Hau'ofa & King

Molly Erlanger

Dr. Ellis

EN 385D

3 February 2015

Tales of the Tikongs & Letters from a Birmingham Jail

            Both Epeli Hau’ofa’s Tales of the Tikongs and Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letters from a Birmingham Jail” speak of developing cultures, as well as touching on the way that typical American culture affects a certain group of people. Though dealt with in different ways, both of these works are giving very important insight into the ways in which cultural differences should be approached. One lesson that can be taken away from both of these works is that differences should be accepted, and even celebrated, instead of being eliminated completely. The important aspect that can be found in both of these works is that they focus on the individual.

            Epeli Hau’ofa’s Tales of the Tikongs describes a Pacific island culture, and how its people respond to modern development. The book gives multiple descriptions of certain members of society, effectively showing this specific culture’s traditions and values, and more importantly showing how the people respond when their culture is changing. The last account stuck out to me in particular, in which Ole Pasifikiwei essentially takes something that he loves and turns it into something that will gain him wealth and notoriety. In the beginning of his story, he is simply a man that is trying to collect oral histories so that they may be shared. By the end, he “immersed himself totally in the supreme task of development through foreign aid…He has since shelved his original sense of self-respect and has assumed another, more attuned to this new, permanent role as a first-rate, expert beggar” (Hau’ofa 93). It seems that development, something that is meant to be positive for these people, has only corrupted and warped this man’s values. Instead of trying to learn from a different culture, Western ideals have simply been forced onto him and his society.

            A similar argument can be seen running throughout King’s “Letters from a Birmingham Jail”. He is attempting to explain the need for desegregation in America, and why he believes he is making a moral and right choice by opposing everything about society that keeps blacks and white separate. It is yet another instance in which cultural differences are viewed in a negative light, to the detriment of one of the groups. His effort to change the way an entire nation views African Americans starts at a grassroots and individual level. More than that, in his writing, he makes very personal statements about how segregation affects a person, stating, “you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park…and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children” (King). His description of the ways in which he has encountered segregation, and how it has affected his own life in even the smallest of ways is a much more effective way of showing why it is so important to accept cultural differences.

            It is important to give these personal and individual accounts to advocate for acceptance of cultural differences. I once traveled with my mom and two of my siblings to Appalachia, to bring aid to incredibly poor areas of our own country. My understanding of the types of people we were being sent to help was that they were poor, uneducated, and generally unable to be independent. However, the little town that we visited was full of fascinating characters and everybody I met there, no matter their social situation, had a lively and grateful air about them. They lived very differently from my family and I, but they had just as much to teach us as we had to teach them. Speaking of the individuals of this community, and getting a sense of who they really were, was ultimately what brought me to respect the way they lived so much. They did not need to completely reform their way of life to match ours in order to be happy.

            Both of these works help to shed light on the fact that it is important not only to be aware of other cultures, but to be accepting of them as well. When traveling to a new place and confronting things that are different from what you are used to, it is much more beneficial to remain open and learn from them. Acceptance aids in growth, leading to a personal and inward journey of the mind when visiting new places.

Foreigners and Natives

Tales of the Tikongs Response

“’But you must remember that in dealing with foreigners, never appear too smart; its better that you look humble and half-primitive, especially while you’re learning the ropes. And try to take off six stone. It’s necessary that we be seen to be starved and needy. The reason why Tiko gets very little aid money is that our people are too fat and jolly.’” (Hau’Ofa 87).

