Ah Woe Is Me Essay Research Paper free essay sample

Ah, Woe Is Me Essay, Research Paper Ah, Woe Is Me A ) Summary of The Narrative: In the beginning of this short narrative we are introduced to Sarah, an aging black servant life in South Africa. She works hard for an upper-class white household and spends all of her money on instruction for her three kids who are sent to a boarding school. They come place one time a twelvemonth at Christmas, and the first clip the storyteller meets the kids, she is surprised at their well-bred behavior. She finds, nevertheless, that Sarah is a spot rough towards them, and she remarks on this. Sarah tells her that it is better to larn the lesson now and turn to accept one? s destiny subsequently. In the class of the undermentioned twelvemonth, Sarah must give up her occupation because of her legs, and one twenty-four hours her girl comes to the house. We will write a custom essay sample on Ah Woe Is Me Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Slowly she tells her narrative to the storyteller. How the younger brother is working now, and how she is taking attention of Sarah. The storyteller offers her some apparels and some money and invites her interior for a cup of tea. When she is about to go forth, she starts shouting and can merely mumble that her female parent is really ill. Unsure of what to make, the storyteller hands her a hankie. B ) An Essay About the Text: The scene in this narrative is South Africa in the 1950? s. Apartheid and segregation are words that describe the conditions under which the inkinesss ( the indigen Africans ) live absolutely. The inkinesss about have no rights and must accept being oppressed by the Whites. Sarah is merely one of many hapless inkinesss who merely merely manages to gain a life by working as a retainer for a rich white household ( the storyteller ) . Bondage does non be any longer, but it can be hard to distuingish the life of a slave from that of a native African in the 50? s except from the fact that they do after all get paid for their work. Sarah is really concerned about her kids acquiring a good instruction. She likely wants them to hold a better life than she has had so far, and while that is a really baronial idea, the facts speak against it. Her kids do non at this clip have a really good ( if any ) opportunity of acquiring a good solid instruction because it is really expensive, and their fem ale parent does non do that much money. Even if she did do adequate money, her legs are bad, and at the terminal of the narrative, she has to give up her occupation ( and therefore take her kids out of the boarding school ) because she can non afford to pay for the school. This is what could look like the concluding blow to her kids? s hereafter success in life. No instruction means no opportunities of acquiring a better life in South Africa ( and merely about everyplace else, excessively ) . But what if she did hold adequate money to give her kids a proper instruction # 8211 ; would that vouch the kids a good hereafter life? I soberly doubt it. As I said before, the inkinesss live about like slaves, and as such, they do non hold the chance to mount the societal ladder. All in all, Sarah? s hopes and dreams for her kids are all really baronial, but, unluckily, at that clip and topographic point, really unrealistic. The storyteller does non handle Sarah any better than most other white people in South Africa at this clip. While she allows Sarah? s kids to remain in her house during Christmas, I think the lone ground she does it is because she tries to get away her ain bad scruples. It is Christmas after all. Throughout the remainder of the twelvemonth, she does non even think about assisting Sarah? s kids financially so they can remain in school. Even though she presumptively has more money than Sarah will of all time see, the idea of assisting her retainer out does non strike her at any point in the narrative. Her retainer is her servant, and retainers? kids are non person she thinks approximately. This point is besides really clear to see when one reads the description of the storyteller? s ideas about Sarah? s kids. She is surprised at how good they behave, how good their manners are ; as if she was anticipating a host of wild animate beings alternatively of normal human existences. She is do ubtless non the merely 1 to believe this manner about the inkinesss, they were considered animate beings by many white people at that clip. However, the storyteller seems to pardon her intervention and behavior towards Sarah and her household with ignorance ( see lines 99-103 ) . I find it difficult to believe that this ignorance truly existed, but it is possible that it did, because the Whites and the inkinesss were so clearly segregated by the apartheid system. Yet I find it difficult to believe that the storyteller was wholly incognizant of Sarah? s about cold criterion of life. Surely, even though apartheid about divided the Whites and the inkinesss into two separate universes, she must hold known something about the conditions under which Sarah and her kids lived, and that it was acquiring worse as the yearss went by ( because of the female parent? s bad legs ) . When Janet, one of Sarah? s two girls, comes to see the storyteller in the terminal of the narrative, the storyteller one time once more displays her ignorance about the inkinesss, but this clip she openly admits it. Janet is, of class, in an unpleasant state of affairs when she stands in the back pace of her female parent? s former employer. Everyone has some pride in themselves, and standing in the back pace, inquiring for alms is, of class, really degrading to a proud individual, no affair who that individual is. Janet has likely tried being in a similar state of affairs before, but now that her female parent is unable to supply for the disintegrating household ( her male parent has lost his occupation and her sister has married and moved off ) , the life and decease of her household depends entirely on her and her brother who are the lone 1s working. Janet is of class really down and sad, but she can non give up now. Her last hope is that the storyteller will assist her out, and, fortuitously, she does. The hankie is really the first thing the storyteller has of all time done to assist Sarah? s kids. It is non until that point in the narrative Janet realizes merely how bad things are with Sarah and her household. Of class, one could once more be tempted to believe that it was merely her bad scruples that made her give Janet the apparels, but there is no manner to be certain. I am, nevertheless, inclined to believe that the storyteller has eventually realized how huge the difference between the # 8220 ; black universe # 8221 ; and the # 8220 ; white universe # 8221 ; truly is. However, the things she gives Janet ( some money and the hankie ) will non last long, and what will Janet make so? Come back for more, of class. I am non stating that the storyteller is making something bad, but I do non believe she realizes that Janet will likely come back once more. It is like giving a isolated cat some nutrient ; it will ever come back for more. The inquiry is i f the storyteller would give Janet more money if she came back, and if it would be any aid at all. The first inquiry is easy: Yes, she would give her more money if she came back # 8211 ; her scruples forbids her to make otherwise. The 2nd inquiry is a bit more hard to reply. Of class the money is an instant aid to Janet and her household, but merely a really deficient 1. The few dollars ( or whatever currency they use in South Africa ) she gives Janet will merely supply the household with a repast or two, and after that they will be back to where they started, and would hold to implore for more money. Now, I am non stating charity does non assist, but I do non believe it helps every bit much as many people would wish to believe it does. In many instances, it merely puts off the agonies. The apartheid system has officially been abolished in South Africa today, but I think old wonts die hard, so to talk. I am certainly there are still inkinesss like Sarah and her household who have to subordinate to the richer white population even though # 8211 ; officially # 8211 ; apartheid does non be at that place any longer. Societies do non alter overnight, particularly non when 1 group has to give up its right and privileges and portion them with others ( whom they dislike ) . Sarah? s narrative is doubtless non the worst illustration one could happen, but no 1 knows what happened after the scene in the storyteller? s back pace. Translation: In the beginning of his well-known novel about a missing principal, Hans Scherfig gives the undermentioned description of how it all started: On the ten percent of October, a atrocious find was made on Amager F? lled. A soldier found the dreadfully maimed remains of a individual who had literally been blown to spots. The constabulary instantly started an extended probe, which was slightly complicated by the fact that it was impossible to place the organic structure. Some little pieces of vesture were sent for chemical analysis, but since the consequences would non be available until a hebdomad subsequently, the constabulary were unable to continue straight with work outing the enigma. 320