SHAKESPEARE IN THE BUSH 
                                                                          - by LAURA BOHANNA


* Select a quotation which view in your view sumps up the key points of the text.    Copy it accurately and give the page reference. Explain, briefly, why this quote    is so important for an understanding of the article/ extract.

~"Sometimes, you must tell us more stories of your country. We, who are elders,  will instruct you in their true meaning, so that when you return to your own      land your elders will see that you have not been sitting in the bush, but among  those who know things and who have taught you wisdom."
 
 I chose the above quotation, which is also the concluding paragraph of the        story. I really liked how the old man concludes the entire "hamlet" story into        something which kept me thinking for a while about how we all are from different  cultures and how others think or take it from their own point of view. The old man  wants the author to tell more stories to them, because when they share stories about their country, its more or less like sharing their cultures. The old man thinks that they know the true meaning of the story, because they are elder and wise. He doesn't want people to think that they are useless old people in the bush doing nothing but merry-making. He wants the author to let the people of her land know that she wasn't just sitting in the bush, but was sitting among the ones who know things and who have taught her wisdom. We see that the old man wants to be felt important and respected. It is true that we should always learn from our elders through their experiences. Lastly, this quote is important to me because no matter where we belong, there are people who will always accept us for who we are, like how the old man and the villagers accepted the author and her story, though there were errors that was over looked.


* Summarize the basic argument of the article? (What is the author's point of writing this? What is their message?)

~ Basically, when the author started narrating the story, it was clear to us that that Tiv had a completely different way of think and interpreting the story in their own views. By now, I understand that each  society has their own way of analysing or interpreting different culture, though at the end we are all are same. Therefore, the basic argument of the article written by Laura Bohannan is that, the author herself and the people of Tiv belonged to two different society, having their own cultural background , yet at the end the Tiv somehow teaches the author the true meaning of 'Hamlet' from what they thought was true. We should respect other culture equally as we want our culture to be respected. We can either support a culture or go against it, but we cannot change it.


* Is there anything from your own experiences which can help you relate to this? Anytime similar to this has happened to you?

~ Through my experience, I have not come across something that I can relate to the above article, but I don't know if this could somehow relate with the cultural relativism thing. I had a friend who was basically from Manipur, she was a Naga. The society from where she belonged was totally different from where me and my other friends belonged. In her society feasting on dogs was completely okay, and the girls weren't allowed to wear short skirts and if they were seen wearing them, then actions were taken against them, and many more.  When we heard it, we thought that her society was still very orthodox but keeping in mind that it was not her who made the rules, but it was the society where she grew up in and she was forced to follow them, we always supported her. Because at the end we all are the same yet different in many ways :)