Category Archives: Proverbs

An Eye for an Eye Makes Everyone Blind

Nationality: African American
Age: 57
Occupation: musician
Residence: carson, ca
Performance Date: April 21, 2018
Primary Language: English

What is being performed?
DA: There’s this saying that goes, “an eye for an eye makes everyone blind.”
AA: What does it mean?
DA: It means, uh, basically that striking back won’t solve anything.
Why do they know or like this piece? where/who did they learn it from? What does it mean to
them?
AA: Why do you know this proverb?
DA: I remember growing up hearing it in the context of the civil rights era.
AA: Why do you like it?
DA: I think it’s important to advocate for nonviolence with logic and I think that’s what this saying
is about.
AA: What do you mean with logic?
DA: I just mean that this quote simple enough to understand logically and that’s why it’s
effective.

Context of the performance- where do you perform it? History?
Delward Atkins has shared this proverb with his children as they were growing up and had to
learn how to deal with people on the playground. He sees it as an important life lesson that
especially needs to be taught to the younger generations.

Annotations
Quote Investigator, quoteinvestigator.com/2010/12/27/eye-for-eye-blind/.
This annotation shows the many people who have coined this phrase. Notably, Mahatma
Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Louis Fischer, and Henry Powell Spring have said variations of
this proverb. This publication also shows the different ways this proverb has been used. For
example, instead of just “an eye for an eye makes everyone blind” there’s also “an eye for an
eye makes the world blind.” The publication gives a chronological timeline of how the proverb
has changed over time and famous people that have helped change it.
Dear, John. “An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind.” The Huffington Post,
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Nov. 2016,
www.huffingtonpost.com/john-dear/an-eye-for-an-eye-makes-t_b_8647348.html.
This article shows how the proverb is used in a more recent context. It uses the phrase to
discuss the Paris terrorist attacks and shows how the phrase is still relevant- from protest signs
to songs and other forms of art that are being created to push for a world of nonviolence. It is a
proverb that might’ve been most famous in the 60s but is still present in the 2000s and can be
used as a strong argument for the cyclical nature of violence.

Reflection
I see this proverb as extremely important and relevant today. With the Syrian crisis going on and
the proxy war that now surrounds it, I think it’s important that we remember grass root political
movements and why nonviolence can be so effective for them. I think this proverb is about
creating change that is positive and doesn’t have to harm others in the making. I think that’s
what we need today.

Stanley Kalu 21: Nigerian Proverb

“There’s a proverb from southern niggeria every day is for the thief one day is for the owner of the house, nigeria has a problem with corruption top down from the government, yes you could keep doing it but eventually you will get caught.”

Context: Stanley partially grew up in Nigeria, and moved to the United States when he was a little older. He heard it from his time living in Nigeria. I collected this piece from him in our folklore class. As he mentions, this proverb deals with Nigeria’s corruption and the thievery problem.

Analysis: A proverb like this maintains the notion that every thief’s wrongdoing will catch up to him eventually and there will be justice for everyone. As many people have been affected by a thief of corrupt person at one point or another in Nigeria, it is probably a comfort to hear that their suffering was not for nothing and the thief will eventually be brought to justice.

Proverb from the Past

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Cell Tower Technician
Residence: Tustin, CA
Performance Date: 4/19/18
Primary Language: English

Collection: Proverb

After being asked about significant phrases or sayings, the informant recounted a proverb that his grandmother had previously told him. His grandmother would express that “A closed mouth doesn’t get fed.” This proverb implies that without asking or demanding what one needs, there is no way to obtain the goal.

Context/Interpretation: Proverbs are often used to teach valuable lessons. This proverb would be told to younger generations to encourage speaking out about what they need or want.

 

The Rolling Stones, You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Nationality: American
Age: 56
Occupation: Contract Landscaper
Residence: NYC, USA
Performance Date: 4/4/18
Primary Language: English

“Rolling stones, can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you get what you need.”

My dad grew up in the 70s and 80s and with that, he grew up learning various different decades of music. He had a particularly fond liking for classic rock and roll and garage band music. One of his all-time favorite bands is the Rolling Stones. As a result of that, I grew up listening to so much classic rock. Like my dad, the Rolling Stones have a special place in my heart, because it bothers me more with my father and gives us something to talk about and analyze. A lot of their song lyrics are about being on the road, love, drugs, sex, and other forms of profanity. One of our favorite songs is you can’t always get what you want. This song is a reminder that you always have enough and it’s also just an incredible song. The main chorus of the song goes “you can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need”. The significance of the song pertains specifically Richard’s use of Heroin, Jagger’s girlfriend who suffered a miscarriage and Jone’s who had overdosed in previous years. While not everyone has these experiences, it explains the specifics the band members experienced and has vague enough references to make it pertain to a generalized group of people.  I have always kept in the back of my mind and thought about this song and times that I’ve struggled. Again, it serves as a friendly reminder that you have everything that you need in life and you cannot always get what you want. Music is an incredible way to share folklore, especially when it’s shared through an epic band such as the Rolling Stones. They have had a 50-year career, And have toured all around the world. Wherever you go, people will know one of their songs. I personally know many of their songs by heart, and most of my friends will know a certain part of any given song. It has been a classic song and can be universally known and understood even when the language is spoken is different. People have idolized this band, and while they were on their tour around the world, they have gained an innumerable following. Again, this leads to the understanding of songs, messages, and sayings as a form of folklore.

Bibliography:

“So, It’s like you’ve grown wings, oshe” (a Nigerian Saying)

Nationality: Nigerian
Age: 22
Occupation: Student
Residence: Abuja, Nigeria.
Performance Date: 4/22/18
Primary Language: English
Language: N/A

Michael Iluma, a senior studying International Relations and Acting at the University of Southern California, who hails from Abuja, Nigeria, provided two pieces of folklore for this collection.

The interview was run, within his bedroom, on West 30th Street in the outskirts of the University of Southern California campus.

Folk Performance: “So, It’s like you’ve grown wings, oshe” (a Nigerian Saying)

Folk Type: Folk-Speech.

“What about Nigerian parents, man they’re always saying the wildest things.” – Stanley Kalu

STORY: truuueeee. So, like, another thing too, is like when you’re at home and let’s say that you’re not being very—I guess whether you’ve been misbehaving at home and your mom or your dad will be like “Oh, so it’s like you’ve grown wings, oshe” which is like “oh, you think you can fly” or you’re like above what they’re trying to tell you or ask you to do. And then, like, what they end up saying is “ohhh, we’ll chop those wings.” Which is like, we’re gonna bring you down to our level which is a way of reminding you that they are your parents.

Background Information: The statement historically refers to poultry. Historically, Nigeria is an agrarian nation and, as such, many common sayings refer back to farming. Often times, a growing chicken will flap their wings and become aggressive. To counteract this, Nigerians will often clip the wings of their chickens.

Michael enjoys this statement because, as apart of the Nigerian Diaspora, he is currently displaced. The reenactment of statements of this sort remind him of home and provide an initial common, vernacular ground between himself and other members of the Nigerian Diaspora.

Context of performance: Michael performed this act, as many Nigerian children do, in an accent-heavy impression of his father. The Father, in Nigerian culture, is often the disciplinarian.

Thoughts: Nigeria, like most places around the world, is a culture that not only accepts, but also actively encourages beating children as a form of disciplinary action. My initial thought, despite the Abrahamic religious link that legitimizes such an action, is whether this attitude is derived from an agrarian perspective. If you beat an animal and it behaves, or in the case of poultry cut off it’s wings, then perhaps it’ll be the same for children.