Conflict Between Okot P Bitek s My Husband s Tongue Is...

Conflict Between Okot p’Bitek’s â€Å"My Husband’s Tongue Is Bitter† and â€Å"What Is Africa to Me?† When evaluating postcolonial Africa, Okot p’Bitek’s poems â€Å"My Husband’s Tongue Is Bitter† and â€Å"What Is Africa to Me† focus on the struggle Africa faces to reestablish its authority. The once unified nation is now split between those who embrace the Western culture and those who do not. Some seek an advanced, modern, and different lifestyle while others want to keep their traditional way of life. The conflict divides not only the nation, but a husband and wife as well. In â€Å"My Husband’s Tongue Is Bitter,† Lawino expresses her concern for the change she sees in her husband, Ocol. She is against colonialism because she does not like change nor the western ideology. Her life was perfect beforehand but today differences separate her and her husband. Ocol, however, adopts the western ideology. He feels reborn as a new person and conveys his feelings and admiration for the Western culture in â€Å"What Is Africa to Me?† T he differing perspectives of husband and wife form the basis of the conflict between the two poems. The way in which Lawino characterizes Ocol describes his transformation to the reader. She witnesses him undergoing a negative change by the way he treats her and the tone he uses while talking to her. He now considers himself more European than African. He has become what he considers educated, mannered, and hopefully European. His expectations of a western lifestyle lead Ocol