Zaq's accomplishments, Rufus' dilemmas, Boma's troubles and the Major's woes- Oil on water has taken me on a wild goose chase as I attempt to make sense of what this book is about. So I sat down one Saturday and read the whole book ahead of the class to see what this book is really about. Then I sat in class and watch the drama unfold. As we discussed each subtopic, I saw that the plot efficiently deceives. It immerses us within the journey of Zaq and Rufus while slowly revealing a bigger picture. Habila believes in writing about the present and in retrospect, I see that plot was just that; a plot.
"It's well written, and it's well researched; maybe that's why he won. But I'm against that kind of writing. It's just bullshit. That is the kind of stuff that Achebe wrote in Things Fall Apart. Fifty years ago. There are things to write about that are not just Africans going about naked and all that shit. Where everybody is speaking in proverbs. It doesn't happen. It's just not there anymore. So we just have to write about what's happening now."
-Habila in an interview
Oil on Water offers a detailed narrative of the plot, often taking up couple of pages in the process of explaining events in great detail. Slick, wet oil on the trees, heart-wrenching, emotional flashbacks of the Major ,Zaq and Rufus and the quest to achieve journalistic excellence all form enjoyable and interesting parts of the book. Helon Habila uses this book to show the effects of the oil exploration on the people of Nigeria while being annoyingly lengthy and a stickler for details. The ending took me completely by surprise as he veered away from his style and left the plot wide open to interpretations of the reader.
To understand the source of Habila's inspiration, I look to Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe. Achebe's book is the standard for modern African novel in English. The protagonist of the book, Okonkwo, cannot adjust to the change brought by white men to his village in Nigeria. It focuses on the ultimate destruction of Okonkwo due to his inability of coming to terms with modern culture. A similar feature in Habila's book is the oil which brings about tremendous change in the lives of millions in Nigeria and washes away those who do not conform and adapt to its ravages.
While I try to gauge what the meaning of the book is Habila takes me to issue of the human effect of oil on the waters of Africa. In turn I look to the effects like poverty, hunger, forced migration and corruption in the Tropic of Chaos (countries between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn). I appreciate Habila's story but what I appreciate more is his indirect reference to the larger picture.
Any other interpretations?
"It's well written, and it's well researched; maybe that's why he won. But I'm against that kind of writing. It's just bullshit. That is the kind of stuff that Achebe wrote in Things Fall Apart. Fifty years ago. There are things to write about that are not just Africans going about naked and all that shit. Where everybody is speaking in proverbs. It doesn't happen. It's just not there anymore. So we just have to write about what's happening now."
-Habila in an interview
Oil on Water offers a detailed narrative of the plot, often taking up couple of pages in the process of explaining events in great detail. Slick, wet oil on the trees, heart-wrenching, emotional flashbacks of the Major ,Zaq and Rufus and the quest to achieve journalistic excellence all form enjoyable and interesting parts of the book. Helon Habila uses this book to show the effects of the oil exploration on the people of Nigeria while being annoyingly lengthy and a stickler for details. The ending took me completely by surprise as he veered away from his style and left the plot wide open to interpretations of the reader.
To understand the source of Habila's inspiration, I look to Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe. Achebe's book is the standard for modern African novel in English. The protagonist of the book, Okonkwo, cannot adjust to the change brought by white men to his village in Nigeria. It focuses on the ultimate destruction of Okonkwo due to his inability of coming to terms with modern culture. A similar feature in Habila's book is the oil which brings about tremendous change in the lives of millions in Nigeria and washes away those who do not conform and adapt to its ravages.
While I try to gauge what the meaning of the book is Habila takes me to issue of the human effect of oil on the waters of Africa. In turn I look to the effects like poverty, hunger, forced migration and corruption in the Tropic of Chaos (countries between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn). I appreciate Habila's story but what I appreciate more is his indirect reference to the larger picture.
Any other interpretations?
I enjoyed the fact that aside from trying to analyze the books' purpose, you go into great detail regarder the author himself, and what may have driven him to write the novel, and write in in this way. I also like the fact you tried to enage the reader of your post/blog by directly asking us for your interpretations. In response, I would say the fact that there is no obvious idea or plot in the book is a tactic of Habila's, whereby the reader is, in a way, 'free to choose' what the book is really about for them, ultimately making the read more enjoyable. Aside from this, maybe an image would be nice!
ReplyDeleteThanks Bruno for sharing your interpretation!! This book is really puzzling and it really is a challenge to even comment on it. I will take your advice and surely add a few visual elements next time. Thanks for reading and will look forward to your next blogpost.
DeleteI like how you put in your personal opinions about Habila's writing.The connection at the end to the Tropic of Chaos could have been better explained. Bringing in Habila's interview adds credibility to your writing. Maybe a picture would have solidified your argument.
ReplyDeleteHey Vishal, thanks for going beyond and reading my blog. I totally agree that my ending was rather abrupt, I was at a loss for words and had no idea how to further analyse the effects like hunger, poverty etc while keeping our assignment in mind. I am also rather poor at the aesthetic look of my blog. I think my next post will have some help in this department. Thanks for your feedback and will look forward to your blog!
DeleteI'm surprised that instead of focusing on the environmental cost of oil industry on Nigerian people, you focused on its more profound impacts on poverty, hunger and forced migration. It seems like you were relating oil transaction to modernization, both posing many challenges to Nigerian villagers. It never occur to me before that they've had such a struggle after being exposed to modernization. You really opened up my mind!
ReplyDeleteKe Xu
Hmm, this is a new "interpretation" to my blog! Well I can only say its great news that you liked my blog and could get a new perspective from it. I totally loved Harmony in Chaos and the amount of detail in it. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and will look forward to your next post.
DeleteI like how you spoke about the author and what his beliefs are. It gives a better understanding of his style of writing. I like how you compared it to Things Fall Apart and I hadnt realized the connections these two novels had. The only thing that could improve this is maybe incorporating more electronic elements such as images or links. Other than that this made me see the events occurring in Nigeria in a different way.
ReplyDeleteI agree. This has been a learning experience for me. After seeing others blogs, I feel that I should have put some more effort into making it more pleasing to the eye and maybe put in some more elements that would make the blog as a whole more enjoyable. I appreciate the frankness and will look forward to your inputs.
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