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Heredity and the Different Types of Inheritance Essay

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All living beings are able to pass on certain features and characteristics to their descendants. It is the ability due to which scholars explain the similarity between the child and his parents called human heredity, the discovery of which was primarily attributed to Gregor Mendel (Muehlenbein 48).

At the same time, child’s qualities, peculiar to each of the parents, are manifested differently. For example, the child may outwardly resemble the father, but his behavior would be transferred from his mother. It occurs because there are two types of genes – dominant and recessive (Emery and Emery 43). The first of them would appear in the course of a child’s development by inhibiting the action of the latter. Heredity reflects on man’s mental and physical development. However, one cannot judge the potential of the child only according to his parents. It is possible that the child would inherit the dominant qualities of one of the remote ancestors. In this sense, it goes without saying that heredity and inheritance topic applies to real life playing an important role as for genetics as well as for every man. One of the interesting studies of inheritance is drawing a family tree. It allows following the dominant features in related entities within a few generations in each particular family. From a practical point of view, such study is very significant to identify the different transmitted diseases as a result of the influence of heredity on human. Therefore, it is achievable to develop methods for diagnosis and prevention of possible pathology in some cases. Let us take the following example. There is a married couple. The woman has a recessive gene responsible for predisposition to diseases of the respiratory system. If this gene interacts with a man with a dominant gene, both features would be presented in the genetic code of their child, but the gene of the respiratory system diseases would be suppressed by the dominant gene of a man. As a result, the disease would not manifest itself in a child with a high probability.

It should also be noted that inheritance represents the process of the genetic trait from a parent to offspring. There might be several types of human inheritance among which dominant-recessive, incomplete dominance, co-dominant, sex-limited, and sex-influenced are. The bright example of a sex-influenced inheritance is baldness. “Two of every three American men will develop some form of balding,” states Chiras (350). The other example is skin color that has a genetic basis as “more that 100 gene products are involved in the synthesis of melanin, and the formation and deposition of melanosomes” (Starr, Evers, and Starr 204).

In the recent research, Jablonka and Raz distinguished so-called epigenetic inheritance that is “the inheritance of developmental variations that do not stem from differences in the sequence of DNA” (132). For instance, the impact of living conditions in early childhood reflects the picture of epigenetic modifications and accompanies the person for all his life. Moreover, a new study provided by specialists of the Zurich University (Switzerland) helps to clarify the situation with the epigenetic inheritance. Gapp et al. studied the molecular mechanisms of inheritance behavior in mice. In order to do this, they caused animals’ childhood trauma: they were taken away from their mothers during two weeks at a time (Gapp et al. 667). This unpredictable stress influenced both cubs and females who were also imprisoned for a time in a close tube. According to the research, when the stressed cubs grew, the researchers noticed that they were indifferent to the danger: for example, they were less afraid of open and well-lit spaces (normal mouse, of course, is to avoid such places) (668). However, precisely speaking, changes in behavior and metabolism were inherited by their descendants as well. Therefore, some epigenetic features might be inherited by offspring.

In conclusion, heredity and inheritance occur as an integral and substantial part of all living creatures.

Chiras, Daniel D. Human Biology . 7th ed. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2012. Print.

Emery, Alan E. H., and Marcia L. H. Emery. The History of a Genetic Disease: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy or Meryon’s Disease . 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.

Gapp, Katharina, Ali Jawaid, Peter Sarkies, Johannes Bohacek, Pawel Pelczar, Julien Prados, Laurent Farinelli, Eric Miska, and Isabelle Mansuy. “Implication of Sperm RNAs in Transgenerational Inheritance of the Effects of Early Trauma in Mice.” Nature Neuroscience 17.1 (2014): 667-69. Print.

Jablonka, Eva, and Gal Raz. “Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance: Prevalence, Mechanisms, and Implications for the Study of Heredity and Evolution.” The Quarterly Review of Biology 84.2 (2009): 131-76. Print.

Muehlenbein, Michael P. Human Evolutionary Biology . Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010. Print.

Starr, Cecie, Christine A. Evers, and Lisa Starr. Biology: A Human Emphasis . 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

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Inheritance by David Mulwa setbook guide, themes, and summary

Inheritance by David Mulwa is a play revolving around individuality and development perspectives as seen through the eyes of a modern-day liberated African. It highlights the conflict between the white settlers and African natives over land inheritance, leadership, and resources.

Inheritance by David Mulwa narrates the story of the King of Kutula as he fights for his people’s independence. The British rulers are not willing to cooperate with him for his open-mindedness. They’d rather have a leader who easily bends to the imperialist’s whims.

Inheritance by David Mulwa characters

In any work of art, characters are used by the authors to voice their messages. In plays and setbooks , they are brought to life, taking different forms as the director deems necessary. In Inheritance, David Mulwa has created vivid characters, including:

King Kutula XV – He was the last post-colonial ruler of Kutula. He is also Lacuna and Reverend Sangoi’s father.
Governor Thorne Macay – He is the last colonial governor of Kutula.
Bishop Menninger – He is the representative of colonialist religion.
Attendants I and II – They are staff at the palace.
Reverend Sangoi – She is Lacuna’s half-sister after adoption by the late King Kutula for her wit and intelligence.
Judah Zen Melo – He is Tamina’s husband and father of three, including Lulu and Bengo’s brother.
Tamina Zen Melo – She is Judah’s wife and a mother of three, including Lulu.
Romanus Bengo – He is Judah Zen Melo’s brother and Lulu’s uncle.
Lacuna Kasoo – He is the son of the former King Kutula XVI. He becomes the first leader after Kutula’s independence.
Mama Melissa – One of the leaders and Lacuna’s wife.
Daniel Goldstein – He is a company man representing neo-colonial interests in Kutula.
Lulu Zen Melo – She is the daughter of Tamina and Judah Zen Melo.
Councilor Malipoa – He is the closest and most trusted leader by Lacuna.
Robert Rollerstone – He is a young and energetic foreign investor in Kutula.
Councilor Chipande – He is Lacuna’s most trusted person in running Kutula.

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The Inheritance summary

Inheritance by David Mulwa is set in colonial Africa in Kutula during the British invasion . The British rulers led extravagant lives at the expense of the poor people of Kutula, who were their slaves.

During the reign of King Kutula, Governor Thorne Macay was the colonial governor representing the British Monarchy. He worked closely with the morally decayed Bishop Menninger. The Bishop used the church to learn Kutula’s people's weaknesses and report them to the governor.

The people’s traditional leader, King Kutula XV, is committed to overthrowing the British leadership regardless of everything it takes. He sets on a mission to create a national uprising against the white settlers, and luckily, he succeeds in driving away the white rulers.

Upon the exit of the British rulers, Kutula becomes a republic, and Lacuna Kasoso rises to leadership after the death of his father, King Kutula XV. While alive and in power, King Kutula adopted Sangoi hoping she would earn Western education and become a societal pillar.

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Unfortunately, governance becomes worse than the colonial rule making Kutula descend to poverty, corruption, and nepotism. To keep his people in check, Lacuna extends punishment and denies rightful employment to the dissidents and their families.

For instance, Judah and his family are in turmoil after he refuses to pledge his loyalty to the new leader. However, after Bengo’s release from prison, he joins the revolution to overthrow Lacuna.

Meanwhile, Lacuna struggles to repay his loans after squandering donor funds and stashing the rest in foreign banks . In addition, he detains the international financiers at the palace. Bengo gathers enough support who overtakes Lacuna’s security , thus overtaking the palace.

Eventually, Lacuna and his close allies are detained, the financiers are given safe passage to the airport, and Reverend Sangoi rises to power.

Themes in Inheritance by David Mulwa

The book’s ideas are unified by various outstanding themes throughout the story. They are a representation of the bigger issues emerging as the characters go about their lives. They include:

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1. Misuse of power

Power is misused severally in the book. Lacuna constructs a dam 15 kilometres away from the people causing them misery; some are forced to walk a whole day to access water. In addition, he is portrayed as a hands-off leader, preferring to give orders rather than do the work.

2. Oppression

In the book, those opposing the ruler face oppression. For instance, Lacuna claims Bengo is the thorn in his political side and wants Judah to prove his loyalty by killing Bengo , his brother. Upon refusal, he is beaten, relieved of duties in the government and thrown into prison.

In another instance, Lulu is detained against her will when she denies his advances. He flirts and kisses her against her will. Lacuna denies Lulu permission to attend her father's 2nd interment as required by customary laws. Despite her cries, Lulu is detained for more than a month.

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3. Exploitation

Throughout the play, the poor are exploited by those in power. Councilor Chipande controls Tamina by forcing her to sell him her land for peanuts. In addition, with her husband being jobless after being kicked out of the government, she is forced to work at Chipande’s coffee plantation.

The people of Kutula live in excessive poverty throughout the play. More than three decades after attaining their independence, the people are still poor. They are overburdened by massive international debt, heavy taxation, and land grabbing by their African leaders .

5. Imperialism

Like most countries after independence, Kutula also suffers from imperialism. Even though King Kutula had a good vision for his people, he was assassinated, leaving his greedy son, Lacuna, in power. Even though the people are free, they are still controlled by international financiers.

