The term and the novel Double Yoke seem to be about balance, or better yet, how to create a balance between two things such as people ( a relationship), emotion (giving into what you want and what people expect of you), and as the book states "the double yoke of modernity and that of tradition" (87).
What drew me in as a reader was the complex relationship between Ete Kamba and Nko. One minute i would find myself siding with Ete Kamba and the next I'd be on Nko's side, the conflict between this only made me further realize how difficult a relationship can be. When Professor Ikot took Nko to The Falls, i was so enraged and disgusted. At first i couldn't believe Nko could just subject herself to this man, for the simple fact that he was just a man. Later on i realized though that she was really just a victim and i felt compassion for her. It made me think, what would girls be like today if they had to get through college by first getting through the men in college?
This novel made me think about the past novels we read and how sex and relationships and love have all played a role. When Ete Kamba goes to visit Miss Bulewao she tells him "Passing from childhood to adulthood is a long and painful process. And one of the golden rules one has to learn in that process is this-try to put yourself in place of the other person" (160). Life is all about passages that lead us in so many different directions, including college. The thing i find most interesting is that maybe there is such a focus on relationships and love because it helps define us. For example, i felt like Amory's failure and experience with love led him to some success and that it helped to really define him. Also, would Gina Barrecca be the same woman she is today without all of her experience with gender roles and men? In Double Yoke, Ete Kamba had described himself as being half alive the weeks after his relationship ended. Do relationships make us who we are? If i think about it, if we never developed relationships then would anyone really know who we are? And even if we know who we are, would it even matter if we were the only ones to know? I'm not sure if this makes sense, it was just something i wondered about after reading.
This also makes me interested in the idea of suffering. I know that a lot of fiction writers use the idea of suffering to make their writing more interesting or dramatic, but i don't think those are the only reasons. Suffering and pain seem to go hand in hand with beauty and maturing. I know this may seem way off base but let me try to explain. Have you ever heard the expression there is beauty in pain or something similar to that? The world is far from perfect and as someone who has overcome so much, I'm a true believer that the most painful experiences in our life make us better. I'm not saying everyone should go search for something painful to happen to them, i just mean if something ever does, there can be a positive light if you search for it. I'm sure some people could see Nko in a negative light, but i actually see her as extremely brave. She held her head high not only for herself, but mainly for her family.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment