PROSPERING OF SOCIETY
Kajubi
It has a strong wire round it
And you will heed its beauty.
My society is prospering;
The labour of my society
Is raising its welfare
And you will heed its beauty,
With a strong wire round it,
This building that houses
The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
The building of the Ministry
For raising the society’s welfare
Has a strong wire round it;
The people who are leading my society
In its struggles to prosper
Work inside the strong wire fence,
And we are outside.
And you will take heed of its beauty
And it has a strong wire round it
And its compound is fabulously decorated
With Volvos, Mercedes, Peugeots,
Gleaming and glistening.
Near the building
Along Livingstone Street,
The prostitute
Squats in the moonlight
Awaiting a helpful customer:
He will give her money
And she will spin her waist under his weight
And relieve him of frustration.
At least temporarily.
Next to this prostitute’s slum
Is an old dirty house,
With leaning walls
Fit residence for rats.
It overflowed last year
That latrine of this house;
Indeed,
I the residents of this house
Have anything in their hands.
They have definitely stopped
Urinating and defecating.
This old dirty house leaks;
The other day
When there was a heavy downpour
The house turned into a pool –
Whether it was due to leaking,
Or where it is built,
Or the way it is built,
I can’t tell.
The residents call it their shelter,
But it can bring their doom any minute.
The residents of this house:
Two poor harridans
And three young men.
The harridans
Depend on the rent for existence;
The young men pay the rent.
One of them
Is a teacher in the city.
Another
Works with the blanket manufacturing company,
The third is a bus conductor
With the company offering transport
To those residents of the city
Who have no Volvos,
No Mercedes,
No Peugeots.
Along Lumumba Road,
Near the magnificent building
Which house
The Ministry for Labour and Social Welfare,
Is the film company building,
On the pavement
Three beggars:
Father, mother and daughter
Lie with outstretched hands
Leprosy disfiguring their human shapes.
Mnazi Mmoja gardens
Are near this building
Which houses the Ministry
That is promoting my society’s welfare.
At one cool spot in the gardens,
A group of young men sit,
Puffing their evening dose of bhang.
It was on this
very spot
That the blind woman
And her twelve year old daughter –guide
Were raped yesterday.
Stand by the prostitute’s slum,
Or by the rats-cum-human residence,
Or on the film company building pavement,
Or on this cool Mnazi Mmoja spot,
And, for sure,
You will see the building
That houses the Ministry
For Labour and Social Welfare.
It has a strong wire round it
And you will head its beauty.
INTRODUCTION
Prospering of the Society is an ironical poem by Kajubi that clearly depicts the kind of
lifestyle that the post independent Tanzanian leaders lived especially in the
early years after independence. The nation tried to make some efforts to raise
the welfare of the masses that was seriously damaged by colonialists, but
ideally ended up building the welfare of the leaders while the poor are fenced
out. This marginalisation results from the fact that the leaders are caught up
in the same luxury lifestyle just like their colonial masters from whom they
got power.
THEMATIC ANALYSIS
The poem has discussed a lot of themes that it is hard to exhaust them
all. Some of these themes include; poverty,
betrayal, marginalisation, disillusionment, moral decay (Immorality) and
classes.
POVERTY
The poem has almost entirely centred on discussing the
kind of life that the poor people of independent Tanzania lived. He shows that
while there were some efforts made to improve their lives, the poor remained as
poor as before. There are numerous images that symbolise poverty in the poem.
Ø
Prostitution; the young woman is seen busy hunting for men in the
moonlight since she can’t afford the life expenses. She has decided to lower
her human dignity into a commodity for sale.
The
prostitute
Squats
in the moonlight
Awaiting
a helpful customer
He
will give her money
Ø
Poor living condition; the images of dirty and leaking houses, slums and
beggars give an impression of how terrible the condition is for poor people.
Next
to this prostitute’s slum
Is
an old dirty house
With
leaning walls
Fit
residence for rats
We are even told that the house they live in, is in a
worse condition to the extent that it can bring death to them at any time.
The
residents call it their shelter
But
it can bring their doom any minute
CLASSES
The poem discusses three types of classes existing in
this society. High class (bourgeoisie), middle class (workers) and lower class
(poor people).
a) High
class.
The poet shows that there are those who live
extravagantly by buying expensive cars and work inside the fenced building.
These have Volvos, Mercedes and Peugeots.
And
its compound is fabulously decorated
With
Volvos, Mercedes, Peugeots,
Gleaming and glistening
b) Middle
class
This comprises few employees but who still find it
difficult to earn a living due to low salaries. It includes teachers, factory
workers and bus conductors. They represent a lot of people who go to work on
public transport because they can’t afford to buy their own cars.
One of them
Is a teacher in the
city.
Another
Works with the blanket
manufacturing company
The third is a bus
conductor
With the company
offering transport
To those residents of
the city
Who have no Volvos
No Mercedes
No Peugeots
c) At
the bottom is lower class.
These have no jobs, and no any means of earning a
living. The only means they opt for is to roam about in the streets hunting for
money from willing Samaritans. These comprise beggars, prostitutes, the blind
and her daughter, drug abusers etc.
On the pavement
Three beggars:
Father, mother and
daughter
Lie with outstretched
hands
Leprosy disfiguring
their human shape
MARGINALISATION
The poet satirises the idea of lifting social welfare
of the mass by the high class because the leaders have created a barrier that
has put the masses at the periphery. He shows that the building that houses the
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has a strong wire round it. He repeats
this phrase several times to show this irony.
