English Speech: Change

Nothing endures but change. Good morning everybody, I’m Darshil as you already know. I’m here to teach about the change of culture found in the novel “The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith” by Thomas Keneally and a film “The Namesake” directed by Mira Nair. I will be teaching the change of perspectives on culture for both texts.

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith is a powerful story of a black man's revenge against an unjust and intolerant society. Culture for Jimmie changes throughout the novel, and as a young boy Jimmie accepts both black and white culture. Jimmie respects his culture and goes through the pain of man initiation which is juxtaposed to the whites misunderstanding of the values. Jimmie replies to Mr Neville to his disappearance by saying he was “catchin’ possums” while not showing the fact of his important step to manhood.However, Jimmie quickly begins to question his culture, and starts taking in the ideas of Christianity and adapting to white values. He is now told of owning land, marrying a white girl and building status for himself. This begins to contradict his Aboriginal culture but nonetheless “Jimmies black soul had been most undermined by the train journey...” Jimmie sees the limits in Aboriginal culture, and how everything he had believed was not the reality. He sees the disgust in Aboriginal values on his visits to Verona and soon after “baptizes himself a white man”. Symbolism is used to show white women as white society and everything he had wanted. A second change occurs when Mr Newby along with everyone else does him injustice. He undergoes a murder rampage. He murders white women with his axe in order to extract revenge on white society that would never accept him. He is now in between two cultures which conflict inside of him. However towards the end, culture is accepted by Jimmie and “may have turned to the Tullam instinct for primacy of mother’s brother.” While he is on the run, he is forced to be with his full blooded half brother Morton, who he grows to love. Regret is felt throughout the end perspective for his brother and his uncle who had embarked on a murderous rampage. Dialogue is used to show Jimmies anger when he hears the school children talk about Australia as if it were theirs. The story was told by an omniscient narrator which allows all views to be shared and illustrate character development.

The Namesake describes the struggles between first-generation Bengali immigrants to the United States, and their children, particularly their son, Gogol.Gogol is born in the United States unknowingly of the journey his parents had taken. Even though he was born in a Bengali family, Ashoke Ganguli and Ashima Ganguli (parents) knew it wasn’t going to be the way they had been raised in their home town of Calcutta. Gogol grew up in America and was introduced to both his Bengali culture and American culture. However it is contrasted when the Americans misunderstand the depth of their culture and importance of their name (“How about... Baby Boy Ganguly.” The initial view is shown by using light and soft colours which create a mild mood.The change occurs when Gogol is given his real name ‘Nikhil’ which he denies. This symbolises the future of Gogol and how his culture will be undermined. In his teenage years the perspective towards his natural culture diminishes and is dragged forward to a more normal American life which is shows when he is called “Nick” in the beginning of a new chapter.

However, with events such as his father’s death and seeing the lifeless American culture, Nikhil decides to accept his culture, and take responsibilities for himself. He breaks up with his girlfriend and embarks on things he missed due to his prejudiced beliefs. He shaves his head to respect his fathers death and “embarks on his namesake”.The Namesake relates to the chant of Jimmie blacksmith because Jimmie and the main character Nikhil in the texts are introduced to a new culture, and decide further upon their actions. Initially they are both seen to accept their culture but are opened to new ideas which in a way corrupt their minds. Their change comes when they realise their limitations in their culture. However, in the Namesake, the main character changes his perspective due to his general misunderstanding of it.

As we have seen the chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and The namesake have their characters that go through similar change and in the end find out they cannot escape themselves for who they really are. The chant of Jimmie Blacksmith was more effective in explaining the change; it contains more techniques which help visualise the change and the events are logically understandable. The composer tells the story through an omniscient narrator which also helps the responder see absolute character and culture change.

Thank you