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Essay / A theme of oppression in “Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi
There are different forms of oppression in this world. Many young people now complain of not having freedom, of being too busy and of not having private space. More time to do what you love. But when I think about it, many people have even become other people's slaves. They don't have time to do their own things. They must follow the path of other people's lives. This is greater oppression. In Homegoing, oppression has become one of the most interesting topics to discuss and the most thought-provoking question. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Racial oppression is very prominent and evident in this book. Usually when we discuss racial suppression, discrimination, the priority may be the issue we are discussing, but the name may also reflect the issue of racial suppression. An example is Millicent, the mixed race born to an African mother and a white man, “Millicent’s mother had been given a new name by her white husband” (Gyasi 9). The British replaced the woman's maiden name with the surname of the husband she married to associate her with the new family. The statement “His father had seven other sons who could carry on the Otcher-Collins legacy. He wanted to be a man without a name” by James is evidence of the familial importance attached to the title (Gyasi 104). For him, this meant that he had to make sacrifices to maintain the legacy, while living without it he would be free to follow his heart. For this African woman, she could have chosen not to accept this, but since he was a white man, she had to. It has lost its “original meaning”. In their basic form, nouns describe one individual among many people. James' father Richard Collins said: "Will he not always be a prince to our people and to the white people too?" I gave him a powerful name” when asked why he gave his son three British names (Gyasi 90). For him, they constituted a label for his son, and he strove to find a powerful one for him, regardless of the social balance he was supposed to adapt. This primary function of a title became essential for Africans in slavery where they had to remember the people they met. When Ma Aka escaped with Kojo, she called him Freeman because he was no longer a slave, so he told his story. He observes that many freed slaves had the same name because they had no other identity than that of former slaves. When he had his children, he gave them names that meant alphabetical order until they expected H and the letter to stick to him as their name. Through Kojo, the perspective of a name as personal identity is elaborated. When Mr. Matheson tells her “Taking your name away is the first step,” Jo does not ask what that means because he implies that slavery took away their identity (Gyasi 118). Another example is when Ethel gets angry at H for calling her by another woman's name, reminding her of her losses, she says, "...My freedom." My family. My body. And now I can't even own my name? A person's name defines them because it is the reference used to talk about them and represents all their qualities and experiences. It is the greatest psychological stress when you cannot use your name as usual. In the book, many stereotypes of black people towards white people can also explain the additional influence of oppression. "Besides, if we go to school with the white man, we will simply learn the way the white man.