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ECHOES
Kundi
Faraja
Me,
I plead guilty
That my woman is a tool
To fulfil my sexual desires,
That she’s the source of sensual pleasure.
A garden
Where I plant my seeds
So as to get children
Which are mine.
And not hers,
Who have the right
To inherit my property,
And not her.
I plead guilty
That I have regarded my woman
As my property,
Because I paid the bride price
To her parents.
What did her parents think
When they demanded
The cows,
The tanks of beer,
The goats,
The money
They knew
That they were making wealth out of me
Because their girl would work for me
Just like a slave
I plead guilty
That I have inherited the stupidity
Of my slavery age parents,
That I have prolonged inequality,
That I have continued oppression,
Though unknowingly,
I am guilty
For dominating
My woman.
My nation pleads guilty
That it has shut an eye
To the rights of women,
That it has kept the women,
In the kitchen,
In the church,
And at home
To look after the children.
My nation pleads guilty
That it has given little room
To the she sex,
That the number of girls at school
Has always been smaller
Than that of boys.
My nation pleads guilty
That it has always given a narrow chance
For women to become
Teachers,
Physicians,
Scientists,
Leaders of State
And Public Organizations,
That their percentage
Has always been meagre.
My church is guilty
That it has declared women
Unholy,
Unsanctified,
Ungifted to God,
And that it has confined the alter work
To the blessed men,
To the chosen men,
The gifted men,
Though it is nowhere written in the Gospel
That women shouldn’t be priests.
I agree that
If a woman is to be oppressed
By a man
Who is in turn exploited,
Who is in turn disregarded
By the bourgeoisie,
By the petty bourgeoisie,
Then she’s doomed:
She has nothing left to live for!
I agree that
To deny them freedom
Means to refuse human equality,
Means to accept capitalism
Deep in our hearts
And also means refusing
The development of the majority.
INTRODUCTION
In most cases Kundi Faraja speaks for the lower
class and the oppressed. In this poem his attention is focused specifically on
women showing how his society including himself being a man, has mistreated
women in different spheres of life. He takes a more feminist stand and speaks
from a feminist point of view to show that a woman is oppressed from family to
national level. As a result he becomes a spokesperson or a woman’s voice
against this stereotype, hence echoes. An echo is a sound that is reflected back
off a wall or inside a confined space so that a noise appears to be repeated.
Kundi Faraja is echoing the cry of women.
THEMATIC
ANALYSIS
FEMINISM
AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Feminism
is a belief/ideology that women should have the same rights, power and opportunity
as men. To the most part the poet seems to be on the side of feminism movement
in advocating for women rights. Despite all the international conferences and
‘‘universal declarations’’ in favour of female equality, the lives of most
women around the world remain confined by prejudice and social oppression. The
means by which male supremacy is enforced vary considerably from one society to
another (and between social classes within each society), but everywhere men
are taught to regard themselves as superior, and women are taught to accept
this. Very few women have access to power and privilege except via their
connection to a man.
Feminism
appears in the following spheres.
Gender
inequality.
The poet advocates for gender equality in areas
such as jobs, education (school), and leadership.
That the number of girls at school
Has always been smaller
Than that of boys.
***************
That it has always given a narrow chance
For women to become
Teachers
Physicians
Scientists
Leaders of State
Gender
discrimination.
He also shows that women are segregated even in
some religious institution and considered unholy, ungifted and unsanctified.
My church is guilty
That it has declared women
Unholy,
Unsanctified,
Ungifted to God
MARXISM
AND WOMEN LIBERATION
From its
inception, the Marxist movement has championed female equality and women’s
rights, while regarding women’s oppression (like racial, national and other
forms of special oppression) as something that cannot be eradicated without
overturning the capitalist social system that nurtures and sustains it.
Marxists assert that women’s liberation is bound up with the struggle against
capitalism because, in the final analysis, sexual oppression serves the material
interests of the ruling class. The elements of Marxism appear in the last
stanza when he says;
To deny them freedom
Means to refuse human equality,
Means to accept capitalism
Deep in our hearts
And also means refusing
The development of the majority
Marxists
believe in majority rule and welfare and are against capitalism. Considering
the surrounding atmosphere of the political situation of the time when the poem
was written it fits that immediate context.
