Analysis of Not My Business

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Not My Business Ever since the dawn of civilization there has been leadership, and ever since the dawn of leadership there has been corruption. Not My Business is a tale of such corruption or rather a cynical comment on the topic. Niyi Osundare had strong feelings about the matter and speaks up about it in the form of a poem. In the poem, Niyi observes what we can only assume is a corrupt government dragging frightened children from their beds, oppressing the minorities in a real yet scary way. As a poet and as a citizen of such a society, Osundare feels inclined to take a stand against the oppression by making people aware of the problem and hoping they won’t turn the other cheek. With Not My Business, he does exactly this. As in all political matters, it certainly helps to strike up emotion in the audience. Osundare writes true and honest about what he sees but he himself doesn’t show a whole lot of emotion in the writing. This is a device to evoke the emotions in the reader rather than in the characters on the page. In the text “What business of mine is it, so long they don’t take yam from my savouring mouth” is used to break the fourth wall, almost the opposite of the verfremdungseffekt, pull in the reader. The quote perfectly describes the outside world from the perspective of the victims in the poem. Osundare is almost shouting the reader in the face saying “why don’t you do something about it?” which does make us feel guilty. Akanni, Danladi and Chinwe are all unknown characters to the reader, as they might even be to the writer. Although these are unknown characters, we instantly feel more attached to them by hearing their names. Osundare uses the names rather than saying “the guy next door” to literally put a name on the countless victims of the crime committed. This again makes us think. When we watch news on the television, it is hard to relate to
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