The Tomorrow-Tamer Essay, Research Paper

The three major issues of the African people

Throughout my reading of the Tomorrow-Tamer I have noticed three main problems faced by the African people: ? Poverty, the lack of education and finally the social isolation. ? These are the subjects on which I propose my text.

At the time this book was written, most of Africa was controlled by white men, usually businessmen seeking profits. Advantaged by the low wages given to the workers, this accentuated general poverty within African countries. This is why many characters were either poor or born in poor families, for example, Godman Pira in the Godsman?s Master or Ayesha in the Rain Child short story.

One thing conspicuous when traveling in certain parts of Africa is that it?s almost like returning three hundred years behind. We can observe this in Merchants of Heaven when Mr. Lemon is given his site of residence next to his church. He does not want to live near his religious establishment complaining that the odor is too awful to sustain. Also, another aspect noticeable in that passage is that the people fight for survival, they subsist with what they have, learning life the hard way, if I may say. Nonetheless, the lack of education is another key issue. The importance of it is reflected in the Godsman?s Master story when Godman Pira is confronted by the life in the city were he must live on his own and earn his way through life. He didn?t have the elements necessary at first but with time he matured or was forced by Moses to mature. Also, family values are closely linked to the education one receives, Ayesha is an example, she was a prostitute child that had no family and hadn?t had the chance to be educated until found by policemen and sent to a school.

Nevertheless, education is a crucial element that we can directly associate to ones lifestyle. Much like in the Tomorrow-Tamer story, Kofi earned a job equivalent to his level of schooling and could afford no more than a hut as his home.

I believe that the lack of education is directly associated to the social isolation most of the African people live every day, that is a major aspect I?ve noticed when reading the Tomorrow-Tamer short story. I observed how the native inhabitants reacted towards the establishment of the new bridge and the reaction of the Owarasu people when Kofi died. His death was a normal sacrifice that made sure their water stream would be more powerful than the bridge. In this matter, they would be assured that they could still live off the water this river would provide. I am shocked to see them consider a human life so poorly, how could any one think that by sacrificing a human life it could resolve their worries of undernourishment. I sense that the real danger lied not in the risk of a continued unsatisfied hunger but by their belief in it.

As well, their lack of exposure to different cultures for so long has made them less open in accepting other customs. We are able to distinguish this fact in the Godman?s Master story when Godman Pira is saved and brought to the city, his new haven, where he knew that the high priest would not venture.

All those elements combined together add up so that the social isolation leads to the lack of education and the lack of education leads to poverty. This clearly demonstrates the social in equivalence present in most of underdeveloped countries in Africa.