LITERATURE IN ENGLISH 2018 NECO

Lit obj
1-10CEADAEDDEA
11-20CBCBAECAED
21-30EEAEDEDDEE
31-40AAADAADECA
41-50DEACEAEACE
51-60ECDEADCECE
LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
5)
Mary Dalton is the female heiress of
Dalton’s estate whose death leads to
Bigger Thomas, self discovery.May is an
adventurous female charcter with a
communist orientation.Her role as a
girlfriend to Jan Earlone helps the reader
understands the role played by
communist referred to as “reds” in the
civil right movement.During her first
meeting with Bigger Mary treats Bigger
has her equal.This upsets Bigger who
share a racially biasedviews of the
societynaround him.Bigger’s hatred for
the oppressive white society makes him
harbour hatred towards Mary who also
refers to her father as “capitalist” in his
presence.Mary’s role as a succour
provider for Bigger is interpreted by
Bigger as an insult.After Mary drives,Mary
and her boy friend Jan Erlone around
town and they make Bigger drive them to
a black neigbourhood where they eat at
Ernie’s kitchen making Bigger
embarassed as some of his negro friends
see him in the company of white
folks.Bigger feel humiliated despite
Mary’s treatment and after Bigger initially
refuses to leave the car,mary begins to
sob but is consoled by Jan.After Bigger
drives Mary home Bigger tries to carry
the drunken Mary up the stairs and as the
body crushed against each other Bigger
is sexually aroused and as Bigger places
her on the bed he hears Mary blind
mother approach the home out of
fear,Bigger covers Mary,s face with
apillow and inadventently kills her in the
process.Mary’s death in the novel leads
to Bigger’s self discovery
!==!==========
(8)
(1) The Rat:
Native Son opens with an important
scene that gives us one of Book One's
most significant symbols: the rat. Bigger
and his family are waking up together,
and they suddenly spot a rat. After a few
chaotic moments of chasing the rat - and
the rat attempting to fight back and
defend its life - Bigger ultimately kills the
rat with a frying pan. We can read the rat
as Bigger himself, as he is clearly trying
to survive, but is seen as a nuisance.
This is how Bigger perceives that white
people see him and other black people:
as nuisances that are best kept out of the
way and might face danger if they enter
the world of white people.
(2) The Plane:
Not long after Bigger ventures outside his
house that morning, he and his friend
Gus spot an airplane that is engaged in
sky-writing. They comment on how hard
it is to see the plane and how far away it
must be. The two then go on to talk
about the unlikelihood of black people
getting to fly airplanes, a job that is
reserved for white people:
'' 'I could fly a plane if I had a chance,'
Bigger said. 'If you wasn't black and if
you had some money and if they'd let
you go to that aviation school, you could
fly a plane,' Gus said.'' The combination
of the description of the airplane and the
following conversation indicates that the
plane is a symbol for far-off, unreachable
goals.
(3)The Pigeon:
After the airplane scene, we move quickly
to the next important symbol in Book 1:
the pigeon, which Bigger and Gus see as
they continue to walk down the street
together. We read: ''a slate-colored
pigeon swooped down to the middle of
the steel car tracks and began strutting to
and fro with ruffled feathers, its fat neck
bobbing with regal pride. A street car
rumbled forward and the pigeon rose
swiftly through the air on wings stretched
so taut and sheer that Bigger could see
the gold of the sun through their
translucent tips.'' the ability to fly away
from the forces in his own life that he
feels are trying to crush him, just as the
pigeon escaped the street car.
(4)
Loneliness is a major theme in the novel.
It is the outcome of a tradition of kufi
which isolates widows for a period. Three
widows; Dedewe, Radeke and Fayoyin
suffer this fate, but only as for as long as
they end their widowhood by the cap-
picking ceremony.
However, one character who is most
affected by loneliness is Yaremi, whose
marriage to her husband, Ajumobie
comes to an abrupt end through his
untimely death. Therefore, she is
connected to a life of loneliness.
As a motif, "loneliness and its
associations such as "left her alone",
"lonely" and "solitude" permeate the
novel. Yaremi is rendered lonely after the
death of her husband Ajumobi. Her two
daughters segi and Wars, after being
given away into marriage, no longer
keeps her company. Her only son Alani,
now lives in Ibadan and it him Kufi has
become a lonely settlement at the very
end of the earth.
Yaremi's only companion is Woye, her
little grandchild. On very cold nights,
when other lucky women of kufi enjoy the
company and warmth of their husbands,
Yaremi sprawls dejectedly on her
bamboo bed, missing Ajumobi and can
only launch into a state of rapturous
reminiscences. It becomes her habit to
visit her husband's grave at least two
times a day. There she sits alone and
monologues her earthly problems, hoping
for Ajumobi's response.
For fear of losing her Only companion
Waye, she does everything she Knows of
- medication, cajoling, coaxing, prayer -
to get him healed of his high fever. No
wonder, at the boy's sudden decision to
leave with bus mother for Olode to enroll
in school, Yaremi perceives "a steadying
positive factor in her loneliness going
away".
In the end, Alani's strange
pronouncement that he is going back to
Ibadan after his short visit to kufi throws
her into a swoon. Later when the village
elders announced the punitive measure
of sending her into exile for referring all
the caps, she is galvanised into resolving
that it is her dead body that they will
carry out of kufi. She draws her strength
and will-power from Almighty God and
Ajumobi's spirit and braces herself for
the painful continuation of her lonely
days.

Share: