THE ILLITERATE

A banter between a weather-beaten man,
standing by his vulcanizing kit,
and a gaudy loud boys,
in brand new Toyota SUV,

“Hey, old man,
Quickly pump my handsome tyres for me!
Excuse me, old fool!
Can’t you see I’m in a hurry?”

“But my child,
What do you mean?
A striking chap as you,
Should not talk like that to me?”

“Mheen, is it my fault,
That you are a pattern of poverty?
You useless old school,
Of shameful illiteracy!”

“Oh! My child,
You need to know my history,
I have a Law degree,
In fact from a reputable university.”

“Well, that’s story,
I also studies English,
But it does not matter to me,
Because my Dad’s got money
At the SUV’s back seat
Dad whispered to Mum

“Don’t say anything,
Pretend not to see,
Because even God knows,
That our boy will never finish.”

“The Illiterate” from “Do Not Preach to Me” by Charles Akinsete

The poem revolves around two people, an old vulcaniser and a young man who happens to be the child of a rich parent. The poem shows the class distinction between the rich and the poor in the society, (Nigeria as a case study). It reflects how the poor are being marginalized and the rich misusing their power and opportunity in the community.

The conversation between the two men also show the less value of education in the country, a situation whereby the educated ones with better results are unable to get better job, therefore result into doing other jobs which is not fetching them enough, rather, it fetches them disrespect and less value by the rich in the society.

The generality of the poem also evaluate the derogatory level of the country’s education, the difference between the education of the past in the country and the education of the present time, how worst the case is getting rather than improving.

The two parents in the last stanza of the poem also represent the behavior of the rich parents in the country, rather than them correcting their children, first for looking down on those that shouldn’t be looked down on, all because of their class, and second, on their educational life, they keep quiet and keep watching which actually can lead to having leaders in the future who are not capable of doing well in their field. Some of their children drop out and become a liability to the country and the have-not being their victim.

The first stanza of the poem shows the kind of discussion that exist between the rich and the poor in the society.

A banter between a weather-beaten man line. Stanza 1 line 1
    And a gaudy loud boy. Stanza 1 line 3

A kind of teasing discussion in which the rich irrespective of the age looks down on the poor, all because of the fortune endowed on them, how the bourgeoisie marginalize the proletariat in the community, not through action alone, but also through words.

The rich in the society has countless ways of marginalizing the poor in the society, they exploit the poor by vocal words, position, money, influence and many other means of exploiting the poor and make all these in a teasing way whereby the poor will not have the strength and the power to speak back or retaliate for what has been done to them. They are kept mute or they grumble behind their (the rich) back and not to their face because of the fear instilled in them through their (rich) words.

The second stanza shows how disrespectful and filthy the nonchalance of the rich is towards the poor. In a capitalist society where the rich dominates the society, the poor are being maltreated and assaulted. Here different pointers shows the level in which to the rich, the poor are nothing but just object to them.

According the socio-cultural trappings of the African society, respect and accord is given to the elders in the society, therefore the diction of addressing the elderly ones matters and is germane in an ideal African society. Since culture helps in shaping and building human being in the society, therefore cultural aspect should be employed in viewing and understanding literature. The choice of language used in the second stanza

Hey, old man. Stanza 2 line 1
Excuse me, old fool1. Stanza 2 line 3

shows no respect for the man. Despite it being glaring that the man is way older than the young man, he (the young man) who is the representation of the rich in the society fails to accord respect to the old man.

“Quickly pump my handsome tyres for me” line 2 stanza 2

The poet shows the comparison between the rich and the poor, the young man sees his tyre as the priority over the vulcaniser. Even though tyre is an object that is constantly dirty and rough, the rich boy sees it as beautiful, therefore sending a message to the vulcaniser that his tyre is more important than even the vulcaniser because the vulcaniser is not as beautiful as the tyre. This shows how bad the poor are being viewed by the rich in the society, as something that should not be related with, ugly, useless and less important part of the world.

It can be seen as a symbolism of how the rich are using force to exploit the poor in the society. The tyre in this context can represent the pocket of the rich ones in which the poor must pump. The rich needs the poor to work for them, not only are they exploiting them, they are exploiting by force, even when it is not convenient for the poor. The workers pump into the tyre – wealth of the rich - while they receive stipend and much of insult and inconveniences.

The third stanza of the poem carves out the reactions of the poor towards the rich whenever they are being marginalized by the rich. It shows the loss of power, absent of voice and the rejected and dejected state in which they are. The poor are being reduced to the minimal level in a capitalist society to the extent that even when they are not treated right, accord and total respect is being shown, knowing fully well that there is no other means of survival whenever they revolt or reacts negatively towards the maltreatment they have faced.

The old man, instead of chastising the young rich man in the same manner in which the boy has insulted his age and personality, he sees him as a “striking chap” not a rude and pompous child. Instead of revolting, he corrected the boy that he should not have addressed him the way (rude) in which he has addressed him, he should have considered his age, his status and even the environment, condition and even whether in which he is.
   
