make it a Catholic for the rest of his life. I liked the short story that Achebe refers to about the way that Japanese approached the English language. I believe this is the same way Nugi should approach it to improve the lifestyle of his people.