Tradition vs. Modernity and Medicine
In the African literature discussed so far in class, tradition versus modernity is a reoccurring theme. Characters challenge traditions like marriage rituals, female roles and male roles, and the line between family and society. What isn’t common in the novels and plays read so far is the compromise between modern medicine practiced by doctors and traditional medicine practiced by witch doctors. Similih Cordor addresses this fact by using his characters to show how a balance can be found between modern and traditional medicine. In “The Cutting of a Leg,” the character Fatu tries to negotiate with modern medicine to heal her broken leg, but ultimately submits to the traditional medicine that has been saving …show more content…
What’s interesting about this story is that it is prefaced with a little biography about Cordor and what his intentions were with the story. Cordor is quoted as saying “The story is a dramatization of the humanity of a struggling African family in the big city…a portrayal of the plight of the semiskilled or unskilled, uneducated, and low-income masses of modern Africa who migrate to cities in search of better life for their families, but who only experience loneliness, poverty, diseases, alienation, and despair” (178). Kollie and his wife Marwu are poor, country people that have moved to the city and have five children with one more on the way. Money is tight, and Kollie is trying to avoid taking his wife to the maternity hospital for as long as he can because they cannot afford the …show more content…
In the case of Fatu, maybe it is a Western stereotype perpetuated by television medical dramas, but doctors usually try to go above and beyond for patients they feel they can heal. Dr. Cooper, while passionate about Fatu’s health, seems to take one look at her leg x-ray and skip right to amputation. Fatu becomes so traumatized by the practice of Western medicine in that hospital that she might never go back to a Western hospital again. She could from the end of the story onwards only rely on traditional remedies for her ailments. This is a huge contrast from the story of Kollie, who must rely on Western medicine when his wife falls ill. Though the modern medicine works for Kollie, he faces many challenges to receive the help he needs. He learns he needs to adapt fast to the social norms of not just the hospital but the city too if he is going to make a life for his
In the African literature discussed so far in class, tradition versus modernity is a reoccurring theme. Characters challenge traditions like marriage rituals, female roles and male roles, and the line between family and society. What isn’t common in the novels and plays read so far is the compromise between modern medicine practiced by doctors and traditional medicine practiced by witch doctors. Similih Cordor addresses this fact by using his characters to show how a balance can be found between modern and traditional medicine. In “The Cutting of a Leg,” the character Fatu tries to negotiate with modern medicine to heal her broken leg, but ultimately submits to the traditional medicine that has been saving …show more content…
What’s interesting about this story is that it is prefaced with a little biography about Cordor and what his intentions were with the story. Cordor is quoted as saying “The story is a dramatization of the humanity of a struggling African family in the big city…a portrayal of the plight of the semiskilled or unskilled, uneducated, and low-income masses of modern Africa who migrate to cities in search of better life for their families, but who only experience loneliness, poverty, diseases, alienation, and despair” (178). Kollie and his wife Marwu are poor, country people that have moved to the city and have five children with one more on the way. Money is tight, and Kollie is trying to avoid taking his wife to the maternity hospital for as long as he can because they cannot afford the …show more content…
In the case of Fatu, maybe it is a Western stereotype perpetuated by television medical dramas, but doctors usually try to go above and beyond for patients they feel they can heal. Dr. Cooper, while passionate about Fatu’s health, seems to take one look at her leg x-ray and skip right to amputation. Fatu becomes so traumatized by the practice of Western medicine in that hospital that she might never go back to a Western hospital again. She could from the end of the story onwards only rely on traditional remedies for her ailments. This is a huge contrast from the story of Kollie, who must rely on Western medicine when his wife falls ill. Though the modern medicine works for Kollie, he faces many challenges to receive the help he needs. He learns he needs to adapt fast to the social norms of not just the hospital but the city too if he is going to make a life for his