He shows that those who work inside the fence have
luxury cars parked outside. The image of a fence may not necessarily imply the
literal fence but in a broader sense it may also imply the boundary that exists
between the poor and the rich. The fact that the poor can’t afford the services
of the rich, acts like a fence. The poet says;
The
people who are leading my society
In
its struggle to prosper
Work
inside the strong wire fence
And
we are outside
DISILLUSIONMENT/DISAPPOINTMENT
The persona seems to be disappointed by the fact that the officials of
Ministry of Labour and Social welfare that were supposed to take care of the
poor are the same who are caught up in luxury living while the poor are
marginalised.
The poor people are suffering, and raped; they smoking marijuana just a
few meters from the offices that raise people’s welfare but nobody takes notice
of them. Still some people live in
slums, have no food, engage in prostitution, smoke bhang and are raped. All
these show how these people are disappointed by the kind of independence they
got. They have remained watchers of the game. To show his disillusionment the
persona says;
The people who are
leading my society
In its struggle to
prosper
Work inside the strong
wire fence
And we are outside
MORAL DECAY (IMMORALITY)
Due to the fact that the leaders are not concerned with the welfare of
the mass, the common people have decided to engage themselves in evil
lifestyles. The poet discusses three critical cases of moral corruption.
a.
Prostitution. This means having sex with people in exchange for
money. The young woman engages in prostitution due to moral decay in the
society.
b.
Drug
abuse. This means
illegal use of drugs or the use of illegal drugs. The young men are seen
sitting smoking marijuana (bhang) just at the garden near the building of the
ministry. This is due to moral decay.
c.
Raping. Forcing to have sex with someone by violence or
threats of violence or the child under 18. The blind woman and her 12-year old
daughter are raped due to moral decay.
BETRAYAL
This is a common theme in African literature. Leaders who took power
from colonialists are no better than their colonialist predecessors. They have
betrayed the people who fought for independence by living luxuriously while the
masses live miserably. We are even told that these poor people don’t live far
from the ministry responsible for them; they just live beside the walls of the
building. The idea of fencing the poor out implies betrayal.
Stand by the
prostitute’s slum,
Or by the rats-cum-human
residence,
Or on the film company
building pavement
Or on this cool Mnazi
Mmoja spot,
And, for sure,
You will see the
building
That houses the ministry
For Labour and Social
Welfare
It has a strong wire
round it
And you will head its
beauty.
HYPOCRISY.
This is a behaviour in which somebody pretends to have
moral standards or opinions that they do not actually have. The leaders in this
society are hypocrites. They pretend to have the welfare of the masses at heart
but the fact is they are just working to benefit themselves. Fences in this
poem represent marginalization. The masses are fenced out by the same people
who should help them.
The people who are
leading my society
In its struggle to
prosper
Work inside the strong
wire fence
And we are outside
But also these people live a luxury and expensive lifestyle
far away from that of common people (citizens) who are suffering.
And its compound is
fabulously decorated
With Volvos, Mercedes,
Peugeots,
Gleaming and glistening
GUIDING QUESTIONS
a)
LANGUAGE USE
The poem has used a very simple language and easy to understand.
The poet has also carefully selected words that carry his message across
easily. E.g. prostitute, blind, slum, beggars, Volvos, Mercedes, and Peugeots,
to show the disparity in life among the citizens in this country.
b) Figures
of speech
Ø
Imagery. There are a lot of images that make us see life in its reality. These
include;
o
Visual
images; Slums, dirty house, beggars, blind etc these are images of poverty.
o
Volvos, Mercedes, and Peugeots are images of richness.
Ø
Symbolism.
“The strong wire fence” represents
the gap/barrier between the rich and the poor.
Ø
Satire.
“The people who
are leading my society/ in its struggle to prosper/ work inside the strong wire
fence/ and we are outside”
It is satirical to think that people who are
responsible for people’s welfare are fencing themselves.
Ø
Allusion. The poet makes several references to real geographical
places in the city of Dar-es-Salaam. E.g. Street names, Lumumba, Livingstone,
Mnazi Mmoja etc.
Ø
Irony. The title of the poem “prospering
of society” is ironical because we don’t see any efforts in attempt to make
the society prosper, but the opposite is true.
Ø
Euphemism. He describes the act of making love in an indirect
way.
He
will give her money
And
she will spin her waist under his weight
And
relieve him of frustration
Ø
Parallelism
Who have no Volvos
No Mercedes
No Peugeots
c) What
type of the poem is this?
This is a modern/Freeverse poem. It has 11 stanzas of
unequal number of verses and uneven length of verses.
d) What
is the tone and mood of the poem?
The tone and mood are both sympathetic and
ironical/satirical. At one point the persona sympathises with those in the
lower class but ironically it shows that those who are central to help the poor
have fenced themselves and are busy enjoying life while the poor are suffering
with no help.
e) Who
is the persona and how do you know?
The persona is a citizen from a poor class (the
marginalised ones). We see this in lines 11-14 of the second stanza.
The
people who are leading my society/ in its struggle to prosper/ work inside the
strong wire fence/ and we are outside
f) What
is the message of the poem?
Ø
The
leaders should be genuine in dealing with people’s welfare.
Ø
Prostitution
and drug abuse are not solutions to poverty.
Ø
Classes
are obstacles to development.
Ø
The
resources of the country ought to benefit not only the ruling class but also
the mass.
Ø
Leaders
should not be hypocrites.
Ø
Betrayal
of the masses by the leaders hinders development.
g) RELEVANCE.
Ø
The
poem is relevant to our society today due to the fact that it discusses common
problems facing Tanzanians today.
Ø
Moral
decay is at its height now. Raping, drug addiction and trafficking,
prostitution, poor living condition are common phenomena in big towns in
Tanzania. For example the situation described here can be seen at Jangwani area
in Dar es salaam city.
Ø
The
gap between poor and rich is increasing day by day; the poor get poorer and the
rich get richer.
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