A clash of cultures :: English Literature

A clash of cultures The two main stories which have a negative end are â€Å"The Train from Rhodesia† and â€Å"The Gold Legged Frog†. Both of these stories include the aspect of â€Å"a clash of culture† which acts as a catalyst for the negative endings. â€Å"The Train from Rhodesia† incorporates the aspect of two cultures from different parts of the world coming together. This story is an allegory and outlines the clash of cultures when white people come into black people’s land and exploit them. The story is about a young couple who are on holiday and they have bought lots of souvenirs. At the platform the young women is attracted to a skilfully carved lion. The young woman doesn’t buy the lion since she thinks that the price is too high. When the train starts to leave the platform the old black man comes running after the train and sells the lion to the young man at half the original price. The young man tells her wife about his success and tries to please her but the young women reacts differently; she is furious at her husband. The young women is angry at her husband for humiliating the old man and making him run after the train, on top of that giving him less than half price for the lion. She feels that the price paid does not reflect the creativity and time spent on carving the lion. An alternative interpretation of this situation could be that the young woman was actually angry at her self. â€Å"The heat of shame mounted through her legs and body and sounded in her ears like the sound of sand pouring†. This quote could mean that the woman was actually angry at her self for not buying the lion at full price in the first place, after all her husband was only trying to please her and didn’t think how he was exploiting the poor black man. In this story symbolism is also a main aspect; â€Å"†¦, and the lion, fallen on its side in the corner.† The lion symbolises the exploitation of black men, emphasises how inferior black man are thought of and that at the end of the day skilful work created by black men is just thrown aside. The writer presents the details of the surroundings and the black people living in poverty through the young woman’s eyes; â€Å"Out of the window, on the other side, there was nothing; sand and bush; a thorn tree.† This strong imagery which we discover through the woman’s eyes means that we feel even more sympathetic towards the black and poor people