Frequently asked questions about Inheritance by David Mulwa

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What is the relevance of the title Inheritance by David Mulwa? The play explores the role of inheritance property and the suffering it has caused the people of Kutula.
Is there satire in The Inheritance by David Mulwa? Yes, David Mulwa satirises Kutula leaders who thrive at the expense of their poor subjects.
What are the character traits of Lulu in Inheritance ? Lulu, Tamina and Judah's daughter, is intelligent, rebellious, social, and insensitive.
What is the setting of Inheritance by David Mulwa? The play is set in colonial Africa in the Kutula colony under the British rulers.
Who is the author of Inheritance ? Inheritance is written by David Mulwa, a Kenyan author, actor, lecturer, and director of Kenya Performing Arts in Nairobi.
Where is the prologue in the Inheritance set? The prologue is set in the colonial leader Governor Thorne Macay's office.
What literary device has been used in Inheritance by David Mulwa? David has used symbolism in various forms, including objects, characters, and animals.

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Inheritance by David Mulwa - Final word

Inheritance is what is left behind by a deceased person to their family members. However, when applied in literature works, the term bears different meanings. For instance, as seen above, Inheritance by David Mulwa revolves around corruption, oppression, abuse of power, and poverty.

Tuko.co.ke published an article about The Samaritan set book summary notes, characters, theme, and guide. The Samaritan is a recently authorised KICD obligatory play set book for secondary schools.

The Samaritan set book play exposes political leaders' avarice and aspirations while inspiring individuals to avoid evil for the sake of society. It's an excellent read that brings up to date everything that has gone wrong in African states.

Source: TUKO.co.ke

Venic Nyanchama (Lifestyle writer) Venic Nyanchama is an editor with more than three years of working experience in journalism. She has an educational background in Journalism and Media Studies from the University of Nairobi, having graduated in 2014. Venic has worked on different platforms, such as Rumour Juice and Yen.com.gh. Her content encompasses celebrity biographies, education, guides, fashion, and gaming. In 2023, Venic finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques and the Google News Initiative. You can reach her via [email protected].

Essay on Inheritance

Students are often asked to write an essay on Inheritance in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Inheritance

What is inheritance.

Inheritance is like a gift from our parents and ancestors. It’s not just about money or houses, but also about looks, talents, and health. When a family member passes away, their belongings are passed on to the living relatives. This is called inheriting.

Types of Inheritance

There are two main types: genetic and cultural. Genetic inheritance gives us traits like eye color from our parents. Cultural inheritance includes language, traditions, and knowledge that are handed down through generations.

Importance of Inheritance

Inheritance is important because it connects us to our past and shapes who we are. It can provide security in the form of property or wealth, and it can also remind us of where we come from through family traditions and stories.

250 Words Essay on Inheritance

Inheritance is like a gift passed down from parents to their children. It’s not just about money or houses, but also about the color of your eyes, the shape of your nose, and how tall you grow. These gifts are called genes, and they come from both your mom and dad.

Why Inheritance Matters

Inheritance is important because it connects us to our past and shapes who we are. Your great-grandmother’s wedding ring or your grandfather’s watch are not just things; they tell a story about where you come from. Similarly, having your mother’s smile or your father’s laugh makes you part of a bigger family story.

Learning from Inheritance

Inheritance is not just about getting things; it’s also about learning. Family stories, skills, and knowledge are all part of what you can inherit. Knowing how to cook a special family recipe or understanding the language your grandparents spoke are treasures that come from inheritance.

In summary, inheritance is a mix of the physical traits and material things we get from our families. It’s a bridge to our history and a guide for who we might become. It’s a special way that families share their lives across generations.

500 Words Essay on Inheritance

Inheritance is like getting a gift from your family, but it’s not the kind you unwrap on your birthday. It’s the traits or characteristics you get from your parents, like your mom’s blue eyes or your dad’s talent for singing. These traits are passed down through genes, which are like tiny instruction books inside every cell of your body. They tell your body how to grow and what to become, whether it’s tall like your uncle or good at running like your sister.

The Science Behind Inheritance

The reason you might look or act like your parents is because of something called DNA. DNA is a long, twisty ladder inside your cells that carries your unique code. This code is made up of four different chemicals, which pair up to form the rungs of the DNA ladder. The order of these pairs is what makes you, you! When a baby is made, it gets half of its DNA from its mother and half from its father, mixing together to create a brand new code.

What Can You Inherit?

Inheritance is not just about genes.

It’s not all about what’s in your genes, though. You also inherit things from your family that aren’t written in your DNA. This includes stuff like your language, your family’s traditions, or how your family celebrates holidays. These are things you learn from being around your family, not things that are passed down through genes.

Not Everything is Inherited

It’s important to remember that not everything about you comes from your parents. There are lots of things that can change the way you grow up, like where you live, the friends you make, and the things you learn at school or in your neighborhood. These experiences can shape you just as much as your genes do.

Why Understanding Inheritance is Important

In conclusion, inheritance is a fascinating part of what makes you unique. It’s a mix of your parents’ genes, the things you learn from your family, and your own life experiences. It’s like a recipe that combines ingredients from all over to make you who you are. And just like any recipe, the outcome is special every time.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

Happy studying!

Inheritance Etiquette: Talking Things Out

Manners expert peggy post says givers should be specific and receivers respectful.

Father and son talking, Inheritance Etiquette (Image Source/Getty Images)

Rules of etiquette govern life events from the monumental to the mundane. But when it comes to inheritance — whether you're passing items down to family members and loved ones or you're on the receiving end — the guidelines of propriety are far from clear. How do you divvy up prized possessions between children?

How do you tactfully tell a parent that you'd like to inherit some cherished piece, or (gasp!) that you're not interested in a certain item that may be headed your way?

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Is it even possible?

"It's about being respectful," says Peggy Post, director of the Emily Post Institute, the Vermont-based business now diversified from books and columns to outreach and online. "The underpinnings of etiquette are respect, consideration and honesty, and those benchmarks all apply."

Post, 67, is great-granddaughter-in-law of etiquette queen Emily Post and the author of more than a dozen books on the topic. She talked to us about navigating the tricky waters of inheritance appropriately.

Q: There are generally accepted rules of etiquette around weddings, workplaces, even dinner parties. Why are we mostly flying blind when it comes to inheritance?

A: People are hesitant to talk about death and dying , about how to handle condolences and all the different happenings around those end-of-life rituals. Inheritance probably gets lumped into that. But there's more and more interest in elder etiquette now.

Q: The latest version of Emily Post's Etiquette includes a brand new chapter on elder etiquette. What does that entail?

A: Things like how to talk to parents about handling money, driving, living on their own as they get older . These are delicate issues. And things parents can do to prepare others — talking to children about how siblings should handle their caregiving. How do you do that to make it fair among family members? These are all very awkward topics.

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Q: And inheritance falls into that category?

A: There's not a good blueprint for handling inheritance. Talking to people who deal in estate planning can give you pointers, professional and legal advice. But it does get tricky because family members forget to communicate. I think that's the big problem.

Q: You've said how awkward this issue can be. What's the best way to start the conversation?

A: Every situation is different. Do some one-on-one talks first, perhaps among siblings, or the parents with each child. But it's also good to get everyone together whenever possible, to make sure everything's out on the table and everyone is on the same wavelength. Even if families don't live close to each other, you can do a video (phone) call on FaceTime or Skype, or at the very least do a conference phone call. It's really good to talk individually and as a group.

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Q: For people who are starting to think about handing things down, is age or birth order important? Should the oldest child or grandchild have first choice, or be given the most valuable items?

A: No. That wouldn't be fair to everyone else. Now if everyone agrees to let the oldest one go first, then that's fine. But most professionals will advise to do some type of a draw. Let's say there are four siblings, they could draw names or numbers out of a hat. So the oldest might very well choose fourth.

Q: Is it OK to decline an item you've received if you know you won't use it?

A: If the person has already died, you can certainly inform others in the family that it's not something you would use and you're not interested. It's tricky when the person is still alive and wants to give you something. The answer depends upon the relationship and whether it would hurt the person's feelings.

Q: Should siblings who have shouldered more of the caregiving load expect a healthier gift?

A: It can be a factor, as long as everyone agrees. The scale might be tipped toward one person. That works as long as the others aren't resentful.

Q: What if you've been given something you won't use? Can you give it to someone else? Sell it?

A: If it's a really special family heirloom and other family members would be crushed to have that sold, then I wouldn't do that. If it's just something that you know you can't use but someone else would really like to have it — if you're not going to upset everyone else — then you can give it to that person. Some people do sell items, and that's fine if it's not going to be upsetting to the family.

Q: If you have your eye on a certain item, is it rude to ask for it?

A: Generally, you don't ask. If you're really close you may say to a parent, for example, "If nobody else wants it, or you really don't know what you want to do with that great desk, then I'd love to have it." But again, only if it's not going to seem that you're being selfish or inconsiderate of other family members.

Q: When dividing up items, how do you balance monetary versus sentimental value?

A: It is really important to try to balance out the monetary value. You want to make it fair. Get a professional appraisal of jewelry, rare books, paintings or other valuable items before you decide how to divide them. Sentimental value is a little bit harder to gauge, but I think you can even it out. Everybody has their favorite sentimental things. Maybe there's enough to go around for every person, or maybe you have a drawing for them.

Q: So for the giver, being specific about your wishes can help avoid discord among family members.

A: Leaving specific directions is a really forward-thinking thing to do, and it's great when it works out like that. Not everybody plans ahead or wants to think about that. But the fewer question marks at the end, the better for everybody.

Austin O'Connor writes on lifestyle and entertainment topics for AARP Media.

