Ha Gia H (Adam)
D Block
Ms. Root
English Lang age & Literat re
Monda , 15 Febr ar
Te 1: ​B
A C e​ b T e
N ah
E cerpted from page 237 to 238 :
I tried to help him o t a bit. I told him m trick of p tting off o r bail hearing to get o r
defense together, so he sta ed in the cell, too, biding his time, and e hit it off and h ng o t
for a fe da s, ha ing a good time, getting to kno each other. No one else in the cell kne
hat to make of s, the r thless colored gangster and his menacing, H lk-like friend. He told
me his stor , a So th African stor that as all too familiar to me: The man gro s p nder
apartheid, orking on a farm, part of hat s essentiall a sla e labor force. It s a li ing hell
b t it s at least something. He s paid a pittance b t at least he s paid. He s told here to be
and hat to do e er
aking min te of his da . Then apartheid ends and he doesn t e en
ha e that an more. He finds his a to Johannesb rg, looking for ork, tr ing to feed his
children back home. B t he s lost. He has no ed cation. He has no skills. He doesn t kno
hat to do, doesn t kno
here to be. The orld has been ta ght to be scared of him, b t the
realit is that he is scared of the orld beca se he has none of the tools necessar to cope
ith it. So hat does he do? He takes shit. He becomes a pett thief. He s in and o t of jail.
He gets l ck and finds some constr ction ork, b t then he gets laid off from that, and a fe
da s later he s in a shop and he sees some Pla Station games and he grabs them, b t he
doesn t e en kno eno gh to kno that he s stolen something of no al e.
I felt terrible for him. The more time I spent in jail, the more I reali ed that the la isn t
rational at all. It s a lotter . What color is o r skin? Ho m ch mone do o ha e? Who s
o r la er? Who s the j dge? Shoplifting Pla Station games as less of an offense than
dri ing ith bad n mber plates. He had committed a crime, b t he as no more a criminal
than I as. The difference as that he didn t ha e an friends or famil to help him o t. He
co ldn t afford an thing b t a state attorne . He as going to go stand in the dock, nable to
speak or nderstand English, and e er one in the co rtroom as going to ass me the orst
of him.
1
Te
2: ​S ea
g ​b Ca l Ann D ff
S ea
g
The most n s al thing I e er stole? A sno man.
Midnight. He looked magnificent; a tall, hite m te
beneath the inter moon. I anted him, a mate
ith a mind as cold as the slice of ice
ithin m o n brain. I started ith the head.
Better off dead than gi ing in, not taking
hat o ant. He eighed a ton; a torso,
fro en stiff, h gged to m chest, a fierce chill
piercing m g t. Part of the thrill as kno ing
that children o ld cr in the morning. Life s to gh.
Sometimes I steal things I don t need. I jo -ride cars
to no here, break into ho ses j st to ha e a look.
I m a m ck ghost, lea e a mess, ma be pinch a camera.
I atch m glo ed hand t isting the doorknob
A stranger s bedroom. Mirrors. I sigh like this - Aah.
It took some time. Resembled in the ard,
he didn t look the same. I took a r n
and booted him. Again. Again. M breath ripped o t
in rags. It seems daft no . Then I as standing
alone amongst l mps of sno , sick of the orld.
Boredom. Mostl I m so bored I co ld eat m self.
One time, I stole a g itar and tho ght I might
learn to pla . I nicked a b st of Shakespeare once,
flogged it, b t the sno man as strangest.
Yo don t nderstand a ord I m sa ing, do o ?
2
Unemplo ment and increase in crime ca sed b
the lack of ed cation and alienation from societ
Global iss es are iss es that affect the global comm nit and en ironment and occ r in o r
e er da li es. The are broad s bjects that are addressed in man different a s, incl ding
media, articles, ne spapers, and also literar
orks. One of the most engrossing iss es that is
portra ed in literat re is nemplo ment and increased crime that deri e from a lack of proper
ed cation and being alienated b societ . Crime is not al a s infl enced b malignant
intentions, b t instead is infl enced b a person s li ing circ mstances and mishaps. It is
important to nderstand the strands so ing the seeds of crime in an effort to pre ent them
from ad ersel
impacting man
li es. F rthermore, it also gi es
s a ne
perspecti e
to ards the ill-fated con icts and moti ates s to sho s mpath for their li es. Notabl , this
global iss e is presented in an e cerpt from ​B
ritten b
AC
e​, a light-hearted a tobiograph
Tre or Noah, and also in one of Carol Ann D ff s poems, ​S ea
characters in these
g​. The
orks ha e both committed a crime, b t their moti es are infl enced b
their lack of ed cation and the isolation from societ that dri e them to the criminal path.
