” Serco, People are Our Business.”

Reflecting on the slogan of Serco, I think we can see how the company Serco and Australian politicians view the detention center. First and foremost, the people in the detention centers are just people who are looking for a new home. Yet, they are being treated like dangerous criminals considering the fact that the institution is run by a prison company. The idea that there is a company that makes money by providing horrible living conditions to refugees is almost insane. There is a deprivation of human dignity considering how they are a part of a transaction between a multinational company and the Australian government. There is also a deprivation of the human spirit by the fact that they are not allowed to seek medical assistance, have proper living space, and have a proper justice system.

In Edwidge Danticat’s short story ” In the Old Days,” she successfully portrayed the complexity of each character in the historical context of the aftermath of the Haitian Dictatorship. As a reader, we feel sympathy for each character yet we also think the characters were selfish for the decisions they make. The narrator’s mother chose to stay in America to provide a better life for the narrator. She chooses her daughter over a country that needs dire help. Yet, I thought that her choice was justified because how then will the narrator have a mother who is there in her life. I was also glad that Danticat did not write a short story where the remarried wife is a jealous and resentful woman but one who is actually very understanding. Throughout the story, she guided the narrator in her process to come to terms with her father’s death. Overall, the story showed the brokenness and imperfection of each character but it is also a story about reconciliation and forgiveness in order to move on.

Throughout the book, the author Jamaica Kincaid chooses to write the book as if it is addressing an audience who is taking a vacation trip to Antigua. As we the readers are being led to this continuous scene, Kincaid explains to us how every single element of Antigua is related to British colonialism. The Legacy of colonialism still lingers everywhere in Antigua, and it is revisited by tourism. From the taxi drivers to the roads that we drive through, we can see elements of colonialism. The dynamic between the taxi driver and tourists mirrors that of Grace and Fiona. One comes in to visit with a lot of privilege and wealth at hand while the other must be in servitude. The taxi driver must adjust and use American currency even though they are in Antigua.

” These glances were exchanged between black men all over the city every minute of the day, a quick solidarity worked into the weave of every man’s mundane pursuits, a nod or smile or quick greetings.”

( Cole, p. 191)

In chapter 18, Julius and two young black men initially give each other a friendly exchange. The next second, however, they attack and rob him. Julius feels a sense of betrayal because of the connection he thought he had with them. He thought the glances that black men give to each other were a way of acknowledging their common struggles in life. There is an irony in this situation where the young black men who rob Julius are hurting him rather than supporting him.

I think the irony in this chapter highlights the lack of belonging that Julius feels, even among people whom we think Julius could connect with. Even though Julius is a black person from the African continent, we would think that he would have a friendly connection with the two young black men. However, we see throughout the book that Julius does not necessarily feel a strong sense of connection with people just because of their common nationality or ethnicity. In fact, Julius feels a broad- universal connection with people based on their experiences such as Dr.Saito and Farouq.

“Our Society has made itself open for such people, but when they come in, all you hear is complaints. Why would you want to move somewhere only to prove how different you are? And why would a society like that want to welcome you?”

(Cole, p.129)

In this section of the book, Julius met up with his friend Dr.Maillotte. He brought up his friend Farouq’s difficulty of adjusting to Belgium as an Arab. Dr.Mailotte dismissed his friend’s difficulty and viewed his friend as a complainer who was not appreciating the freedoms of his new country. From her speech, we can tell that Dr.Mailotte was not a person who welcomed diversity and inclusion but one who believed that people should assimilate to the culture of a country. I found it interesting and almost funny that she mentioned how she also had difficulty moving from Belgium to the United States. Like Fiona McAllister in Disgrace, she did not recognize her white privilege. Dr. Mailotte takes the ignorance one step further, however, by believing that immigrants have no “excuses” when she was able to successfully adjust.

Through subtle hints from Julius’ train of thought, we can also make a lot of inferences about Julius’ feelings and subconscious thinking. For instance, Julius might have asked Dr.Maillote about his friend Farouq because he resonated with his friend’s difficulty in finding his identity in a new country. Hence, Julius was uncomfortable when Dr.Mailotte asked him if he was one of those complainers. He immediately jumped to a new topic in his subconscious, escaping the confrontation. He started a new train of thought, a new paragraph about how he wanted to ask Dr.Mailotte about her son. The reader never got to know his response. Thus, we can see that Julius is evading questions relating to his identity and belief in this development of the novel.

In the book Open City by Teju Cole, the narrator discussed his train of thoughts on New York City that many New Yorkers can relate to. The narrator struggled to fit into the city as he is part German and part Nigerian. He is an immigrant who is doing his residency at a hospital and so has yet to be fully connected with the city. There is much subtle symbolism in the story that reveals his disconnection with the city. For instance, he mentions the birds in the sky that come to formation as they prepare for their natural migration. (Cole, p. 2) Eventually, he does not notice them and sometimes forgets that they are there. In some ways, the narrator is like the birds in the sky in that he is also an immigrant who moved to a new place.