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Journal of Interdisciplinary History of Ideas

Home Varia 15 Reviews Literature on Inheritance: A Summ...

Literature on Inheritance: A Summary of What Can Be Learnt

The routines and progressions that have shaped the inheritance in human societies received extensive scholarly consideration. Studies in this field have explored and investigated the impact of legal and traditional rules of property transmission on the structures of the society and the models of political power. This review is not aimed as an exhaustive evaluation of the extant literature. Rather, it focuses on illustrating the diversity of the proposed explanations and draws some conclusions on what can be learnt.

Index terms

Keywords: .

1 The routines and progressions that have shaped the inheritance in human societies received extensive scholarly consideration. Studies in this field have explored and investigated the impact of legal and traditional rules of property transmission on the structures of the society and the models of political power. In an oversimplified manner the inheritance literature can be characterized as an analysis of the default rules and can be divided scholastically into two large bodies: 1) theory-based explanations and evaluations of the inheritance routines, and 2) empirical data-based models. This review is not aimed as an exhaustive evaluation of the extant literature of these two narrative strands. Rather, it focuses on illustrating the diversity of the proposed explanations and draws some conclusions on what can be learnt.

2 Theory-based inheritance arguments are sparse and scattered in the political and economic literature. Most references start from analysing the inheritance default rules in relation with what was considered a just society. The summary of these views shows relatively little variation in the highlighted arguments. Broadly, the contributors have proceeded either from an impersonal perspective or from a more ideological one to justify maintenance or change of inheritance default rules. Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and Alexis de Tocqueville proceeded rather analytically and found that inheritance rules are the variables that have the potential to change or preserve society and political power. Smith observes in his An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations that “When land was considered as the means, not of subsistence merely, but of power and protection, it was thought better that it should descend undivided to one”(Smith 1776, III.ii/4). Ricardo analyses the tax system and gives economic arguments against the state intervention in inheritance rules since taxing wealth transfer from one generation to the next “will inevitably fall on capital; since by doing so, they impair the funds for the maintenance of labour, and thereby diminish the future production of the country” (Ricardo 1817, 190). Tocqueville when scrutinizing the American society compares rather detached the consequences of the laws of inheritance: “When framed in a particular manner, this law unites, draws together, and vests property and power in a few hands: its tendency is clear aristocratic. On opposite principles, its action is still more rapid; it divides, distributes, and disperses both property and power” (Tocqueville 1838, 30).

3 Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx proceeded more ideologically and stated that inheritance rules are the variables than need to be changed in order for have a better society. Legitimacy of intergenerational wealth transfers, economic growth and social stability are the arguments brought about by these authors. For example, Bentham argues against absolute rights to property based on ‘natural law’ and proposes a more utilitarian approach to inheritance: “Whatever power an individual is, according to the received notions of propriety, understood to possess in this behalf, with respect to the disposal of his fortune in the way of bequest—in other words, whatever degree of power he may exercise, without being thought to have dealt hardly by those on whom what he disposes of would otherwise have devolved—that same degree of power the law may, for the benefit of the public, exercise once for all, without being conceived to have dealt hardly by anybody, without being conceived to have hurt anybody, and, consequently, without scruple: and even though the money so raised would not otherwise have been to be raised in the way of taxes” (Bentham, 1795, 12-13). In the first chapter of Principle of Political Economy , John Stuart Mill considers that “What rights, and under what conditions, a person shall be allowed to exercise over any portion of this common inheritance, cannot be left undecided. No function of government is less optional than the regulation of these things, or more completely involved in the idea of civilized society”(Mill 1848, 797). For Karl Marx (1848) one of the ten planks in the coming classless society is the abolition of all rights of inheritance.

4 Empirical data-based inheritance literature tends to be less normative and more focused on data and model building. This scholarship can loosely fit into two strands of narratives. On the one hand there are endogenous explanations, where the different inheritance routines are considered as optimal property transfer policies aimed to maximize the probability of family, dynasty, or social class survival, or as strategies that ended up in producing the nuclear family, or to play down rent seeking among descendants, or as mechanisms to preserve/distribute wealth in the family, or as patterns that perpetuate poverty at individual level, or as sources of legal systems. On the other hand there are the exogenous explanations, where the property transfer practices are considered as mechanisms established to enforce or generate equality in the society, to generate societal change, or as causes for being enfranchised or losing the right to vote in the census vote era. Both strands have theoretical and methodological dimensions. Both strands have accounts that focus on macro- and micro- social and political phenomena. Contributions to both strands come from various sub-fields of social science. As a caveat, let it be remarked that the endogenous-exogenous typology is an academic model used here with the sole purpose of emphasizing particular differences between the logic proposed, in most cases not explicitly, by the various pieces of literature that are scrutinized.

5 Allegedly, at the foundation of the endogenous explanations are those anthropologists who—in the late 19 and the first half of the 20 century—undertook to account for the early social and political structures or to theorize kinship designs in different societies (Bell 1932; Calhoun 1932; Drucker 1939; Elton 1886; Fei 1939; Geary 1930; Kinnosuké 1912; Lotka 1929; MacLeod 1923; Mair 1931; Mateer 1883; Murray 1915; Parsons 1943; Pettengill 1913; Torday 1931; Wright 1903). These studies expound models where primogeniture or partible routines are linked to the family structure. Some models hypothesize primogeniture as optimal succession policies to maximize the probability of lineage survival and preserve wealth (Drucker 1939; Mair 1931; Murray 1915; Wright 1903), in other models the absence of strict primogeniture was essential to lineage survival (Schultz and Richmond 1911), while others postulate property partition as an instrument to encourage the break of extended family relations and to encourage the nuclear version (Parsons 1943). Ethnography and social-history scholarship following in this path nuanced the models and provided more data and case studies (Ammar 1954; Bowles; Smith and Mulder 2010; Bunzel 1952; Eglar 1960; Goody, Thirsk and Thompson 1976; Hechter and Bruste 1980; Kennedy 1953; Lockridge 1968; Kivelson 1994; Lancaster 1958; Jacobson 2002; Mayer 1960; Mencher and Goldberg 1967; Mendels 1976; Miller 1952; Mulder, George-Cramer, Eshleman and Ortolani 2001; Muller 1985; Orenstein 1965; Plakans 1975; Roden and Baker 1966; Rosenfeld 1968; Sanders 1949; Sørensen 1996; Stirling 1965). New postulations and models were added. A number showed that inheritance rules, especially partible routines, influences rent seeking strategies among descendants (Campbell 2005; Lehfeldt 2000; Faith, Goff and Tollison 2008), while another stream pinpointed the connection between both primogeniture and partible property transfers, wealth preservation and family cycles (Berkner 1972; Childs 2001; Crisologo ‐ Mendoza and Van de Gaer 2001; Ditz 1990; Dooling 2005; Owens 2001). Primogeniture rules prompted highly volatile and competitive contests with respect to the excess of male cadet siblings, who were more likely to embrace military careers and be sent to fight in the colonies, whereas the oldest son would take his role in the metropolitan society and avoid military service (Boone 1986).

6 A corpus of legal studies on inheritance rules and rights has developed analysing how passing from primogeniture to partible routines influenced the set-up and the evolution of legal systems, with a special accent on the ideological rejection of the primogeniture by the early settlers and the influence of the partible customs on the law system of the American colonies (Atkinson 1943; Bordwell 1927; Haskins 1957, 1962; Katz 1977; Lund 2009; Priest 2006). This was paralleled by scholarship showing how long-established practices, especially male primogeniture, in some countries in Africa and Asia, resulted in legal unequal rights between males and female descendants to own and transfer properties (Kameri-Mbote 2002; Rautenbach 2008; Tebbe 2008).

7 Inheritance-rules-centred economics research tries to explain intergenerational wealth allocations and poverty persistence (Davies 1982; Menchik 1979; Mendell 1984; Pryor 1973; Stamp 1926). The main strand in this literature argues for primogeniture as the main mechanism that ensured the preservation of big estates and fortunes and wealth inequities, while partition is seen as the formula that, in an optimistic view, bred and enforced wealth equality and, in a pessimistic view, produced and maintained poverty (Alston and Schapiro 1984; Baker 1964; Blinder 1973; Bohac 1985; Davies 1982; Gagan 1976; Hechter and Bruste 1980; Homans 1937; Huston 1993; Menchik 1980; Perkins 1969; Pryor 1973; Wedgwood 1928). A second important thread in this body of research make causal claims between inheritance rules and migration with both primogeniture and partible routines encouraging migration of siblings either because some have no inheritance to assure their economic survival or because they did not have enough to survive in the existing context (Dike 1982; Homans 1937; Howell 1975; Kasdan 1965; Sánchez-Alonso 2000; Wegge 1998). A third strand emphasized religious reforms in Europe as path depend on the partible inheritance rules that distorted the monopoly of the Catholic Church and princes over resources and created societal instability prone to changes orientate against them (Ekelund, Hébert and Tollison 2002; Fichtner 1989; Hopcroft 1994, 1997). A fourth line in this literature postulates partible customs as tools that prompted the capitalist development. As such, partible inheritance created small holdings that could be easily traded (Bryant 2006; Emigh 2003) and created unsustainable subsistence farms and therefore encouraged peasants to move away from agricultural economy (Bryant 2006; Hagen 1988; Hopcroft 1994; Houston and Snell 1984; Kriedte, Medick and Schlumbohm 1982; Thirsk 1961).

