I really liked Ngugi Wa Thiong’s particular style of writing. He stresses the important reasons to have and use your native language. One particular story that really stood out to me was “Minutes of Glory”. This author uses the colonization of names to emphasize their mindsets. Beatrice’s identity is not who she really wants to be. She really does not like Nyaguthu and wants to be like her, while in the mean time Nyaguthu is not happy with herself and wants to be more like Beatrice. Deep down these two main characters envy each other which is a great example that Ngugi is showing to exemplify the gender bias in the story.
Looking back I can say I relate a lot with Ngugi’s writings. I always think to myself I am not smart enough and I want to be more like this or that person but in reality the way the United States is set up to me is to colonize the mind. We see a lot of this taking place in magazines, TV, and etc. Sometimes I give people a name just to fit in with a particular crowd in which I don’t belong just to give off a new identity or less negritude.
You make a good point about how colonization of the mind is not limited to the African experience, but also to our own experiences here in the US. I am interested in your last sentence: I do not quite understand the point you are making, but it sounds very interesting. I hope I remember to ask you about it in class...
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