Erick Nunez, Blogpost, 11/29

I believe it is much better to write in the language that is most comfortable with a person because if not the writer would feel forced to accommodate a language they aren’t used to, thus making the writing less meaningful. Ngugi wa Thiong’o acknowledges the feelings of inequality he faced when being punished for writing in an African language by saying, “that question is what set in motion my thinking about the unequal relationship of power between languages.” Ngugi shows how writing in his native language was able to show him the inequalities buried underneath language which ultimately encouraged him to continue writing in his “mothers tongue.” However, Rushdie was able to argue that the inequalities faced in India through language was only an argument for those who were affected by it. “It is a debate which has meaning only for the older generation.” His claim showed that children who are the next generation don’t see English as an issue, but a chance for opportunity making this debatable topic selfish. Yet people shouldn’t focus on what is ahead, instead they should focus on the present and that is the adversity people like Ngugi have to endure. Ngugi confirms this after he wrote his first novel in the Gĩkũyũ language but in an unusual way. He wrote it in toilet paper after being imprisoned for writing in the African language. This just goes to show how even the African government is corrupted by language, more specifically a post-colonial African government. Ngugi was able to confirm his belief towards a corrupt government after he realized that his past writings were all written in English, yet he received no consequence for it. Language is a part of a person’s culture and if it is taken away, places like Africa would be rid of it.