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Old Chief Mshlanga
The story is a coming to age short story that focuses on significant different ideas and encounters. The story focuses on a young girl who grows up in his father’s farm in Africa. She tries to get a recall of different meetings that she experiences with people around her and the ideas generated from the encounters. Getting aware of the surrounding environment is a crucial aspect within her recall and how these helped shape the different coming years while interacting with the natives of the land she grew up knowing. Significantly, she gives a recount of her meeting the local chief Mshlanga and how the different occasions transpired afterward.
The short story is fiction, and the author tries to bring in different ideas and presents it to the best understanding of the reader. She employs the use of metaphors in describing different scenarios and personification of various objects in significantly different ways that present the prevailing situation and how well the girl tries to handle the situation. ‘The Old Chief Mshlanga’ is an intriguing take of childhood, race, and injustice traversing the different handles the young girl tries to recall through her encounters in the native land. Significantly, it plays a crucial role in understanding the various ideas that may present themselves through the different themes the story focuses on and how well these effects or are present in our daily lives.
The short story is a one written by Doris Lessing, a noble prize winner and who has had a significant impact on the different works of literature over time. She was a British-Zimbabwean (Rhodesian) born of British parents and lived in Iran until 1925. Her parents later moved to Rhodesia, currently known as Zimbabwe, where she lived till she moved to London, England. Her cultivating work moved her to produce different stories where later she came up with the short story titled “The Old Chief Mshlanga.”
From the different ideas presented in the short story, several themes emanate from the story and which create significant understanding and impact on the various purposes outlined in the story of the young girl. The most prominent issues involve prejudice and oppression, the importance of dignified, which is a virtue, and ethical consideration that grows significantly throughout life. Additionally, a different theme that presents itself is an injustice that is seemingly cultivated by the prevailing environment and how well it affects the young girl’s life. Moreover, the different themes of race and how people view one another as significantly present in the work of literature. These play a crucial role in adjusting the reader’s focus and getting a better view of the situation at hand.
“The impact of understanding one’s background and how important they maybe are one of the key aspects of life, prejudice, and oppression are key components of different ideological treatments and encounters that are significantly intriguing in different ways.” Taking center stage of the Doris Lessing “The Old Chief Mshlanga,” there is a more important deal in understanding the different ways it affects the lives of individuals and how well it influences the thinking of the young girl in the short story. The theme creates a significant understanding of the different ways through which the young girl perceived the native people within the land she becomes raised. The encounter with the Old Chief presents a significant understanding of how preconceived evaluation of a group creates different ideas and treatment of people from the group. The young girl passes through various issues, and she manages all through despite the hard times and instances of oppression from the people. It’s due to her state and lack of knowledge of the native land and people around her environment. For example, from the time she meets the Old Chief she begins to see something different and with true greatness not associated with the outwards appearance but the character of an individual
‘A Chief! I thought understanding the pride that made the old man stand before me like an equal-more than an equal for he showed courtesy and I showed none.’
The theme presents in the short story take up significant impact within the current world through different instances and occasions where different groups face vital treatments oof prejudice and oppression. Currently, the different fight for African Americans is a critical gap that signifies the continued abuse of different groups within society. The sidelining of blacks in the south of the country similarly means the presence of prejudice in the form of skin and race aspects. However, all these present significant changes and adjustments that need to become engaged to establish a better understanding and considerable influence on understanding the different groups.
In American history, several events may present similar or close resemblance to the different issues of prejudice and oppression. For instance, in the American Revolution, the most cultivating aspects were the presence of slaves and who become mainly used to the war as most of the people who took part in the war (Cogliano 951-963). The joining of France is similarly an indication of preconceived judgment on race and particularly to a specific group would work. Secondly, the event that transpired during and after the national elections that for the first time a black president won the popular votes and how most of the people would vie his government is significant issues related to the prejudice of the skin and race of a specific group within the society (King 1-3).
Work Cited
Cogliano, Francis D. “Revisiting The American Revolution.” History Compass 8.8 (2010): 951-963. Web.
King, Richard H. “Obama And Race: An Introduction.” Patterns of Prejudice 45.1-2 (2011): 1-3. Web.