 A striking chap as you
    Should not talk like that to me?. Stanza 3 line 3 and 4.

Instead of the young boy to yield to the correction by the old vulcaniser, he vents his anger on him in abusive and insulting words:
   
   Mheen, is it my fault,
   that you are a pattern of poverty?
   You useless old school,
   Of shameful literacy!

This represent the result of the poor’s’ courage to show and correct the ill ways and mistakes of the rich in the society. Instead of the bourgeoisie to accept their mistake and mend their ways, they return the polite action of the proletariat with insults and derogatory words. 
The haves in the community make sure to bring the have-not down and reduce them to nothing.

This stanza can be seen as a symbolism for the hardship inflicted on the poor by the rich because the poor tried to speak up their pains and point out the wrong doings of the rich in the society. 

Instead of the rich – those in power politically, religiously, academically, financially, and all ramification of life that entails power transfer- to admit their wrongs, instead they keep adding to the suffering of the poor. This is an attempt by the rich to make sure that the poor are being scared off and silenced forever by fear.

The rich instill fear in the poor for them not to be able to speak up again, for them to be silenced forever so that they (the rich) will be able to exploit them and marginalize them forever without fear of revolt.

Before the people in power, the poor or the masses are being seen as the same, people of low class, who are of no reputation, no education, zero knowledge and even baboons who know nothing, they are then treated as one (Illiterate ones) who can be treated as they like. The stanza shows that everyone in the lower class has history, history created by the government (ways in which all their opportunities is being cut short) and history created by them (the poor trying to make a living, trying to be somebody in life).

The haves believes that since the have-not are limited to different opportunities, they are different to them, even in terms of education, since knowledge is power and the poor lack knowledge, then they can treat them the way they like.

The fifth stanza then shows that not everybody in the lower class lacks knowledge, not everyone is illiterate. Most have the capacity to do well, but because of what has been done by the people in power (the rich, the bourgeoisie) they are limited. This means the main problem is not from the poor but the rich. They are the cause of the problem.

Despite the hardship and the limited resources the proletariats have, they still find a way of surviving, creating path for themselves, yet, the powerful blocks all possible way of making them change their status. Since the main goal of every bourgeoisie in a capitalist system is to cut all possible ways in which his/her worker - proletariat - has to get to his (bourgeoisie) level, in order to retain the worker for himself.
    
   Oh! My child,
    You need to know my history,
    I have a Law degree,
 In fact from a reputable university.

Stanza five shows the failure of the government towards the youth. Students are unable to get employed despite graduating from reputable tertiary institution. The welfare of the graduates should be the priority of the government and this can be catered for by government providing employment opportunities for the graduated students to bring their acquired knowledge into realization for the betterment of the nation.

The sixth chapter emphasizes the state of the nation’s academic state, instead of the educational sector to get better, it is moving backward.
    
           I also studies English

The value of the nation’s education is depreciating and this calls the attention of the government to the sector. For the nation to develop, half baked bread should be eradicated. The young man who feels superior to the old vulcaniser because of his parent’s wealth is inferior to him academically.

Though one is rich, the other does not have the educational qualification that the old vulcaniser has, the quality is nothing compared to each other.

This emphasise the idea that the rich cannot have it all, even though they have the opportunity to have it all, they do not and cannot.
The drastic decrease in the country’s academic sector is seen from the aspect of the parent. 

Because the parent are influential and rich in the society, their children (represented by the boy) tend to behave rudely, and fails to concentrate on their studies which gives birth to lack of moral and liability in the society.

Just as the young boy keeps insulting the old man, the children of the rich inflicts the poor in the society, make them feel useless and devalue them all because of their parent’s wealth. Though they are not educationally productive, yet, they afflict the poor who are educationally active and productive in the society. This they do because their parent has already acquired wealth and there is already a working space for them. 

This makes them not to be serious and misbehave in the society.
   
   But it does not matter to me,
   Because my dad’s got money

Stanza 7 and 8 shows the behavior of the rich parent towards their children’s behavior. Instead of correcting their children, they keep quiet about their children’s wrong doings. This shows that both the rich parent and their children contribute to the deteriorating status of the country.

The parents should have corrected the child while he was addressing the vulcaniser in a rude manner but they did not. This shows that they are left concerned by whatever happens to the poor in the society. They are not concerned about how their children treats the weak ones (the poor) and it shows whom they (the parent) really are – EXPLOITERS.

The parents should have also chastised their child for his wrong performance, but they did not, rather they kept mute and technically leave the boy to misbehave (morally and academically), knowing fully well that it is the way to destruction of himself and the nation.
    
    Don’t say anything,
    Pretend not to see.
    Because even God knows
    That our boy will never finish.
  
The poet is able to show the role of parent in building their children as exploiter as they are, which gives rise to the nation’s destruction.

© Joshua Temitope OLADEBO, 2022.