¶ … Darling's struggle with her displacement in the United States towards the end of the novel. How does she deal with her conflicted sense of identity? Why do the following words spoken by Chipo cause her so much distress? "If it's your country, you have to love it to live in it and not leave it. You have to fight for it no matter what, to make it right... You left it, Darling, my dear, you left the house burning and you have the guts to tell me, in that stupid accent that you were not even born with, that doesn't even suit you, that this is your country?" (288). Is she American, Zimbabwean? Both?
From early in the novel, it is crystal clear that Darling is spiritually independent and clearly not tied to any national identity. She asserts her determination to move to America and live with Aunt Fostalina, as if it is her destiny, and indeed it is. Yet moving to America does not extricate...
Darling always retains her core. Her sense of displacement is not so much a loss of identity as it is a growing mistrust of her own idealism. She comes to realize that America is not a promised land. One of Bulawayo's methods of conveying social commentary is via humor and irony. She continually makes fun of Aunt Fostalina's incessant walking about in order to lose weight and conform to the American aesthetic ideal of skinniness. The irony of speaking about skinniness to a girl who had to steal guavas as a child lingers over the latter half of the novel. On page 233, Darling notes that they "power-walk out of JC Penney like we're trying to lose weight, past the jewelers and the diamonds." Darling is empowered by her meta-awareness, her knowledge that everything she does in America she does to maximize her potential to succeed and not because she feels inferior.
Darling often directly discusses cultural assimilation, but she does so not by sacrificing her identity but by mocking America. For example, she muses on how she wants to "sound American" and she does so by watching television of course (p. 196). Darling's sense of personal empowerment is evident in her noting that she keeps her colloquialisms "under the tongue like talismans, ready to use," (p. 196). She wonders why Aunt Fostalina doesn't think to study American colloquial speech…
Work Cited
Bulawayo, NoViolet. We Need New Names. New York: Llittle, Brown, 2013.
Boredom New name = Meaninglessness. This is the state of feeling apathetic and listless with the individual feeling lack of interest or absorption in anything of life's activities. The term 'meaning' implies that the activity or span of time is filled with intense interest and relevance to the person, infusing him or her with purpose and excitement. It is purpose-filled and, seen as leading to some definite outcome, imbues the agent
" (Crawford, 2011) These comments are showing how Wellstone understood the risk that this would pose to the financial system. In eight years after making this speech, the federal government would be directly bailing out firms that were too big to fail. This is indicating how the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act allowed financial institutions to engage in excessive amounts of risk taking. It is at this point that they
New Product Plan The PhotoDrive Pro-is a portable hard drive with a high-res screen and fold-out keyboard. It is targeted at photographers both professional and serious amateur. This market has a perpetual need for storage, and benefits from the additionally functionality offered by this drive. In particular, the ability to operate in remote, dangerous or bad weather locations without risking their laptops is a valuable feature of this product. The product
New Developments Importance of New Developments IMPORTANCE OF NEW DEVELOPMENTS FOR LOCAL ECONOMIES IN USA The major housing boom contributed to the economic growth in U.S. In between 2003 till 2008. The U.S. government received revenues from the development impact fees. Researches have shown that new developments greatly support the local economies in U.S.. Also the government plays an important role in providing the required resources and solutions to these new developments. The
Bass, P., Wilso, J. And Griffith, C. (2003). A Shortened Instrument for Literacy Screening. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 8(12), 1036-8. Berger, J. (2000). Corporate Health Plan Strategies and Health Literacy. National Health Communications Conference. Washington, DC: ACP Fouindation. Chew, L., Bradley, K., and Boyko, E.. (2004). Brief Questions to Identify Patients with Inadequate Health Literacy. Family Medicine, 36(8), 588-94. Chew, L., Griffin, J., Partin, M., et al. (2008). Validation of Screening Questions
New Testament Vocabulary Pharisees, Essenes, and Sadducees were three major sects or practices of Judaism at the time of Christ. The Pharisees and Sadducees were the two more powerful and influential sects, the Essenes were much smaller in number and less influential. The Sadducees derived their name from Zadok, the High Priest of David and Solomon: their version of Judaism was centered strictly on the text of the Torah and the
