Second postings due Thursday, March 13
Second comments due Tuesday, March 18
The Clash of Cultures
"...what is wrong with these people that they want to spend so much time helping us? "(163) our narrator asks. There are many ironies as the Lost Boys encounter US culture. Write a CCQC, making a claim that identifies one of these culture clashes. Provide plenty of context that shows you know what's going on in the book, a quote, and commentary that further examines the importance of that culture clash.
Comment on someone else's claim, adding further evidence to support it or perhaps to refute it or enlarge upon it, and further commentary.
I don't think that this is where I am supposed to put this, but here it is anyway!
ReplyDeleteIn Sudanese culture, when they are not trying to kill each other, strangers are often hospitable and are expected to do all that they can in order to help others. Here in the U.S., if a person in need is to ask a stranger for help, that stranger is likely to assume that; a-the person is on serious drugs and wants to rob them or, b- They cannot resist their emanating attractiveness and just want to get their number. When Achak reaches Ethiopia, he befriends a woman from a nearby tribe called the Anyuak, and even though they have just met, she shows him incredible kindness and generosity. She feeds him, asks him about his past and lets him rest on her chest like her own child would. Pg 264, “This woman gave me her shadow and I wanted to live within it until I could be home again. -You should stay here, Ajulo whispered to me- You could be my son.” This generosity is showed time and time again throughout What is the What, and even if it is paralleled by selfishness and cruelty in others, it shows how the region was before the civil war began. When Achak reaches the U.S., there are many cultural shocks that he has to endure, but one of the more prominent shocks was when he went to receive treatment for his injuries after experiencing a robbery. He was in the hospital for about 14 hours, and he sat in the waiting room for a great deal of time before treatment. The place Achak was in was a hospital, designed to help people, and still it was not as welcoming and functional as the home of an old woman in some rural tribe!