It baffles me! I am utterly astounded beyond the conceptual frame of rationality. It is yet another experiential encounter of the perpetuation of conservatism and incompetence. Everything was black from the unfortunate act, to the road it occurred on, to the time of the day it mostly happen, to the livery worn by the perpetrators. I am left without any choice but to ruminate that there is a direct symbiosis between the attire they deck on and their behavioural temperament, mental disposition and habitual manner of operation. If otherwise, why should such an institution that is saddled with the constitutional obligation of upholding the rules of the land and protecting the citizenry from injuries either to themselves or to there properties becomes the very one that in a most savage mannerism of impropriety put the people they are suppose to safeguard into suffocating pains, sometimes complete annihilation and most often the destruction and ruin of the means of their livelihood. If this were to be reported in a foreign tabloid or other media, I couldn’t have given it an iota of belief.
The Nigeria Police Force (N P F) was a 1930s creation during the hostile draconian and parasitic colonial administration of the British government. The (N P F) since its creation was bestowed with the legal duties of maintaining peace, law and order, safeguarding the lives and properties of the people among other responsibilities. Susan Martins (1990) states that, law enforcement officers ‘are supposed to prevent crime, protect life and property, enforce the laws, and maintain peace and public order’.
The ancient Greek philosopher, Hiraclitus declares that, ‘change is the only permanent thing in life… It is the law of nature and conditions of all things, for all things are ceaselessly changing. All things are in the state of flux’. Old things and ways die out to give space for new things and ways to come on board. Fortunately, some law enforcement institutions have wholly metamorphose from their old operative tendencies to a new sophisticated and technologically driven ones in response to the changing times. Unfortunately, some do not. They still clutch to the old ways even when it has become necessary and logical to adjust for either being blind or too insensitive to modern and safer trends in their field. Such institutions like the (N P F) are an aberration to what constitute modern operative techniques especially on the high-way operations at night.
Police check points are intended to cope and prevent criminal activities of some bad fellows who have taken it upon themselves to live like predators. To the contrary, this is not the state of check points in Nigerian roads as they constitute a menace to motorists among other dubious acts of the police.
Frequently, these roadblocks or check points are set up in the high-way and usually in an inauspicious location like road bends and hill brows using heavy trunks of trees that were mercilessly chopped down. This bizarre and unmodern act most often leave the motorists crying in the pool of their blood and sometimes deceased as such barricades or obstruction could not be seen in due time, so that the driver avoids running into them. Worst still, is the fact that these heavy blockades are left as they are set abreast the dual lanes at night without any form of modern means of illumination to signal to the road users that they are approaching a security check point. Instead, some abso-bloody-lutely anachronistic lanterns that emit fuliginous and nebulous red flames are set across the edges of the road; these red flames only become apparent when the driver is right at them. Many a times, fatal accidents occur for this careless, thoughtless and retrogressive act. As a result, properties worth substantial amount of Naira are lost and some times innocent lives go with them. Recently, a friend had to suffer great lost as a result of this along Bauchi-Gombe road. Yet, many have lost love ones already and these check points will continue to do harm instead of good to the people.
Time is more than right and appropriate for the (N P F) to mutate from their prehistoric mentality and perilous acts especially with regard to the issues afore mentioned and embrace modern and better ways of doing things especially as they relate to the general public, so that they can serve the people effectively and honourably. A simple illuminating light box with ‘POLICE CHECK POINT’ boldly written in it and placed on a conspicuous spot on the road should not be beyond the reach of the Nigerian Police Force.
To go journalistic, Daily Trust of the April 5th 2011carried the story ‘Scores die along Jos-Bauchi highway auto crash’. In the story, over 20 people are feared dead, not to mention the injured ones and the destroyed vehicles and other properties caught in the mayhem. This accident was caused by a roadblock outfit along Jos- Bauchi highway. Our politicians never care because it is one of the place that reminds them of their super-human feelings as the road blockers never fail to freeze in salutation, beside the better the car the less the scrutiny.
More so, these roadblocks are models for the wayward-armed robbers who mount similar outfits to cause additional hardship to the already over traumatized citizens of this country. If these roadblocks are necessary on the highway, then they should be given human face scientifically, technologically and safely. At least we are in the 21st century and there are models, even if our police are so uncreative to initiate road safety checkpoints.
Although this write-up may not enjoy the readership of the ‘right people’ but the right minds will not miss the points being made.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
‘A SHORT STORY SHOULD HAVE A CERTAIN UNIQUE OR SINGLE EFFECT TO BE WROUGHT OUT’ A CASE STUDY OF THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER BY EDGAR ALLAN POE.
As a prose narrative, the short story is defined in numerous ways by several scholars-as a result, there is no one universal definition of the term that cut-across. Yet, the definitions given by Edgar Allan Poe and Gordon and Kuehner do not negate and misrepresent what the short story is. According to Gordon and Kuehner quoted by bookbyte.com, a short story is ‘a short prose narrative if it contains some 5000 words it is usually characterized as short story, if its length reaches 15000 words it could be characterized as a novel.’ Allan Poe on his part as quoted by William Boyd in Prospect Magazine says it is, ‘a short prose narrative requiring from a half hour to two hours of perusal.’ In his review of Nathaniel Hawthome’s collection of stories titled Twice Told Tales, poe states that ‘we allude to the short prose narrative, requiring from a half to one or two hours in its perusal. The ordinary novel is objectionable, from its length, it can not be read at one sitting, it deprives itself of course of the immense force derivable from totality’. These two perspectives by Gordon and Kuehner and Allan Poe looked at the short story in terms of its length and duration of reading. Essentially therefore, what they have succeeded in doing is presenting a presenting a prescriptive meaning of what the short story is perceived to be today.
However, the short story discusses a wide range of subject from historical, to topical, political to socio-economic and cultural. For example, O’ Henry’s The Gift of the Maggi deals with the issues of unconditional love and sacrifice. Alice Walker’s ‘Every day Use’ handles issues related to cultural heritages. While Zainab Alkali’s ‘Saltless Ash’ and ‘The Vagabond’ exposes the social ills in a patriarchal society engineered and manipulated by the men folks. The domain of the short story is hence not; limited to the number of subject it can discuss-it is open to all forms of discuss. Its only limitation lies in the number of ideas that can be discuss at a time, usually it makes room for a considerable few ideas at a time.
The statement, ‘A short story should have a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out’ was made in The Theory of the Short Story (1842) by one of America Hawthorne
“A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thought to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out, he then invents such incidents and then combines such events as may best aid him in establishing his preconceived effect. If his very initial sentence tends not to be out bringing this effect, then he has failed this first step. In the whole composition, there should be no word written of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design.”
The whole notion of Poe’s unity of mood or singleness of effect implies that the short story concentrates on a particular mood, sober, hopeful, optimistic, horror or pessimistic. This is because the milieu of the short story is limited in space, length, setting, themes and characters-so that there is no space to deal with varied moods. One mood usually predominates in the story. As Eric affirms, “a great short story is generally about one thing, one situation, one feeling-which it introduces then gradually builds it to climax”. Each choice made in the construction of the narrative must contribute to the dominant and pre-conceived effect so as to lend the story a sense of consequence. The complete purpose of this Poe remarks, is to “evoke Excessive” emotions at the story’s climax. He stresses that, “only then can we get the satisfaction of ‘totality’ or enjoying a work in its totality”. “When we read something of this length, we are less likely to become distracted” (brainstorm).
The Fall of the House of Usher is considered by most critics to be the best example of Poe’s ‘totality’, where every element and detail is related and relevant. Eric Rosenfield states that the notion of the “certain unique or single effect to be wrought out informs Poe’s own story which generally follow a straight forward path to a definite climax and then are finished”
The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) is a gothic horror story, written in the first person by Poe. It encompasses this notion of singularity of effect as the entire story revolves around Roderick Usher, Lady Madeline, his twin sister and the unnamed narrator revealed as Usher’s friend. It focuses on the generational malaise and terror and subsequent annihilation of the Usher’s family.
In this story, Poe harmonizes and synthesizes all or each element of the short story to contribute to the overall effect of the work. He makes every word, every phrase and every sentence part of the organic whole. Together, they develop and buttress the major theme of horror that characterize not only the setting, but the characters and the situations surrounding them. For example, words, phrases and sentences like, dull, dark, soundless autumn, clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, insufferable gloom, alone, sorrow, melancholy and singularly dreary all establish the one single mood of this masterpiece which is horror accompanied by gloom.
From his arrival, the narrator notices a gloomy vicinity surrounding the fungus covered Usher’s house. When the narrator arrives by horseback one autumn evening at the House of Usher, the sight of its bleak walls and desolate grounds fills him with gloom. Everything from inception gives the signal of terror and fear. His contact with Roderick Usher and later glimpse of Lady Madeline feels him with woe which he describes as ‘insufferable gloom’. At the denouement of the story, the narrator continues to come into constant touch with yet another picture of terrific doom as lady Madeline apparently demise now resurrect and collapses on her brother, Usher- and then the colossal ruin of the Usher’s house which split into two. This very act signals the utter annihilation of the Usher’s family.
In this terrifying gothic tale finally, Poe’s ingenuity with symmetrical coherence of elements that synthesized to produced a unifying work heavy laden with intrigue and meaning presents itself. Right from the beginning Poe develops one p0articular effect, horror and continues to build on it till the end. Each detail, each atmosphere and each picture depicted obviously in one way or the other correlates to the overwhelming effect of horror in the story. The intention as stated earlier is to achieve what Poe calls ‘excessive’ emotion at the story’s climax. This conscious arrangement has bestowed on The Fall of the House of Usher a classical paradigm of a short story at least to Poe’s standard. It puts aside every element that is not related to the single effect and utilizes every other thing within reach that will succor in the success of the effort.
WORKS CITED.
Brainstorm. Approaching the Art of Fiction. As appeared in http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2005/pdf/authors-define-fiction.pdf.
Edgar Allan Poe. The Fall of the House of Usher. (1839)
Eric, Rosenfield. The Nature of the Short Story. As appeared in http:www.wetasphalt.com/?q=node/221. Retrieved 26th march, 2011.
Martin. Fiction (2002). As appeared in www.bookbyte.com/1/1/112900.fiction. Retrieved 20th january, 2011.
Michael. Theory of the Short Story:An analysis. As appeared in www.arts.ualberta.ca/~d miall/project-la htm.
Michael J Cunnings. Analysis of The-Fall-of –the-House-of Usher. As appeared in http://www.cunnings studyguides.net/Guides/usher.html. Retrieved 21st January, 2011.
William, Boyd. The Short Story(2006). As appeared in http://www.prospect magazine.co.uk/2006/07. Retrieved 12th February, 2011.
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