8 Connecting both with the legal and economic scholarship is the political science and history research that considers inheritance rules in the context of the polis . This body of literature is split in three concerns: the role of legacy rules in preserving the state/government, and identifying inheritance patterns that could produce political unrest. The first interest conceives primogeniture as optimal property transfer policies aimed to minimize dynastic collapse, to maximize state survival and, to enhance cohesive leadership, particularly in medieval times (Bestor 1996; Geevers 2010; Haskins 1966; Hechter and Brustein 1980, Joffe 1988; Miller 1952) whereas partible rules endangered dynastic reign and most often resulted in state divisions or collapse (Geevers 2010; Hechter and Brustein 1980; Hurewitz 1968; Linehan 2008; Le Patourel 1971; Stewart-Brown 1920; Turner 1995). The second interest posits partible inheritance as a proxy for social instability that ends up in political unrest and societal change (Chasteen 1991; Fennell 1983; Keirstead 1985; Midlarsky 1982, 1988; Scott 1979; Midlarsky and Roberts 1985). The third concern posits partible routines as a proxy to democratization processes in early modern period as division of property encouraged equality in the society and disrupted the social monopoly of the aristocracy therefore promoting social mobility (Bertocchi 2006; Vogel 1989). Following in this path, some studies show that partible inheritance rules favoured the maintenance of centralized bureaucratic governments whereas impartible rules favoured strong and independent aristocracies (Linton 1956; Wittfogel 1957).

9 Adding to the influence of primogeniture and partible inheritance rules in determining the inheritance after-effects, scholars have developed exogenous explanations where the focus is on accounting for changes in property transfer rules as result of changes in other elements of the society. This literature examines how the rules and practices of inheritance have changed in response to political and religious transformations, increasing or decreasing population pressures, economic development and opportunities, urbanization, migration, changing roles of various social categories.

10 Anthropology scholarship is diverse in exogenous explanations. Some studies interpret partible inheritance regulations as the mechanism that produced more individuals with voting rights under the census voting regimes of the 18 and 19 century (Prufer 1928). In the case of some tribal population in Cameroon, the process of Islam regeneration with enhanced definitions of individual rights is considered to have prompted a change inside the partible rules of inheritance of the respective populations (Moritz 2003). Mennonites were flexible in changing from primogeniture to partible and vice-versa as their economic production model reference point oscillated between household and community (Longhofer 1993; Quadagno and Janzen 1987). Industrialization combined with population growth urged lower classes in Japan to adopt male primogeniture (Beardsley, Hall and Ward 1959), whereas the population boom diminished the preference over partible rules in the countryside Turkey, mainly for economic reasons and tendency to preserve agricultural land (Stirling 1965).

11 Historic research in this line shows that the nobility repelled partible rules and endorsed primogeniture for very different practical reasons: for example the need to preserve title and patrimony prompted a move towards primogeniture (Duby 1953; Livingstone 1997), while productivity pressures on their feudums pushed landlords to abolish partible rules (Faith 1966; Goody 1983). The American colonists, arguably for ideological reasons, repudiated the aristocratic primogeniture rule and decided that dividing property among heirs was the best mechanism to generate and maintain equality in the new society (Haskins 1942; Huston 1993; Katz 1977; Orth 1992). In Russia, Peter the Great introduced primogeniture in order to undermine the political and social influence of the noble families’ networks created and maintained on partible inheritance (Farrow 1966). In the Indian region of Awadh, colonial policies and political arrangements with local elites that were implemented in order to secure legitimacy for the British colonial rulers led to changes in favour of primogeniture in the inheritance customs of the taluqdars class (Jassal 1997).

12 The enterprise of tracing the results of the various streams of inheritance literature is a very difficult one. However, students who are interested in the history of inheritance should ask the obvious question: what can be learned from this literature? The answer is multifold. Inheritance literature seems to have little theoretical coherence. Inheritance has been present in the argument of major classical social, economic and political theorists but with relative little importance in the larger context of ideas; Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Alexis de Tocqueville, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx have allocated relatively small attention to the matter, as compared, for example to the problem property and wealth. The arguments and data related to inheritance rules and practices have failed up to now to be incorporated into a political or economic theoretic model. In terms of explanation there are a number of correlations and causal links that could have worked in at particular time and in specific social contexts. Yet, there are no generalizable linear or curvilinear models that could be applied. Even more, similar inheritance practices when applied in different social contexts not always produce similar outputs. Inheritance patterns do not seem to be unilaterally determined by social, cultural, or economic factors. In terms of data on which the explanations are based: although abundant, very rarely there is new empirical evidence that goes contrary to what previous data already showed. Statistical analyses are rather scarce and suffer from lack of comparable and consistent data; almost never historical data can be considered as representative given the way it was collected at specific times; ecological fallacies are hard to avoid.

George Jamesone , The Campbell of Glenorchy Family Tree, 1635, National Galleries of Scotland

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/24093/campbell-glenorchy-family-tree

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Electronic reference

Cosmin Gabriel Marian , “ Literature on Inheritance: A Summary of What Can Be Learnt ” , Journal of Interdisciplinary History of Ideas [Online], 15 | 2019, Online since 15 December 2019 , connection on 28 June 2024 . URL : http://journals.openedition.org/jihi/449

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Cosmin gabriel marian.

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Root and Branch: Essays on Inheritance

Webinar summary and key themes

A collaboration between the Australian Centre and NewSouth Books

12 th July 2022

Join Associate Professor Lorenzo Veracini in conversation with author Eda Gunaydin to celebrate the release of Root & Branch.

I have come to see that I am an argumentative person who is frequently convinced that my angle, my take, on a matter, is the right one. This kind of delusional self-belief is not rewarded in many other spheres of social life, so I write essays - Eda Gunaydin

There is a Turkish saying that one’s home is not where one is born, but where one grows full – doğduğun yer değil, doyduğun yer. Exquisitely written, Root & Branch unsettles neat descriptions of inheritance, belonging and place. Eda Gunaydin’s essays ask: what are the legacies of migration, apart from loss? And how do we find comfort in where we are?

Presenters:

Eda Gunaydin is a Turkish-Australian essayist and researcher whose writing explores class, capital, intergenerational trauma and diaspora. You can find her work in the Sydney Review of Books, Meanjin, The Lifted Brow and others. She has been a finalist for a Queensland Literary Award and the Scribe Nonfiction Prize. Root & Branch is her debut essay collection.

Associate Professor Lorenzo Veracini is an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Australian Centre and teaches history and politics at Swinburne University of Technology. His research focuses on the comparative history of colonial systems and settler colonialism as a mode of domination. He has authored Israel and Settler Society (2006), Settler Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview (2010), The Settler Colonial Present (2015), and most recently The World Turned Inside Out: Settler Colonialism as a Political Idea (2021). Lorenzo co-edited The Routledge Handbook of the History of Settler Colonialism (2016), manages the settler colonial studies blog, and is Founding Editor of Settler Colonial Studies.

Inheritance

The ABC's of buying a house in rapidly gentrifying Portland, Oregon

A is for apple. Two of them in the yard, stunted and blackened. We peer at them in the January chill, trying to determine if they’ll flower and fruit come spring. Or maybe they’re cherries. They’re knobby trees, all elbows. It’s hard to tell.

B is for bedroom. We’re getting two of them: one master and one little one that would be perfect for a little one. In the meantime, it will be my office. No pressure, jokes the realtor.

C is for cherries. It turns out they are cherries after all.

But C is also for choices. We have them: we could have lived farther out, way out, in a bigger house, or closer in toward the city center in a condo or crappier house. Instead, we’ve settled in the middle, a block away from a strip of used car lots and a block away from a lovely park, teetering between them on some bizarre socioeconomic fulcrum: just right.

D is for deal-breaker. When the seller accepted our offer on this little bungalow, with its double lot and peeling yellow paint, we checked our list. It had been hanging up for eight months: our requirements for a future home, scrawled in Magic Marker on butcher paper and tacked to the door. On the list were three categories: must-haves, would-likes, and deal-breakers. A decent kitchen was a must-have. A yard with trees, a would-like. There were only a few deal-breakers: not on a super busy street and not too far out from city center.

We realize, now that we’ve made an actual offer on an actual house, that we had no idea what we were doing when we made that list. It was formed of gut feelings and quotes from TV shows and things we’d heard our parents say. But when you’re a lifelong renter, how can you know what to ask for? How can you know what will break the deal, or whether you yourself—your person, your credit score—will break it first? Not every deal-breaker, I guess I’m saying, is a choice.

E is for escrow. Like the cloud, but for your money. It floats, suspended, somewhere unknowable and unreachable and neutral, until closing. Like a lawsuit, homebuying is full of legal terms. I have a master’s degree, but I have difficulty understanding all the jargon. I joke to my realtor that if she can give me the basics in ghazal form, forward me the contract in couplets, I’ll understand it better. She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. The word escrow floats in my mind, suspended, meaningless, like a mask detached from the face it’s supposed to cover.

F is for friends, many of whom encouraged us to get into the housing game before we were priced out of Portland. You have to bid over, they told us; those techies from California are moving north and buying up all the houses close in. This was true; Portland, Oregon, has been called the most gentrified city of the century and is fast becoming a destination for tech workers and startups displaced by San Francisco’s rising costs.