The e tract from ​B
AC
e centers on the con ersation bet een Noah and his cellmate,
the H lk, and foc ses on Noah s opinion of the j stice s stem. In the first paragraph, Noah
establishes a friendl relationship
ith his cellmate, gi ing his friend eno gh tr st to share
his backgro nd stor . He asserts that his H lk-like friend s stor is a So th African stor
that [is] too familiar to [him] (12), sho ing that this is not the first time someone like his
friend is p t into this condition. H lk s past is fra ght ith e ha sting orking da s, as Noah
describes, it is a part of a sla e labor force (13) and a li ing hell (13). These
ords are
sed to sho the oef l b rden that the apartheid impose on the sho lders of the Black So th
3
Africans nati es, especiall of the
orkers and the laborers. Noah ses anaphora He has no
ed cation. He has no skills (17) to emphasi e his friend s absence of q alities that are
req ired in each indi id al in their societ . This de ice is instantl follo ed b a parallelism
doesn t kno
hat to do, doesn't kno
here to be
(17-18),
hich intensifies the
fr stration and the sense of isolation that the character has to e perience. The sentences are
positioned right ne t to each other in order to b ild a bridge bet een one s disad antages and
the feeling of alienation from societ ,
hich co ld make an indi id al more s sceptible to
crime. The co pled de ices o er helm the a dience
them. The h lk-like friend
tools necessar to cope
ith sadness and e oke s mpath from
ants to earn mone to s pport his famil , b t
ith (19) the
ith his lack of
orld o tside of his homeland, he falls ictim to the
c cle of po ert and becomes a pett thief (20). The a thor then lists o t all of the
necessities that each indi id al needs, or the q alities that each indi id al is j dged pon
thro gh the se of a plethora of rhetorical q estions. What color is o r skin? Ho
mone do o ha e? Who s o r la
tho ght that the la
m ch
er? Who s the j dge? (25-26). The reinforce Noah s
isn t rational at all (24-25). Instead of j dging a person based on the
degree of the crime committed, the are j dged based on these characteristics that are not
rele ant to their crimes. This e okes anger from the readers to ards the nfair j stice s stem
and again sho s ho the lack of q alities can dri e a person to despair and the criminal path.
The
riter points o t that the crime his friend commited is not serio s, b t different from
him, Noah has friends and famil ,
friend
hich represent the opport nities that he has. Yet, his
ill not be able to defend himself d e to his lack of kno ledge in English that
pre ent him from j stif ing himself in front of the co rt. As a res lt, e er one
the
ill
ill ass me
orst of him (30-31). We can see that his absence of kno ledge ill estrange him from
the other people. Thro gho t this passage, Noah displa s ho life circ mstances ha e forced
his cellmate into crime and sho s ho opport nit is necessar to thri e in societ .
4
This global iss e pla s a major theme in ​B
AC
e as the pro enance of man iss es
depicted in the stor and infl ences the li es of man characters. The stor took place hen
the apartheid collapsed and So th Africa became a democrac , its ad erse conditions still
contin ed. The Black So th Africans
ere free of the s stem, b t the
opport nities and reso rces needed to ad ance in the ne
stepfather, Abel,
ho
lacked the
societ . As an e ample, Noah s
ho has the talent as a mechanic b t lacks the practical nderstanding in
to r n a b siness. Conseq entl , his famil b siness goes do n and the are left in great
debts. Abel starts resorting to alcohol and iolence to blo
off some steam. He imposes his
anger on Noah s mother, Patricia, sho ing that their relationship starts to fall apart. Abel, like
man other So th Africans, is trapped in a c cle of ignorance and iolence that res lts from
the icio s nat re of apartheid ineq alit . The relationship bet een Noah and his friend,
Daniel,
ho is a
hite kid, also highlights ho
the lack of ed cation and opport nit can
affect a person s life. In contrast to Noah s famil , Daniel s famil are
hite and the ha e
access to e er thing, incl ding ed cation and reso rces. His circ mstance re eals ho
people do not ha e to be concerned abo t s r i al in life as the alread
hite
possess the
important assets. Noah has al a s had a knack for selling prod cts to other people, b t he has
no kno ledge and reso rces to t rn his talent into a proper
his talent in an illegal job,
ork. For this reason, he tili es
hich is selling pirated CDs, and earns mone
there. The readers are sho n ho
p rs e illegal acti ities, and ho
nla f ll from
the absence of ed cation can easil incite a person to
apartheid pre ents people from escaping from the c cle of
po ert , ignorance and crime b limiting their reso rces and access to ed cation.
S ea
g b
Carol Ann D ff
follo s a s pposed male thief into his introspection.
Thro gho t the poem, a m ltit de of short sentences is sed, s ch as A sno man. (3),
5
Mirrors. (17), or Boredom. (23),
hich sho
the simplicit of the narrator s lang age.
The short sentences create a sense of abr ptness and inconsistenc , s ggesting his
childishness and inabilit to form comple sentences. To ards the end of the first stan a, the
speaker compares the coldness of the sno man s mind to the slice of ice
ithin [his] o n
brain (6-7). The simile sho s that the coldness of the sno man mirrors his personalit and
his circ mstance; he is both ph sicall and mentall cold and lonel . He admits that he
steals things that [he doesn t] need (13), nderlining his boredom and his lack of mat rit
that potentiall stems from the fact that he does not ha e a better thing to do in his life, for
e ample, to learn or to
ork. The speaker also feels like he is a m ck ghost (15),
hich
indicates that he is often neglected b other people; as a res lt, he is bored and th s taking
pleas re in seeing ho
other people
o ld react to his andali ation. D ff engages the
readers b e oking a mi ed feeling of both anger and s mpath . The readers can see that the
narrator is blamable for his misdemeanors, b t he is also pitif l d e to his str ggle to connect
ith other people.
