INCIDENT IN THE PARK BY MEJA MWANGI.

 

 

A SILENT SONG AND OTHER STORIES ESSAYS.

 “INCIDENT IN THE PARK” BY MEJA MWANGI ESSAY.

Basing your argument on Meja Mwangi’s “Incident in the Park” write an essay to prove that the lack of strategy and poverty make citizens to live miserable lives.

Many people wallow in misery and trouble because of their meager earnings. This binds them to a miserable life because their dreams, ambitions and aspirations are never met.

Most of the park loungers are poor because of their insolence. The city hall clocks reminded them of the many hours they had wasted lying idle and it pleaded with them to get up and be useful. However, most of the pleas went unheeded. Every now and then, a misplaced person rose with a start, squinted up at the clock’s accusing fingers and brushing grass and dirt from his bottom slunk, defeated across the highway into the city maze. Others shook their heads defiantly at the insistent clocks, cursed them loudly and facing the other way, went back to sleep. They were the insolent few. If they had anywhere to go at all, they certainly did not want to go there. Sadly, as the office workers thronged the fish and chips joints to enjoy sumptuous meals, they watch on with their usual idle curiosity. All these happen because, coupled with an attitude of defeat, they are poor and cannot afford the food and also lack the strategy of making money in the city. 

The first and second ice cream men fail to sell any ice cream. When it reaches one p.m. a sea of hungry office workers gushed out of the ministerial offices and in furious ravenous torrents, swept down the hill into the park past the first ice cream man. Even though the second ice cream man blocked the way on to the highway, they swirled around him and moved on. Even though he is very determined to make a sale, his strategy fails miserably. For two conservative days, not more than one bar of ice cream was bought. Some workers rushed to the meat roasting places down River Road, others joined the queues at the numerous fish and chips joints where they dutifully swallowed soggy fried chips with watered-down ketchup. Later on when the park is almost empty, the ice cream man’s bell still rang lonely and unwelcome like a lost leaper’s warning bell. The men paddling on the lake and the ones who sat watching on the cement bank ignored the ice cream man’s cries. The idler sitting on the banks tells the other man who joins him that the ice cream man, whose bell cuts sharply into their hearing, is crazy. His sentiments further reveal that the ice cream man hammers his bell yet no one wants to buy his ice cream. He offers an excellent solution; the man should go where the children are in order to sell some ice cream. His lack of strategy makes him suffer because his goods, the ice creams, remain unsold. The ice cream men fail to observe the cordial rule – knowing the where, what and when of the customers. All their efforts are therefore in vain.

Using the guidelines above, consider writing the third and fourth points of the essay.

Point three: The Orange Seller

Point four: The Mob.

In life, knowing what to do is as important as laying proper strategies for achieving one’s desired goals. If either is divorced from the other, misery, poverty and disappointments are the results.

Try this question: Basing your argument on the above story, write an essay to justify the claim that poverty leads to desperation.

In your opinion, do you think the orange seller deserves to die?

Feel free to drop a comment.

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