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Post Colonial BritainThe Post-Colonial writings that we read for the class all seemed to go along with the general theme of traditional ideas and ways of life being challenged. I feel that theme goes along with modern day life as well. What has the past few weeks in the United States been about? Challenging people’s thoughts, ideas, and words even for the sake of racial equality. For this, I’d like to dive into some of the readings and how they show the challenge of traditions.
We were just talking about women not having roles in society when talking about the Victorian Era; giving everything to their husbands when they are married, and not being able to talk about their own desires. But here we are with this excerpt from “White Teeth” by Zadie Smith where a woman is outwardly angered with her husband, shouting her own thoughts, ideas and desires. Does this not prove change and challenge to what was traditional? What about in “Punishment” by Seamus Heaney? He challenges the acts of the IRS by showing sympathy for the girl who broke the law. Had he actually been there when the woman was murdered, would he really have outwardly shown the sympathy or even tried to stop it? No! Of course not, because that would not have been socially acceptable at the time. But, now that that time period is over, the idea of murder being the answer for adultery is being challenged. Finally, let’s think about the reading “My Son the Fanatic” by Hanif Kureishi. This one is a little bit more difficult to find the challenging of tradition because it seems as if the son is doing nothing but trying to get closer to tradition because of how serious he is getting into his religion and his attempt at losing some of his westernism that he gained growing up. He challenges tradition though by challenging his father. Typically, in the 1800-1900’s a child would not challenge their father, they would work beginning at a young age and follow in their father’s footsteps into the same occupation and then get married, have kids, and repeat the cycle. The other readings show the same general ideas. The post-colonial time period in Britain was a time of challenging tradition and change. |