AWARENESS
There is a growing awareness among the people on
women’s rights among different social groups in the society. The poet seems to
be aware of his faults and his nation at large for perpetuating this stereotype
against women for so long. However, on his side he admits that he did it
unknowingly because he inherited this stupidity from his parents.
I plead guilty
That I have inherited the stupidity
Of my slavery age parents
That I have prolonged inequality
That I have continued oppression
Though
unknowingly
It is this awareness that makes him take time to educate
others about the importance of giving opportunity to women.
POSITION
OF WOMEN.
The poet has also discussed different positions
that women occupy in this society.
a) As Tools
for pleasure
That my woman is a tool
To fulfil
my sexual desires
b) As a
property
I plead guilty
That I have regarded my woman
As my property
c) As a
source of income and a slave
They knew
That they were making wealth out of me
Because their girl would work for me
Just like
a slave
d) Women are
oppressed
That I have continued oppression
Though
unknowingly
e) Children
bears and caretakers.
A garden
Where I plant my seeds
So as to get children
Which are mine
And not hers
f) Women
have no right to inherit property of their husbands
(Children)Who have the right
To inherit my property
And not
her
REPERCUSSION
OF BRIDE PRICE
Bride price has become a complicated phenomenon
among Africa societies. There are women who support it and those who oppose it.
There are men who support it and those who oppose it. The persona however,
takes a negative view about bride price. He shows that it is the payment of
bride price that makes women to be reduced to a property level. Most women
experience the suffering in their married life and are treated like slaves
because their husbands paid for them. He says:
I plead
guilty
That I
have regarded my woman
As my
property,
Because I
paid the bride price
To her
parents.
What did
her parents think
When they
demanded
The cows,
The tanks
of beer,
The
goats,
The money
They knew
That they
were making wealth out of me
Because
their girl would work for me
GUIDING QUESTIONS
1)
Comment on the use of Figures
of speech
a) Metaphor
That
my woman is a tool
(my woman) is a
garden where I plant my seed.
b) Simile
That
I have regarded my woman as my property
Because
their girl would work for me just like a slave
c) Rhetorical
question
What
did her parents think…
d) Parallelism
The
cows
The
tanks of beer
The
goats
The
money
In the church
And at home
e) Personification
My
nation pleads guilty that it has shut an eye to the rights of women.
My
church is guilty that it has declared women unholy…
2) What
is the tone and mood of the poem?
The tone is sympathetic to women so it creates a
sympathetic mood towards women.
3) Who
is the persona? How do you know?
The persona is a man who is aware of women rights. (A
feminist) We know this because he says
“I plead guilty
That I have regarded my
woman
As
my property”
4) Comment
on the rhyming scheme.
The poem has irregular
rhyme scheme with unequal length and number of lines and stanzas.
5)
How many stanzas are
there?
There are nine (9) stanzas in this poem.
6)
What type of the poem is
this?
It is a modern free
verse poem but specifically it is a narrative poem as it tells a story of how
women are mistreated.
7)
What is the meaning of the title of the poem?
‘Echoes’.
Literally speaking, an echo is a reflected sound on
the surface or wall after the original sound has stopped. In the poem the poet
uses Symbolic title “Echoes” to mean that the person who is
speaking is just reflecting the problems that are facing women and not himself.
So he echoes the cries of women.
8) What
messages do you get from the poem?
- Ø Gender discrimination should be discouraged.
- Ø Women should be given equal rights to own or inherit properties as men.
- Ø Women should not be taken as tools to satisfy the sexual desires.
- Ø Women should not be treated as slaves by their husbands.
- Ø Bride price should be discouraged as it makes women to be treated as properties.
9)
Is the poem relevant to
Tanzania today?
- The poem is relevant to Tanzania today in a number of ways. There are many societies in which;
- Women have no right to own or inherit properties.
- Women are treated as slaves
- Women are taken as tools for pleasure by men.
- There are also different NGOs that fight for women empowerment and emancipation such as TAMWA, TAWLA, TGNP, WAMA et.
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