            In Tale of the Tikongs, the natives receive little aid in the way of development despite the drive for it. These various anecdotes illustrate the natives experience with religion and work. The reader is transported into an unfamiliar territory through these various stories.  In some ways, the reader is like the traveler in a new land, encountering different people briefly and only given a short story.
            As I read, I couldn’t help but think of myself like a foreigner in my classroom. Each day, I am greeted by new experiences. To my students, I am a foreigner in their land (their classroom). In the classroom, my students are natives and I become the tourist. In some ways, my relationship with my students can be seen like a foreign aid service attempting to intervene in native’s life. Although my intentions might be slightly different than a typical foreign aid service, the comparison remains. My students originally viewed me as a stranger in their land, intruding on their territory.
            The quote above sets up a relationship between visitor and native that implies the native requires something from the visitor, however dishonest that need might actually be. Thinking of my own students, I wonder if as a teacher I seek out the students who appear to need the most help and whether or not that is effective. Does the relationship between native and foreigner imply a need? In my classroom, I am the foreigner, although I think the relationship between foreigner and visitor is more than need-based on one end. For instance, there is not always an intentional deceit implied in interactions between the two, but there does tend to be. In the same way that readers make judgments about the brief encounters we have with characters inTales of the Tikongs, visitors make these judgments about natives. There exists a dichotomy between the visitor and foreigner though, where both parties involved only get a skewed view.
            Both Hau’Ofa and King makes claims about social awareness, they do it different ways. Hau’Ofa illustrates the absurdity of some cultures while highlighting the differences the Tikongs have. King advocates for social change with bold claims like “oppressed people cannot stay oppressed forever”. By showing the way people can oppress others and various social injustices, Hau’Ofa lets the reader make her own judgments or plans on how to change this, however King calls for change immediately.
            The original quote then remains relevant. When in need of help or change, is it necessary to appear weaker than one actually is? Is the best way to get help to deceive? Both Hau’Ofa and King respond differently to this call for help. ​

The "Right Time"

Valentina Viscardi

EN 385D

3 February 2015

Tales of the Tikongs

The Right Time

I felt like an outsider the first day of my service at Tunbridge Public Charter School.  The teacher didn’t realize I would come so early in the morning, so I sat in an empty classroom, clad with fourth grade decorations.  I had forgotten what it was like to be in the presence of such innocence—tiny chairs, colorful walls, rules of respect and love across the moldings.  I allowed my eyes to wonder around the classroom and to become reacquainted with the world that became so foreign. 

            On the vocabulary wall, there were words that I didn’t think I would see with students that weren’t even ten years old: “cancer”, “obliteration”, “reprimand”, and “genocide.”  How can a mind so young even begin to understand such powerful and dark words?  Should those words and those worlds be put on hold for an older age?

            When my thoughts were finally interrupted by the sounds of very excited boys and girls who came into the classroom, I smiled and greeted my new friends.  I sat and watched the young teacher proscribe assignment after assignment to these jubilant children.  Shouldn’t their homework be to go out and play and enjoy this precious time before they actually have to care?  But, then I thought to myself, when would be the right time to expose children to different cultures in the realm that they live in? 

            Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. advocates that there isn’t a “right time” to bring, “to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive” in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”  Undoubtedly, even the small child is aware that certain events happen that are unjust.  Crime is most prevalent in our part of town and what can we do to understand it and provide a solution?  Education.  As Dr. King stated in his response to the priests on his “untimely” movement, it is hard to understand and fathom the experience of another culture to one who, “hasn’t suffered unduly from the disease of segregation.”  Comparatively, until we are submersed into a culture we can’t begin to understand it.  From my perspective, perhaps these students need to become aware of the injustices in their community in order to recognize it and conjure ideas to better their community.

            Cultural identification is satirically portrayed in Epeli Hau’ofa’s Tales of the Tikongs.  In this intriguing tale, specifically, the chapter, “Paths to Glory”, a guardian figure criticizes his son for his “cultured” experiences.  He exclaims, “You think like a foreigner, you talk like a foreigner, and you act like a foreigner” (45)  The entirety of the chapter is a criticism of the son having a different stand point, both physically and intellectually.  But, why is the guardian figure so upset?  The idea is contingent with the “anti-development theme” of the novel.  While, the son is necessarily developing land, he is cultivating new ideas that seem contradictory to his upbringing, his inner most essence—his culture.   This is an issue because if other nations, peoples, and communities maintain this mindset of segregation of cultures and ideas—social progress stands still.

             Dr. King makes this connection clear.  He doesn’t tell us to forget our culture and but to use it to propel us forward.  He does this by uniting humankind in what he calls an, “inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”  Furthermore he beautifully states, “Whatever affect one directly, affects all indirectly.  Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial ‘outside agitator’ idea.”  Thus, my thoughts on why the children were learning what I thought were too harsh of words for their age groups have come together.  There is no need to wait.  For if those children wait to expand their ideas on other cultures, their thoughts and visions will be trapped in the bubble of their home lives and communities.  In other words, we shouldn’t be scared of cultural development, for if we can’t understand a community or a culture, we will never be able to move forward in social justice.