If you don’t buy now, you’ll have to live way out, and then we’ll never see you, our friends said. There was often something difficult in the tone that was hard for me to parse out. It wasn’t that the market was so hot we wouldn’t be able to buy; the problem was that we wouldn’t buy in the right place. We’d be priced out of our class. We’d take a stumble, land in a less savory neighborhood. Even if we were happy with our bungalow, we’d be separated from our friends in a more difficult, more adult way than ever before: they would be much richer than us. Because I grew up with these people, made communal chili pot beans in our early twenties, drank cheap beer, took the bus, rode our bikes, scraped it together, we had always been on equal terms. Now, though, they would live close in, and we would live out. Our friends assumed that we deserved to live in a cozy, quaint old Portland neighborhood with big trees because that’s the social class we exhibit in other ways: we’re educated, we’re foodies, we subscribe to The Atlantic . It was the second part of the assumption—you’ll have to live way out, and then we’ll never see you—that hurt. What it meant was that if we chose to live in certain places, we would be invited in, but they would not come out to us.

G is for the G.I. Bill, which allowed soldiers returning from Midway or the battlefields of France to take out low-interest home loans. As the forties bled into the fifties and America continued to suburbanize, veterans bought real estate and claimed their little piece of the American dream. Because of the bill, millions of veterans could train for new jobs, enroll in higher education, and buy homes.

However, because it relied on local officials to enforce it, “thousands of black veterans . . . were denied housing and business loans,” according to a New York Times review of Ira Katznelson’s study When Affirmative Action Was White . In New York and northern New Jersey, Katznelson writes, “[F]ewer than 100 of the 67,000 mortgages insured by the G.I. Bill supported home purchases by nonwhites.” In other words, by not explicitly protecting black veterans from discrimination, the G.I. Bill left them vulnerable to it.

The G.I. Bill was written nearly eighty years ago and has been extended several times, most recently to help veterans pay for education in STEM fields. Another version, the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, provides a basic housing allowance to veterans attending school. Although extension bill benefits can now be claimed by all eligible veterans, the history of American home-buying has a more complicated story. Once you have some property, it’s easier to accumulate wealth; if your family didn’t buy it eighty years ago, it’s harder to have it now. “With legacies of slavery and the Civil Rights era, African Americans are kind of latecomers to the wealth accumulation game,” says Princeton sociologist Dalton Conley in the Society Pages. Another sociologist, Karyn Lacy, adds that this was “in part because financing a dream home has involved different processes for white home seekers than for blacks.”

H is for house, which we had inspected for problems when our offer was accepted. This, too, was an unfamiliar ritual to me. I took a morning off work to follow a man with a toolbelt through the house and listen to him hmmm and ummm as he peered at cracked corners and nosed his way into the crawlspaces. He emerged, dusty and disheveled, looking upset. Nothing pleased him. The more I followed him, the less the house pleased me. It was cracked. It was crumbling. It was on the verge of falling apart. Then he turned to me and said, I’m the bad news guy. I wondered if he took pleasure in it.

I is for inheritance, which no one in my family ever expected to give. My parents grew up poor but worked their way into being able to afford a nice home. Attuned to how real estate grounds you, literally, in the soil, they wanted to help us put down roots. My husband and I were already in our thirties and had been expats for years; we had no capital to invest, no nest egg we were sitting on. We’d spent what we earned on flights to China, student loans, and interesting “experiences,” which were all completely worth it despite the sarcasm. Let’s get you started, said my parents, and they gave us money to help with our down payment. We didn’t want to accept help at first, thinking we should afford this on our own, until we realized how utterly impossible that was. The truth is, without their gifts we wouldn’t have been able to get into the game at all. We’d still be sitting on the sidelines, quietly saving. Looking at deal-breakers. My mom said we should think of it as our inheritance.

J is for Joneses, as in keeping up with them. During our twenties, Hank and I lived abroad, committed bohemians with the coolest Christmas cards. When we hit thirty, we returned to Oregon, but it was awkward because, while we were away, our friends had gone ahead and kept living. Most of them owned houses and had babies; they had new friends we didn’t know, and new jobs, and they greeted us like cousins they hadn’t seen for a really long time. After we moved back, it was fun to talk about next steps, so I downloaded the Redfin app. Then I deleted it and downloaded the Trulia app. Then I deleted that and re-downloaded Redfin. Every time someone asked, I told them, Yes, we’re looking, although all that meant was that when I went on jogs, I checked the prices of the houses around me on my apps, marveling at how tens of thousands turned to hundreds, despairing at how we’d ever possibly afford anything except our month-to-month rent. My friends asked, Why don’t you ever invite us over to your apartment, and I’d say, Oh, it’s just an apartment. It’s too small to have guests. Which wasn’t true. I’d say, Let’s go to your house. It’s better for that sort of thing.

K is for kitchen. Ours will be small but full of light, with wood countertops and a 1950s stained-glass lamp hanging over the basin sink. I can see myself spending time here, mopping the tile floors, chopping vegetables with a glass of red beside the cutting board. It’s a vision that will never come to fruition in its entirety; I have few domestic inclinations, preferring a life of the mind and grubbing in the outdoors to anything that even possibly resembles housewifery. My mother is a self-taught cook who opened two restaurants in Hawaii, and I hope to make a new culinary start in this house, but let’s be honest: I didn’t inherit that gene.

L is for landing zone. A map of Portland in The Oregonian shows me areas most prone to gentrification. Where we live now, in our apartment, is bright purple, which means “vulnerable populations have been largely priced out.” I’ve seen the big new luxury apartments going up on the corners, and I know that means rent hikes are coming. Our future neighborhood, where we are buying our bungalow, is a misleading goldenrod yellow. This means the area is a “landing zone,” where “rising numbers of poor Portlanders, ethnic minorities, and people with lower education levels than the citywide average” are moving to escape inner-city gentrification. One must-have item on our butcher-paper list was “racial and socioeconomic diversity,” so I am rather fiercely proud to be moving to a landing zone, to land among different languages and cultures and pay grades. But, of course, my husband and I, white and educated, could also be the first wave that pushes out our neighbors; we could be the vanguard. We could be purpling our new neighborhood without wanting to.

M is for mortgage, which is not pronounced how it’s spelled. Ours will take thirty years to pay; I will be sixty-three when we finally own our home. Sixty-three is also approximately the percentage of Americans who own a home, though the number varies a bit each year. However, home ownership numbers are shifty: 74 percent of white Americans, but only 43 percent of black Americans, own homes.

N is for neighborhood, and in homeownership, there are “good” and “bad” neighborhoods. Such designations, though casual in conversation, are based on real factors like crime rate, access to grocery stores, walkability, the quality of schools. Disturbingly, however, what sometimes drives down home prices and causes white people to leave is the number of minorities. “Put simply, the market penalizes integration: the higher the percentage of blacks in the neighborhood, the less the home is worth, even when researchers control for age, social class, household structure, and geography,” writes Dorothy Brown, a tax law professor at Emory University, in Forbes .

During the Depression, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) wrote a profile of the neighborhood where we currently rent. It was increasing in desirability, they wrote, largely because although 20 percent of residents were foreign-born, Italians “were not predominating” and the presence of Negroes and Chinese was “not thought to be serious.”

Our new house rests at the convergence of three neighborhoods: Woodstock, which is tony in a granola way and has a nice organic grocery store; Lents, which is historically one of the most violent neighborhoods in Portland; and Brentwood-Darlington, which is quiet and lower-class. Depending on who I’m talking to, I explain the house’s location differently. Just south of Woodstock, I tell my friends with good jobs and closer-in houses. Near Lents, I tell my students at community college, who mostly live way out. In neither case am I lying, but it feels as if I am in both.

O is for oak. There’s a big one in the backyard, crippled by winter windstorms and dangling snapped branches over the porch. Hank feels we should get an arborist to trim it, but I like how wild it feels back there, like a thicket in a fairy tale. This may become a source of tension. I can see myself defending the tree, chaining myself to it in coming years. It will acquire outsized symbolism and will scar me deeply when we finally have to take it down.

P is for parents, who always fought over tree-trimming. My mom hated to prune, and my dad always went out with clippers and sheared off way too much of the trees. It was their biggest ongoing fight. I don’t know what it was really about.

Becoming parents is one of our goals, but it’s hard to think that far ahead sometimes. We have so many chinks to fill with plaster, loose tiles to patch, dandelions to pull. I wonder if we, too, will take on oppositional roles for our children: I will be the one who wants a wild native garden, full of climbing roses and overgrown with ferns; Hank the one who goes out periodically with a weed-chopper and chugs through the underbrush, coming inside covered in spatters of green. Will our children look to us for advice on how to trim back the bushes? Will we each represent a different philosophy of householding and spar, predictably and periodically, about the length of the grass? Will we introduce them to the responsibilities of ownership, of understanding and caring for the things you purchase?

Q is for questions, of which I have many. What the fuck is an amortization schedule? Why would anyone create such a terrible word, with all those hard, sharp sounds in it and the root mort , as in mortality , buried in the word like a secret grave? Will we die in this house? Will we be able to afford to die in this house? Is it right that I have a house when I really couldn’t afford the down payment—that is, without the generosity of family, whose wealth passes through generations, whose love sometimes takes the form of dollars, whose pluck and hard work and eligibility for government programs in the last century means we’ve been able to save enough so Hank and I can have a fight over an oak?