Man of D ff s
orks generall foc s on ho
ed cation pla s a significant role in shaping
an indi id al s f t re and plot o t depressing scenarios that each indi id al
the do not al e their ed cation
ill end p in if
holeheartedl . In one of D ff s poems, ​The G
d
Teache ,​ the narrator is described as a rebellio s teenager ho constantl sho s j dgements
to ards her teachers. In the process of gro ing p, the speaker is no longer interested in
learning and st d ing for e ams, and instead enjo ing being a teenager. The lines of her
teachers comments rge her to face the harsh realit that if she does not p t efforts into her
ed cation, she
ill not be s ccessf l in her f t re. The final line of the poem ascertains that
the da she reali es the importance of ed cation in her teenage ears, she ill come to regret
not ha ing listened to the teachers. Ed cation is also a pi ot in ​Ed ca
f
Le
e​, another
6
poem
ritten b D ff ,
hich e plores the stream of conscio sness of a per erse and
self-centered m rderer. Thro gh this narrati e mode, the readers can nderstand more abo t
the speaker s moti es and his perspecti e to ards his s rro ndings. It seems that ed cation
has failed to lea e a positi e mark on him, so he mis nderstands the al es of all the lessons
he learned and distorts them into his
a of thinking. Witho t being able to appl for a job
and ha ing an thing to entertain himself, the narrator seeks pleas re in killing other inferior
beings. It is disheartening to reali e that he is constantl ignored b
his to n,
conseq entl deteriorates his del sion and f els his desire to make a change to the
hich
orld in
an attempt to gain e er one s attention. Each time he kills an innocent animal and mo es on
to a bigger target, he is f rther detached from realit and pl nges deeper into his del sion.
D ff
ants to displa ho
t pical criminals often start
ith ab sing animals as a res lt of
being neglected b s rro nding people, and it ill slo l t rn to more serio s crimes if other
people are not a are of it. In the end, his first attempt to reconnect ith the orld is sadl to
to ch someone s arm, hich infers that he has decided to change his target to a more s perior
being, h man. His reaching o t to the
realit that he
orld o tside of his o n del sion depicts a sad
ants to connect to other beings e en if he has to inflict iolence to the others.
All this e idence points to the fact that D ff intends to e emplif
ed cation is nderestimated and
hat co ld happen if
arns s of the negati e impact of solit de on h man s
societ and on each indi id al.
Both
societ ,
orks comment on the conseq ences of the lack of ed cation and alienation from
hich are crime and nemplo ment. Noah s cellmate and the narrator in ​S ea
cannot na igate their
g
a s thro gh life since the both lack the ed cation the need to find a
modest job. Hence, the are more tempted to commit a crime as that is the onl option that
can help them achie e
hat the need in life. Ho e er, the moti es l rring both characters
7
into the criminal path a s are dissimilar. Noah s friend onl
ants to s pport his famil
financiall , therefore, he steals from a Pla Station shop. In contrast, the speaker in the poem
steals o t of his boredom; he does not ha e a better thing to do in his life rather than stealing.
E en tho gh both offenses committed b them can be considered fairl mild, the narrator in
D ff s poem does attempt to inflict emotional pain on the ictims, as he is a are that ​ [the]
children
o ld cr
(12) after his rongdoing, and he act all enjo s itnessing them s ffer.
This sho s that his action is an act of free
a tobiograph ,
ill, in contrast to the character in Noah s
ho onl steals beca se that is the onl
a he can s pport his famil and
himself. F rthermore, both of them are isolated from their o n societ , et, it is d e to
different reasons. While Noah s h lk-like friend is a
ictim of racial and ling istic
discrimination, the character in the poem co ld be mentall illded, for this reason, no one
ants to befriend him. This characteri ation sho s that the lack of ed cation and the feeling
of secl sion in societ can act all change people s mentalities and red ce their procli ities
of feeling empathetic,
hich in t rn make them more likel to commit crimes that might h rt
the others. Both a thors ha e s ccessf ll ill strated the global iss e thro gh the portra al of
the miserable conditions and their effects that these characters are in, stressing the importance
of ed cation and comm nit s pport on each indi id al s life.
In concl sion, the global iss e that both
orks present is significant if
e
ant to better o r
societ b red cing the n mber of crimes and nemplo ment. Ed cation pla s an important
role in o r life beca se it helps s get a better chance to find an occ pation and teaches s to
treat others
ith respect and kindness. Therefore, ed cation sho ld be accessible to e er one,
especiall to the people
ho are po ert -stricken, and it sho ld not be limited onl j st to a
part of the pop lation as it is to onl
ho are considered normal in ​S ea
hite and
ealth people in ​B
g​. The concepts in both
AC
e or to people
orks are appealing to
8
contemporar readers beca se the reiterate the significance of ed cation and demonstrate
ho it can negati el impact s if e do not ha e eno gh of it.
9