Tales of the Tikongs

Imperfect Cultures

After reading Epeli Hau’ofa’s, Tales of the Tikongs, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, I feel that I have gained a greater insight into cultural differences and discrimination. Although the writers approach cultural discrimination quite differently, both Hau’ofa and King are advocating for acceptance of cultural disparities. Hau’ofa approaches the subject in a satirical manner, and is simply pointing out that there are problems in all cultures, while King’s letter is more like a manifesto in which he presents the problems in society and gives a solution to them.

            In Epeli Hau’ofa’s novel, we are transported to the Pacific Island town of Tiko, in which the work ethic is relaxed, religion and family are deeply valued, and “development” is feared. Essentially, “Tiko goes in the opposite direction, all on its own” (1). Throughout the novel we are presented with several hysterical Tiko natives, such as Sione, who plays cards and gets massages at work; Ika, who is forced into becoming a fisherman; Ti, who only sins in pairs, and Pulu, who has dreams of raising cattle, but falls short. However, even though Hau’ofa pokes fun at the traditions, work ethic, and culture of Pacific Island culture, he simultaneously draws out the flaws of the culture of foreign influences, which include Australia, New Zealand, and England. The foreign advisors want to push the Pacific Islanders into development, yet continuously fail to give them the proper tools and training necessary for it. For example, Sharky, or Mr. Lowe, from Australia, is not only demeaning towards Ika, but he also equips Ika with unfamiliar fishing gear and then “dropped him and forgot about his existence” (23). When Ika tries to contact Sharky, he is unavailable, and we again see the problems with the foreign advisors such as an unsuccessful bureaucracy and gossiping secretaries (24-25). Ultimately, Hau’ofa is illustrating that no culture is ideal, but he does not venture to solve the problems of the cultural differences.

            Likewise, King points out the problem with cultural discrimination, but then also calls for action. King states that for centuries, African Americans have been discriminated against and treated with a sense of “nobodiness” (4). However, unlike Hau’ofa, King outlines a plan of action to overcome this adversity. King calls for a nonviolent campaign against discrimination, which includes identification of the injustices, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. Since the first three steps of the campaign did not garner change, King reasons that he is now in the Birmingham jail as a part of direct action. King sees the injustice in his world, and brings about a plan to fix it.

            Both Hau’ofa and King can be considered agents of social awareness. Hau’ofa is critiquing several cultures, while King is stirring up action among African Americans. Ultimately, both make readers aware of social injustices and the need for change.

            After reading Tales of the Tikongs and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, and performing my service-learning at Tunbridge Public Charter School, I began to think about the social injustices in our world today. At Tunbridge, I work in a self-contained classroom with seven children ranging from first to fourth grade. All of the children have different learning disabilities, and all will probably face adversity because of these disabilities. The children are all respectful, kind-hearted, and talented in their own ways. Yet, like the Tikongs and African Americans, the students are treated differently because of their disparities.  Although it is necessary for the students to be in a self-contained class, this increases the separation between “typical” and “atypical” students, and therefore increases the social injustice that the learning disabled children may face.

            Going to Tunbridge Charter School made me feel “transported” into a new realm, much like when reading Tales of the Tikongs. For the past two summers, I have worked in self-contained preschool classrooms, so I thought I knew what to expect when arriving at Tunbridge. However, I was shocked to see the stark differences between the two schools. The private preschool I work for at home is in an affluent town, and each class is full of toys, tactile and kinesthetic therapy programs, and several teachers and aids. At Tunbridge, on the other hand, the classrooms are simpler, with a few toys, books and only one classroom teacher. These differences made me think of the differences between the simple life of the Tikongs and the more modern life of the foreign aids. Like the two cultures, both schools have their issues and there is no perfect way of teaching the students. 