R is for reparations, “by which I mean the full acceptance of our collective biography and its consequences . . . the price we must pay to see ourselves squarely,” Ta-Nehisi Coates writes in The Atlantic . If black Americans have been unable to enter into government programs, or have been denied throughout history the ability to accumulate family wealth, then how will they afford a down payment? How can anyone possibly do this without help, much less in the face of deliberate harm?

I search for my new neighborhood on Mapping Inequality, a website that collects old documents to show how HOLC evaluated credit-worthiness and mortgage-default risk between 1935 and 1940. The area was deemed “definitely declining” and not ripe for home loans. HOLC notes four Japanese families in the area. It notes “no evidence of increasing desirability.” It notes that “infiltration of subversive races [is] a threat.”

When we talk about reparations, it’s not like giving up something earned to someone who didn’t earn it, Coates argues. Simply, the families who were not allowed to take out good government loans should be able to draw that money now. After all, time itself has been a kind of loan. Our Depression-era economy borrowed from families of color to “stabilize and even resurrect a moribund mortgage market and stagnant home building sector,” the website explains. Reparations says the grace period is over, and further deferment is not an option.

S is for slavery. At its root, it was a question of ownership. “By erecting a slave society, America created the economic foundation for its great experiment in democracy,” writes Coates. “Like homeownership today, slave ownership was aspirational. . . . Much as homeowners today might discuss the addition of a patio or the painting of a living room, slaveholders traded tips on the best methods for breeding workers, exacting labor, and doling out punishment. Just as a homeowner today might subscribe to a magazine like This Old House , slaveholders had journals such as De Bow’s Review , which recommended the best practices for wringing profits from slaves.”

Slavery was essentially like owning a home in that it set you up financially. The slaves were the down payment on a future, a way of planning for your grandchildren’s success with human lives.

This many years later, it is hard to trace it: the institutions, the legislation, the wealth that stemmed from our country’s foundational economic structure. Still, I think this collective home, our land, deserves an inspection. I think we should duck into the crawlspaces of national memory and root around with a flashlight. I am unsure how stable such a structure really is.

T is for toddler. By the time we have one (our realtor says), this house will start to “feel small.” We’ll want to start thinking about reselling. It’s too early to worry about a second home, I think; we don’t have a kid. We don’t even have the first home yet. And yet I’m already feeling acquisitional, my mind in the game. Where will we move next, I wonder? Would two toddlers be able to share that second bedroom? One at a time, Hank jokes. But I want someone to pass this all on to. I want to sit out front under the cherry trees in April and throw handfuls of their paper-white petals at each other, calling yours , yours , yours .

U is for uncertainty, from which Hank and I both suffer. We take turns wanting to back out. I stay up one night, staring out the apartment windows, looking at the glitter of lights from the reservoirs and the veterans’ hospital up on the hill. Hank comes in to find me. He wraps me in a blanket and asks what’s wrong. I say I’m worried we can’t do this, unsure if I mean financially or emotionally or what, but just wanting to voice this large, undefined blankness in my head—the swirl of unfamiliar vocabulary, the pressure of making decisions about major plumbing repairs when I’ve never fixed a leaky faucet, the sense of helplessness that has overtaken me just when I am supposed to feel most empowered. He helps me back to bed. A few days later, while grading papers on the couch and watching Top Chef reruns, he has a panic attack. He wants to move abroad again, sell everything and live out of a backpack. We can’t do this, he tells me as I stroke his hands and remind him it’s an investment in our future. Besides, I remind him, if everything goes wrong, we can move in with my folks.

V is for Vanport. Before the vets came home, before the G.I. Bill, when America was deep in World War II, Portland became a center for shipyard construction. Workers flocked to the jobs, and the state housed temporary workers—many of them people of color—in the nation’s largest wartime housing development, Vanport, so called because it lay along the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver, Washington. Oregon was a big Klan capital, and the whites here didn’t take kindly to a large influx of people of color, no matter how much we needed to defeat the Nazis. After the war, many of the white workers left Vanport, but people of color, unable to find housing in Portland, remained in larger numbers. In 1948, heavy rainfall and meltwater caused Vanport’s dike to fail. Ten-foot waves burst through the dike and rushed into what was still a city of nearly 20,000 people. As a direct result of losing their homes, black folks settled in Northeast Portland, including my parents’ neighborhood, which was, at the time, what we would now call a “landing zone.”

W is for white flight. When my friends and I talk about “good neighborhoods” and “good schools,” we are speaking financially. It’s just practical. We have to take care of our pocketbooks. But Hank and I privately commit, speaking in fierce, defiant tones, to send our (not yet existing) kids to public schools and always build community wherever we are. We will support integration. We will not flee. We will stay in our new gold neighborhood. This is an easy defiance, for now, because we are not wealthy enough to live in the purple.

X marks the spot: Our landing zone. This is where we will land. We close on the bungalow in two weeks. The repairs are in progress. The plumbing is being fixed. The foundation is being reinforced. Sometimes I drive by it at night just to take a look and remember what it is we’re purchasing, our little slice of the American dream. I idle outside the house like a stalker until the neighbor gives me a weird look. I wave. I feel awkward. I want to belong.

Y is for yes. I walk around one not-terribly-frigid January day to get a feel for the neighborhood. There are some rusty cars parked on lawns, for sure, and also some basketball hoops. At the end of the block are some townhouses. I see an older couple taking out their trash, speaking Mandarin. I greet them in that language, and we all smile at each other. Do you live around here? they ask me. Yes, I say proudly. Yes, I do.

Z is for zoning. In the early 20th century, my new Mandarin-speaking neighbors would have been barred from my parents’ neighborhood under an exclusion clause for Chinese people. Other types of zoning are more subtle; for instance, redlining was a practice that rated neighborhoods according to their stability. Housing bureaus could assign green lines to an area, which meant it “lacked ‘a single foreigner or Negro,’” writes Coates; people who lived in that area would be offered good loans. If a neighborhood was assigned red lines, residents would find home insurance hard to come by.

None of this history appeared on our butcher paper list. None of the problematic zoning practices are listed in the Redfin app. Before I became a homeowner, redlining and white flight and landing zones were abstractions, things I read about in magazines. Now they are my neighbors. My choices. My cherry trees. What I did not realize is that buying my slice of the American Dream came with a responsibility of knowing the history of my land.

Now I know my . . . I want to sing to my someday-child in the yard. I want to tell him our neighborhoods are red as ripe apples, ripe as spring cherries, green as the maple leaves spreading their thin fingers over our lawn. I want to tell him. But, instead, I will hold his hand under the blossoms and tell him, This is your inheritance.

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Plot Summary - Guide to the Inheritance Play by David Mulwa

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Summary: Leadership Inheritance

Scene one: kutula's commemoration ceremony, scene two: lacuna's business deals with the imperialists, scene three: resistance and rebellion, scene one: judah zen melo's death, scene two: martial law and lacuna's predicaments, scene one: plans to overthrow lacuna's government, scene two: lacuna's loss of power.

The prologue opens in Governor Thorne Macay's mansion, which is described as lavish and one that rents the air of power and authority.
The Governor is seemingly angry at the natives' ineptitude and incompetence and feels disempowered by the abolition of the whip as the natives have now downed their tools.
The Governor's attendant has kept Bishop Menninger, (brain of the empire) Princess Sangoi, and King Kutula, who have come to see the governor, waiting for an hour because the latter is on a tea-break, and when asked why he keeps the guests for that long replies,. your orders is: " Do not disturb his excellent tea-time and meditetioning hour..." (p.3 -4) .
The natives have rioted against the white settlers, destroyed their property, molested the women and children and have breached the agreement and trust made earlier “…a situation that could lead to a long bloody war... ! " (p.8).
Bishop Menninger has documented advice for the Governor. He points out in the document that natives would never change from their confused simple nature and that they would never be like the sophisticated and civilized whites but would only remain as copycats.
He also points out to the governor that the imperialists would have to continue to rule and lay basic rules for the natives since left on their own; they would offer nothing of significance.
King Kutula 's entry to the governor's mansion is ushered in by an attendant who regards him with awe and reverence.
He addresses the king as "The son of the king…from the stars and the heaven," (p.6)
Governor Thorne Macay has never understood the 'infernal allegiance’ that natives have their leaders but Menninger is born from their inability to reason and think. He sees them as common animals way below the whites whom he terms as democratic and civilized.
Governor thorne has summoned the king to register his disappointment about king Kutula’s silence on the escalating violence in his kingdom resulting from the nationwide upraising by the natives against the white leaders.
King Kutula dismisses Thorne’s concerns by quoting an African proverb to mock the Governor. He says “ The chameleon told the hare: make your step I make mine; it is good company… friend.” (pg 8)
Thorne is offended and threatens to imprison the king for life before Menninger reminds him that he is talking to the king. He asks Thorne to ask direct questions and avoid the long winged proverbs and proverbial drivels when the king begins to bombard the governor with many more proverbs and sayings.
Thorne is then shocked when Kutula admits his knowledge of the countrywide uprising and his support of the violence against the governor’s people despite their good will to bring civilization to the natives. He says, “… I cannot shut the voices of my father…” (pg 10)
The governor is shocked by the sudden change of attitude when Kutula bluntly tells him that “we do not want you here!” (pg 10)
Kutula regrets why his fathers assented to the imperialist drafted agreement that had allowed the colonialist to subject his people to devastating effects of their oppressive rules and excessive zeal.
Kutula threatens the governor that his people will continue to die if he won’t let the natives build and run their home. He, however, has no objection to the white man teaching the natives his was but with moderation.
Sangoi joins the leader and expresses her willingness to go abroad and pursue the white man's education.
Governor Thorne's fear over King Kutula's efforts to groom his adopted daughter is that she will be an empowered matriarch and a lioness to contend with in the future.
Menninger is quick to console Thorne that Sangoi's education would only confuse her. The Bishop's plan is to unleash Sangoi against her simple folk upon the completion of her education for their benefit.
What does Thorne mean by the statement, "Africa supports, nay maintains, the empire" (pg.4) ?
"Make her a slave...again...Revisit history, Menninger... revisit..." (pg.5) . What is your understanding of this statement?
In what ways do the natives exhibit 'infernal allegiance' to their leaders?
Identify the proverbs in the prologue and their relevance.
Menninger admits to use of "excessive zeal." How have the natives reacted to it?
"The king is dangerous. Like the Queen bee..." Demonstrate the truth of this statement.
Comment on the conflict that arises in the prologue.
What does Thorne mean when he says "Turmoil in Africa means a great loss to the empire" (pg. 4)?
Outline the reasons King Kutula gives for wanting the imperialists to leave Kutula.
Point out at instances in the prologue that reveal Thorne Macay's attitude towards the natives.
What is the prologue all about?

