Conrad's inhibitions prior to setting off to "Hell"

"After this I got embraced, told to wear a flannel, be sure to write often and so on---and I left. In the street---I don't know why--a queer feeling came to me that I was an impostor. Odd thing, that I, who used to clear out for any part of the world at twenty-four hours' notice with less thought than most men give to the crossing of a street, had a moment--I won't say of hesitation, but of startled pause before this commonplace affair. The best way I can explain it to you is that by saying for a second or two I felt as though instead of going to the centre of a continent I were about to set off for the centre of the earth."
(Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Ch. 1)

I found this passage an entrancing view into Joseph Conrad's psyche. HIs fear of the unknown river he initially finds so entrancing. mixed with the thoughts and ideas he begins to have after his "inner sanctum" contract agreement. Facing the facts that he most likely will not make it back to his homeland alive along with the truth, being that he is replacing a ship captain who found himself in a sticky situation with the "natives/savages/heathens."

King Leopold's Ghost

One aspect of King Leopold's Ghost that really intrigued me was regarding the passing down of history through oral tradition. Personally, I prefer to relate information orally. Moreover it sparks my interest in those individuals who enjoy relating to others the traditions and preferences of their people, however large or small their affiliations may be.

In the narrative I was most afflicted by the fact that there is only one account written from the viewpoint of an African. Mukunzo Kioko a part of the Pende people, a twentieth century oral historian gives a heartbreaking account of what he saw happening to his people upon the voyage to europe. Vumbi, as they were called, known as spirits returned from the dead were seen by the africans as the whites. This put an added amount of fear into the hearts, spirits, and minds of the enslaved Africans.


">Islam in Africa


11-18 Million Killed over slavery
350 years of industry
International corporations come from THIS

African traditional religion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_traditional_religion

Arab Slave Trade (Trans-Saharan)

Arab Slave Trade Definition according to Wikipedia

Challenging traditional/established Belief System's in Things Fall Apart

http://worldviews.igc.org/awpguide/relig.html
Chinua Achebe derives meaning made by himself and his family of the changes that christian missionaries strive to achieve nearing chapter seventeen. The website listed above provides a logistical or chronological outline of religions mainly practiced in Africa and when each came to be practiced.

Towards the end of this research resource materials will become apparent that may help in further understanding of religions effect on African tradition/culture.

African Metaphysical views before colonialism

http://libproxy.library.wmich.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hia&AN=H001530943.01&site=ehost-live

Examines the explosive growth of African religious sects and cults in Nigeria, and their ties to Christian and Muslim missionaries. While traditional Christian and Islamic religious doctrines oppose local metaphysical and superstitious practices, New Age religions incorporate Nigerian cultural heritage into their fanaticism. Widespread in Nigeria, New Age religions tolerate polygyny, an obsession with drumming as an integral part of worship, and animist rituals. Nigerians view traditional Christianity and Islam as the religions of conquerors, and they prefer sects or cults to fulfill their religious yearnings. [B. S. Shlevin]


http://allafrica.com.libproxy.library.wmich.edu/stories/200211250027.html

This article explains why it is important for leaders to conquer cultural myths including the metaphysical views shared by many tribes in Africa. I found interesting about this article the ways in which issues are pointed out as well as the roles that literature portrays cultural myths within literature.

http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/images/features/nigeria_dancers.jpg

This picture presents to me, although it is from a disease prevention website, what Africans enjoying their metaphysical practices may have looked like. Metaphysical views acted as a way for Africans to share religious tribal traditions, elevating themselves through that seperation between the balance of the physical and spiritual worlds.

Who Am I?

My name is Melissa Lauren Casbar and I was born in Royal Oak, MI. Since 7th grade I have been called Missy therefore I prefer to be called Missy since I often forget that my name is Melissa unless some sort of roll call is performed. I went to Walled Lake Central H.S. and graduated in 2004. I am a Secondary Education English major with a minor in Communication. My life goals are to travel around the world, skydive, and to understand the ways peoples connect and why.
Later on I will continue about why I am interested in African Literature...

Upon review of this intro, I realized I had portrayed myself to be one boring individual. Here are some quotes that I really enjoy that may help you get a better idea of how spicy I really am... 

"I am a firm believer in SERENDIPITY----all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along." 
-David Levithan

Love me or hate me..... thats how its always been, thats how it will always be.... hate my swagger, hate my charisma, hate my style, hate my good looks......hate me for all of these things.... but most importantly..... hate that im loved for the exact same reasons

This is the beginning of a new day. I have been given this day to use as I will. I can waste it. . . or use it for good, but what I do today is important, because I am exchanging a day of my life for it! When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something that I have traded for it. I want it to be gain and not loss; good and not evil; success, and not failure; in order that I shall not regret the price that I have paid for it. I will try just for today, for you never fail until you stop trying.

Be the change you wish to see in the world
-Ghandi

But Merlin would say "Look at your rational doubts more closely. Behind the doubt stands a doubter, behind the doubter a thinker, behind the thinker a speck of pure awareness that must be conscious before any thought can arise. I am that speck of consciousness. I am immortal and immune to time. Do not just speculate about me, judging whether to accept or reject. Dive inside, peel away your layers of doubt. When we finally meet, you will know who I am. And then my immortality will be not simply a notion but a living reality." 
- DEEPAK CHOPRA

Finally, I am interested in the study of African Literature in order to gain insight into what life is and has been like for Africa and her inhabitants during recent history.