I find it relatable that he disconnects from many things in the city such as the birds, classical music, and the people around him in order to adjust to the city. When I first came to New York, I filtered the subways sounds that I was not used to at first in order to focus and go to sleep. I would also look up at the airplanes in the sky a lot since I just got to the city on a long airplane flight from China. In order to stop thinking and reminiscing about the past, however, I focused on looking around more than looking up.

There were so many people in the city but ironically there was still a disconnection with everything. Eventually, it was through the connections that came from with friends in the city that made the narrator and many people to view New York City as a home to all, or an “Open City.”

” Sometimes whilst cooking, with the bottle of fish oil within reach, she would sommer rub a bit of oil into her hands and face to relieve the tightness. But she says nothing of the cooking oil. ” ( Wicomb, p. 25)

When reading through this section, I could sympathize with Grace and understand why she would not mention how she used cooking oil to moisturize her skin. When compared to Fiona who uses expensive skincare products in fancy packaging, Grace looks less than dignified. Throughout the story, there were many instances when she did not reveal how she was poor or her segregation experience. This could signify how she sees her poverty and her segregation experience as a source of shame since it is something she did not want to talk about. I think what Grace found to be her true source of shame in the end was the assumptions she made about Fiona and stealing her silk scarf.

Dr.Kerry, you must learn to face up to facts. Only through accpetance of one’s life and history lies the path to health and happiness.

– Woman, pg.22

In Lewis Nkosi’s play The Black Psychiaritrist, we read about the horrendous history and consequences of Apartheid. Both Kerry and Gloria are the living embodiment of the ugly legacy of apartheid. Despite the fact that Kerry is the psychiatrist, Gloria acts as the examiner at the beginning of the play. She seeks to be Kerry’s psychiatrist and uncovers his hidden past that he tries to cover. She tells him that only by learning to face the truth can he begin to move on. Ironically, she herself is in no position to give that advice and be the psychiatrist when Kerry reveals the truth of their lineage to her. At the end of the book, Gloria herself was unable to accept the history and consequences of Apartheid. She could not believe that her father would commit such a crime and that her former lover is her half-brother.

The book ends with Gloria who can not face up the facts and Kerry wishes that Gloria as well as all memories of the best do not come back again. He does not want old stones to be turned because he knows there are scorpions under those stones. (pg. 22) Hence, Kerry does not wish to revisit his past because he wants to avoid the pain that comes with his memory of South Africa. I think Nkosi ends the play this way to reflect how that might have been how white women and black men reacted to Apartheid- with avoidance and denial. Yet, Nkosi might have believed and urged that South Africans and the world should come to terms with what happened in Apartheid. Only when South Africans acknowledge the history and consequences of Apartheid can they move on as a nation.

In 1947: Spell to Reverse A line, Bhanu Kapil sought to deal with the traumas of the partition by putting them into a poem. I find it interesting how he structured the poem in a way where each stanza only contains a few words and phrases. This fragmented structure of the poem can represent at large how survivors may recall memories of the partition in a small fragmented manner. The experience has left a traumatic mark on people’s minds across generations. As Kapil said,

” Is inherited trauma like the water passed from one generation to
another, placed in the hands of each person in turn?
But if the glass is broken.
If even one drop is spilled.
You will be punished so severely you will not be able to leave
your home for many days.
Years.
Yes.”

I think this section really spoke to me. Upon reading it, I immediately think about how many families would pass on all the burdens that came from their trauma and challenges.

Hey Sajeda, I think you describe perfectly my exact thoughts at the end of the story. I agree with you that readers had to almost read the lines to grasp what had happened and it leaves an impact on the reader. I knew it would have been more horrifying and shocking for me if I had to figure it out rather than the narrator explicitly telling me. I also your comment on the Dupatta was interesting and something I never think about.

Upon reading the poem sorry at first, I was very confused and startled by the violence depicted. I was even more confused and shocked when reading Manto’s depiction of the heartwrenching scene where family members are separated and died. I think Manto did a really good job at painting a chaotic scene that creates a vivid image of what the Partition of India would look like. He illustrates the panic people have through his short sentences and phrases, ” A succession of images raced through his mind. Attack…fire…escape…railway station…night…Sakina.”

The ending of the story was even more horrifying. Although Sirajuddin’s father shouts that Sakina is alive, the irony is that Sakina was raped, traumatized, disorientated, and may take a long time to recover. This story shows how horrible acts are done in times of turmoil.