#172 The Diary of an African Nun- Alice Walker

#172 The Diary of an African Nun- Alice Walker

 “How to teach a barren world to dance? It is a contradiction that divides the world”

A young Ugandan nun struggles with the hypocrisy she sees in her chosen life. As she practices devoutly this stilted, rigid discipline, she is surrounded by her old rich culture.

“Through the window I hear the drums…feel the rhythm of the festival chants. And I sing my own [Christian] chants in response to theirs…My chant is less old than theirs. They do not know this—they do not even care.”

She does not have faith in her chosen life, she feels the true spirituality from her community and her land, but she knows it is doomed. She knows that Christian missionaries are the only hope of her people surviving, so she has made a choice.

“For the drums will soon, one day, be silent. I will help muffle them forever. To assure life for my people in this world I must be among the lying ones and teach them how to die. I will turn their dances into prayers to an empty sky, and their lovers into dead men, and their babies into unsung chants that choke their throats each spring.”

This is a scathing commentary on Western relations in Africa. It’s all too true and hard to hear, and harder to know that very little has changed or likely will chance. Conform to our social and religious believes or perish.

Notable Passage: “I am perhaps, as I should be”

Rating: 8-9-10-9 Total= 36