Hau'ofa's Tales of Tikongs

Elesa Knowles

Dr. Juniper Ellis

EN 385D Post-Colonial Literature: Travel Literature

January 31, 2015

Traditional Injustice: Hau’ofa’s Tales of Tikongs, King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, and Ly-Shang Eng’s Just Response to Traditional Injustice

In Hau’ofa’s Tales of Tikongs, a chapter entitled “Blessed are the meek”, showcases traditional injustice being done to the hard-working Puku who is deprived from education and property. Romanticizing Puku as a meek sufferer who will receive his reward in heaven, the narration explains Puku must willingly accept the unjust traditions that marginalize and cripple him financial in earthy life. The narrator states, “Puku kept traditional company with rats, cockroaches, bugs of every description, and a thousand other tiny creatures of Lord’s creation” (Hau’ofa 71). These depictions make it seem like it was God’s divine will not unjust laws and people who determine Puku’s fate. Tradition also implies that it is unavoidable that he would live with lowly creatures that roll among in dirt. Puku and his relationship to the creatures seem to symbolize the digging and rolling around in the past, traditions ’s ashes and leftovers. It always seems implied that Puku deserves what he receives regardless of how less it is compared to his siblings and simply accept it as God’s will opposed to traditional injustice. This fact is emphasized when his father dies and his brother underserving inherits Puku’s farmland.  The narration states, “ Then, his father died. And on the land on which Puku lived and worked went by right of the primogenital inheritance to his elder brother who lived in town, never worked on it, and had no intention of working on it” (71-72). Based on this corrupt inheritance law, Puku’s brother cheats him of Puku’s original land and even goes as far to give him a tiny plot for the dirty hut he was already suffering in. Puku believes he deserves this fate and rationalizes, “ he would be rewarded with an Estate in Heaven” (72). His damnation and justifying his plight as a compensation for his heavenly reward shows how psychologically scarring an unjust law can be to a human.

            In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, he explains how unjust laws rooted in tradition can be overturned without submitting to believing it is fate or believing one is inferior and deserves the suffering like Puku. King states, “In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustice exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action” (1-2). To check for injustice in Puku’s case is simple. The facts of abuse of inheritance right is evident, the act of negotiation is overlooked by department head, self-purification is handled when he eventually breaks his back by working to the death on his hut land plot, but the direct action never took place. Even when he went to beg for a job from the Head Department of the farmland that was sold unjustly to this man, Pukka simply accepted it as his fate and did not challenge why the land he worked to cultivate was ripped out of his financial assets based on outdated, traditional rule. Another person who accepted being cheated by an elder based on a traditional hierarchy is Ly-Shang Eng. Her brother Ken was blessed with being the first-born male out of a Chinese immigrant family in America and received the burdening responsibility of being the traditional alpha male. Frightened and bullied as the 4^th  female of eight children, Ly-Shang’s resources for economic advancement and affection was poured into her eldest brother. Ly-Shang never graduated from college because of her limited English grammar and vocabulary; whileas, Ken graduated head of his class from medical school and became a doctor. Ly-Shang married and left her mother’s home to live with an Irishman in Bensalem. Ken grew up with the handsome interview clothes, a beautiful Chinese wife, three children, and no intention of interacting or visiting the mother who mold and whipped him through tradition to be a successful member of the American middle class. Ly-Shang and Ken’s mother grieves for her loss of youth, beauty, and her husband and lives alone in her Philadelphia Chinatown apartment. Ly-Shang unable to drive a car, takes the Septa bus, the L-22 train to Philly every Tuesday from 6am-5pm so she can hear this woman call her ugly, uneducated, and always inferior to her sons especially the eldest. Ly-Shang tells me, “Bitterness is backwards and forgiveness is forward”. Like a Tikong, she may accept some traditions towards crippling younger siblings from social mobility, but she take direct action by visiting. Unlike Peku who accept the struggle as God’s plan, Ly-Shang accepts the struggles as the result of sexism, ethnic paranoia, and a desperate attempt for her mother to advance her family’s financial future in the only way she knew how. Regardless of how unjustly she treated her children, Ly-Shang understood she loved them. Ly-Shang never lets the unjust favoritisms of tradition define her rather she re-defined herself as a non-traditionalist through initially travelling toward our home in Bensalem and travelling every Tuesday towards my grandmother whose wounds she still wishes to heal. 

Works Cited

Hau'ofa, Epeli. "Blessed Are the Meek." Tales of Tikongs. Honolulu: U of Hawaii, 1983. 68-74. Print.

King, Martin Luther. "Letter from Birmingham Jail." 16 Apr. 1963: 1-12. http://www.africa.upenn.edu/articles_gen/letter_birmingham.html. Print.