Movement One

Kutula, thirty years later, is an independent Republic under the leadership of Lacuna Kasoo yet the standards of living are poor.
Tamina Zen Melo is emaciated and older than her age with no proper housing and food.
Bengo, a political activist who has just arrived from jail in the capital, is treated to a cold welcome by Tamina who still holds to age-old bitterness.
Tamina explains to Bengo that the water they used to get from the nearby springs and brooks has been diverted by Councilor Chipande to Bukelenge Mountains fifteen kilometers away to make a dam despite Reverend Sangoi 's protests. In fact, an inauguration for the dam is done and receives much praise.
The natives have been denied licenses to grow coffee and their lands taken by Chipande after the Whiteman left making them slaves in their own farms. Tamina says "My coffee farm in Bukelenge Mountains? All gone. Now I must pick coffee for Chipande on the farm that he had me sell to him for peanuts. "(p. 24).
Tamina is bitter with Bengo because of his indulgence in opposition politics that led to the near death of her husband, Judah Zen Melo, who was Lacuna's spokesperson and party man, after his refusal to kill his brother who was "Lacuna's thorn in his political side."(p.23).
This earns Judah unemployment and he is exiled. Tamina lost everything including the good life she once lived.
Bengo, who is popular and would have won the elections with a landslide, is taken to jail to pave way for Chipande, Lacuna 's crony.
Lulu arrives home from school earlier than usual to collect the two thousand shilling fees balance for the construction of a perimeter fence and the computer laboratory despite paying one thousand the previous day.
Tamina complains of her lack of basics like food and water and wonders about the essence of education. Lulu is bitter and somewhat insolent and disrespectful to her mother.
Lulu is frustrated by her mother's helplessness and poverty and threatens her, "l will use my beauty then! I must complete school and be somebody... in any way… (pg31 ) Unlike her mother Lulu wants to be free from poverty and oppression.
Judah arrives from the town of Patola and is warmly welcomed by his wife. He says jobs were not forthcoming and the pay was low. Besides, you needed your own tribesman to get a job.
He sacrifices his morals for employment because, "... religion doesn't sit well on an empty stomach..." (p.36). He therefore begins drinking and bribes Mithambo with beer to get a job as a Machine Operator. He works for long hours and competition is stiff. Meanwhile, their sons are also in towns looking for jobs.
Before Judah can rest, he leaves to "say hello to the crowd and escort the sunset"(pg.38) but leaves Tamina eight hundred shillings besides the assortment of groceries that he has brought home.
Lulu is back and apologetic for disrespecting her mother. She learns of her father's return with excitement.
Sangoi has been appointed a minister in the Ministry of Reclamation and Remedies by Lacuna against her will. She accepts the post for fear that Lacuna might assassinate her now that during his coronation, people preferred Sangoi for Lacuna to be their leader after King Kutula's death.
The government plans to evacuate people from the valley and Sangoi hopes that Lacuna would change his mind over the evacuation before Kutula's much publicized commemoration ceremony.
Tamina is against Lulu's attendance of the king Kutula commemoration ceremony, despite her key role as a lead dancer in the school's dance troupe invited by Lacuna himself.
It is only through Sangoi's intervention that Tamina permits Lulu to attend what she calls "a pagan ritual" (pg.43) on condition that she would run back home after the festival. Sangoi promises to watch over Lulu and even pay her school fees balance.
Melo returns home drunk. He says he rules his family with love and not machines and police guards like Lacuna. Judah celebrates his family and refers to Tamina as "... beauty queen... so beautiful..." and Lulu as "Girl, you're a black queen and... ori ...hic ...ginal!" (Pg.48 ) and challenges Lulu to work hard and achieve her dreams of becoming a doctor and then he goes to bed.
Lulu is totally uninspired by her parents' marriage. She says, "If this is what it means to be a parent, I won't follow their footsteps to be crowned queen of rags". (pg.51 ).
Outline the counter-productivity of Chipande's dam project.
Why is Tamina still bitter with Bengo?
In what ways is Bengo "...a thorn in Lacuna's political side"?
State the challenges that parents like Tamina with school-going children must undergo.
How does Judah Zen Melo's absence contribute to Tamina's challenges?
"I don't want this life! I don't! I don't!" (Pg.31 ) . What exactly does Lulu mean by this statement?
Describe how Zen Melo gets his job as a machine operator.
What character of Lulu demonstrates her understanding of her goals in life?
Give three illustrations of incidences of disillusionment in this episode.

Movement Two

The scene is set at Kutula Peoples' Park. The stage is set for the celebration of a National Commemoration Day and all the leaders, delegates, bosom friends of Kutula Republic and other citizens are gathered at the park.
Miss Gerima, the teacher is helping the dancers with the final touches of rehearsals before the ritual begins.
Lacuna steps forward to the royal grave to perform the commemoration ritual.
A pitcher with water is handed to Lulu who washes Lacuna's hands. Lacuna then pours water at the foot of the grave and then Lulu puts the crown on his head, gives him the mandate to lead and declares the day to be a national rest day.
Melissa comments that the crown does not fit Lacuna's head and Sangoi is quick to say it's time Lacuna put the crown aside as he doesn't fit the mandate.
After the ceremony, Lacuna invites Sangoi and the school children to a banquet in his palace. He is to discuss with Sangoi matters of evacuation of the people, to pave way for the irrigation project, although he is aware that she is against the proposal.
Lacuna then leads his guests in the banquet and is to later share a meal with Lulu at his private chambers as required by the custom.
Describe the rituals performed during the commemoration chronologically.
What does Lacuna mean by "customs must bow to national emergencies" (pg. 57)?
Identify the irony of the quote in number 2 above.
Comment on Sangoi's saying, "When the dead murmur in a conscience, the guilty hear in it the terror of thunder, our forefather said it" (pg. 56).
How do you think the national rest that Lacuna declares impacts on the economy?
Why do you think Sangoi, the elders and the two white men fail to respond to Malipoa?
Explain the symbolism in Lacuna's crown that does not fit and is lopsided on his head.
Who is Gerima and what is her role in the commemoration ceremony?
Describe Melissa's role in the episode.
The setting shifts to the leader's palace formally, Governor
Macay's residence which has now been extensively modernized. It is here that Lacuna, Goldstein and Robert's meeting takes place.
Chipande welcomes Goldstein and Robert to the palace. They are catching up on the just ended commemoration ceremony before Lacuna arrives.
Chipande rudely handles the attendant. He brags about how he treats them in summary statements in the name of democracy and development while faulting King Kutula for having treated everyone equally.
Robert sarcastically points at how Africans love celebrations at the expense of serious issues like time management and economy. Chipande comes in defense saying. "the drums of prayer and thanksgiving are intended to bring the dead and the living to communion." (pg.59).
Robert's contempt for Africans is evident when he says the whites are superior and that "it's choking me . doing business with immoral ragamumns..." (pg.60) . He adds that African leaders borrow monies abroad in the name of the natives only to enrich themselves- the money has availed nothing to the people.
With reference to the extravagant and unnecessary banquet, he notes that most drinks and meals served are imported. The coffee is grown by the locals but then exported to London for processing then sold back to them. Robert wonders, "How can we do business with people like these?" (pg.61 ).
Goldstein's perspective of business is to lend, make profit and enslave the natives by "... putting the noose
T he Whiteman and poisoned his own father to death. "He loved me, but I killed him." (Pg. 69) . However, he goes ahead to justify the murder, "... my father loved me but I loved my people more...that's why he had to die." (Pg.69).
Goldstein recounts what they have done for Lacuna and the natives financed his inauguration.... Look, around thirty universities with ultra-modern equipment computer. ...mining Company
Robert and Lacuna fall out because the former is quick to criticize Lacuna's leadership.
Planet World Financiers Limited had extended a loan of thirty billion to salvage Kutula's economy. Lacuna gets arrogant when Goldstein demands an account of how the money was spent because he has no any record of expenditure. He threatens to leave the office and to freeze Lacuna's accounts abroad.
Lacuna tones down and admits to have embezzled the funds; he bought himself a sleek aircraft and has banked thirty percent of the money in foreign accounts. He also discloses that he shares the money with other leaders for their personal benefits.
Lacuna cannot account for the rest of the money. Yet he claims to be giving the natives free medical services, education, food, etc.
Goldstein is now seated on the throne and takes advantage of an intimidated Lacuna's ignorance, mismanagement of funds and poor governance to set him into bigger loans.
Lacuna now wants another bigger loan to boost the
Economy and reclaim his popularity among the people yet has no way of paying the loan back since the "...exports, silver, running at a loss..." (pg.75) and fanning has dismal returns.
To date, Kutula has a loan advancement of ninety eight billion exclusive of interest and Lacuna and his ministers owe Robert and Goldstein a hundred and twenty two billion which should be paid within a month. However, the debt will be paid by Lacuna's subjects.
Lacuna is given conditions upon the new loan extended to him by Goldstein.
He is to ensure money is paid for jobs done and not offices and positions and to avoid nepotism.
He is also to remove controls on prices especially for the foreign exchange.
He should increase the production of silver and coffee for export. Lacuna is also to cut down on employment and ensure longer hours for workers.
Concerning agriculture, he is to evacuate the occupants of the valley to pave way for the irrigation project.
State instances of sarcasm and discuss their significance.
How effectively does the writer portray greed in this scene?
Contrast the characters of Robert and Goldstein as portrayed in the scene.
Explain the motives of both Goldstein and Lacuna that lead to King Kutula's assassination.
"And we let you run it. Didn't interfere" (pg. 70) , Explain this statement as made by Goldstein.
Outline the conditions that Goldstein and Robert imposed on Lacuna .
Demonstrate in what way business between the West and Kutula has "no human face". (pg. 82).
"The mother befriended the weaver bird" (pg. 82) . What did Lacuna's father mean by this statement?
In your opinion, how does the Whiteman stand to benefit from the conditions he imposes before advancing a loan to Lacuna?
The scene is still in the palace. Sangoi and respected leaders from Bukelenge Basin have come to see Lacuna over the evacuation of people from the valley to Samuka.
Lacuna wants the elders to convince the occupants of the government's intention to relocate them and use the fertile basins to reclaim agriculture as the Bukelenge valley is earmarked for development
Sangoi and the elders have put it plainly to Lacuna that the evacuation will not be possible.
Lacuna is annoyed by their disobedience and blames Sangoi for poisoning the opinion leaders against the irrigation project. He says, "... this silent rebellion... anything to do with you?" (Pg.85) . Lacuna's contempt for his subjects is evident when he says the mass is illiterate and they cannot think of international business.
Lacuna threatens to eliminate Sangoi as he tells Chipande that that is the only way for him to remain on the throne. He senses strong opposition from Sangoi bearing Sangoi's popularity amongst the people which he does not take for granted.
Lulu is expected to spend a night with Lacuna in the Royal chamber as the Annual Custom demands. All the preparations have been done by Chipande. Apparently Lulu and Lacuna fail to show up.
Lacuna fears that his leadership will fail because Robert might have defiled Lulu's purity before uniting Lacuna with the powerful dead and the unborn of the world."She stands in the gap and must usher in tomorrow's sun. She is the bridge." (pg.88).
Lacuna tries to lure Lulu by his power and a luxuriant lifestyle against that of Lulu that is poor. He tells her, "... what will your mother give you? (Pg.93). But Lulu remains firm that she is too young for him and still in school; besides, she respects Melissa. She wonders why she has been confined in the palace and wants to go home.
The ritual is postponed until after four weeks and Lulu will be confined in the chambers to be cleansed and taken care of so that "...not to anger and pain and worry the wise ones within the deep" (pg.92)
Meanwhile, there is a peaceful demonstration outside by the people from Malima Tema against the relocation of people from the valley. Women, men and children are carrying twigs and doves, singing, dancing and marching.
Meshak, the commander of the armed forces, reports that the demonstration is harmless and there is no need of using guns.
Lacuna is annoyed to hear that no one has been shot or imprisoned. He threatens that any leader who will not support the evacuation will be dismissed forthwith and replaced by people from the royal clan regardless of their level of education.
State instances of superstition in Scene 3.
In what ways does the Bukelenge Basin disappoint leader Lacuna?
Contrast the reprisal of natives during King Kutula's reign to the protest by the Bukelenge mountain occupants.
"But let all be done in wisdom..." (pg. 92) . Show how Lacuna takes [eave of wisdom in this scene.
What character trait of Lacuna is revealed when he responds to Sangoi saying, "Their second alternative, begins, Sangoi And no, go out there and effect obedience upon my people. Two weeks, Sangoi " (pg. 86-87)
What is Lacuna's perception of women in light of how he describes Melissa on (pg. 94)?
In what ways does Commander Meshack disappoint Lacuna with regard to tracking the insurgents at Malima-Tema Mountains?
What is your understanding of the word "cannibal" as used in the scene?

Movement Three

The scene is set in Tamina Zen Melo's hut. It is in the evening and Tamina has just entered with a bundle of firewood.
Judah has written a letter to inform her that he will be coming home that day the second of September. In the letter, Judah wants to know the whereabouts of his children.
This reminds Tamina how Lulu, their daughter has been confined in the palace with a promise of a new home and land in the mountains which she detests. She says ,"...and he had the prudence to salt my raw wound I spat on his face and he and his friends fled from my cooking spoon." (pg.98).
Sangoi visits Tamina's hut shortly. The issue of evacuation is a grave one but all, including Tamina, will rally behind her. She reports that she has not seen Lulu in the palace and that Judah was visited in the mines concerning Lulu's marriage to Lacuna.
Though hiding, Sangoi bears the bad news of Zen Melo's death. Tamina says, "...my husband is dead, that's what you came to tell me but you didn't have the courage. Is it true?" (Pg.100) . Judah dies at the mines when the machine he operates snaps and crushes him. Tamina is inconsolably desperate and breaks into mourning.
Bengo stops by Tamina's house and finds her beside herself with grief and wants to assign some women to take care of her. The Mother's Union in her church will look into her needs.
Tamina is disillusioned and disappointed by Lacuna's leadership. He has taken her husband, sons, Lulu her daughter and her valley. She has nothing and no one to help her. Sangoi consoles Tamina.
How does the discussion between Sangoi and Tamina at the start of the scene prepare Sangoi to break the news of Judah's death?
Describe the events that lead to Judah Melo's death.
Discuss the theme of hopelessness and disillusionment in the scene,
"The mole digs God's earth merely to live in... grass grows in the soil he threw aside." Discuss the significance of this saying in the scene.
Which disease is Sangoi referring to by saying, "...this strange disease from across the seas. The disease."
Identify and explain an instance of biblical allusion from the scene.
It is in the palace. Lacuna has a heated argument with Malipoa over when he will have Lulu as a wife. Malipoa says another week will be needed because Lulu is still mourning her father's death.
Lacuna is disappointed by Lulu's consistent resistance to his advances. He has poured libations to her late father's spirit; he has channeled a lot of finances to her comfort in the palace and has offered Tamina vast lands and labourers to till the land but she has spurned his advances.
Apparently, tea, coffee, silver show no promise, the machines are broken down, and the industries are in shambles besides assassinations of workers.
The occupants of the valley still are due for evacuation
Not a shilling of the one twenty billion borrowed is used beyond the palace.
Lacuna says the poor production is as a result of rotten machines and the death of Judah who was the machine operator. However, Robert tells him that they know Judah was murdered and not the old machine's error as was reported.
Goldstein holds the gadget screen to Lacuna to read, "Mene Mene Tekel' (pg.109) , meaning he has been weighed and found wanting and God has numbered his kingdom.
When Lacuna bluntly states that he will pay the loan when he wants, all his money in the private accounts abroad is transferred to pay the debt. Robert says, "We must recover our debt." (pg.112).
Lacuna has been disabled completely but orders the arrest of Robert and Goldstein. He also declares a curfew from dawn to dusk.
Lacuna orders Chipande to cancel the evacuation plans, suspend all the workers ' salaries, and interdict all public officials including councilors, ministers, directors and principals. Lacuna himself is to be the commander in chief in place of Meshak.
Lacuna has extended a hundred percent tax on the profits made by all corporations, banks, parastatals and businesses and the money to be collected into the national kitty under his custody.
Chipande warns him of more riots now that the situation is volatile because of the plans to forcefully evacuate the people from the valley.
Lacuna wants to be joined to Lulu in a holy matrimony before sunset. Malipoa has gone to fetch her and before he comes back, Lulu enters to meet Lacuna without permission from either the attendant or Lacuna himself,
Lacuna accuses Lulu of an affair with Robert. Lulu objects to the accusation but then apologizes. She wants to go home for the second interment of her late father and fears for her name being tarnished as "a palace gold digger" (pg.119) besides, her mother has disowned her.
Lulu wants to pursue her academics and become a doctor. She rejects Lacuna's advances of love and allure of pleasures. Lacuna is infuriated and slaps Lulu.
In annoyance, Lulu reminds Lacuna how he has kept her in the palace against her will, killed her father, impoverished them and made them slaves. Besides, he is ten times her father's age and will never get married to him.
Lulu is forcefully led out by Chipande and the guard and confined to her quarters under Lacuna's command pending a forceful marriage.
"All the wise ones have ordered, I have fulfilled." Outline all the orders and how Lacuna has fulfilled them.
"They must play the game-totally, if both parties are to benefit" (pg. 107) . What does Robert mean by this?
Why do you think Judah Melo is murdered in the mines?
State the foreign banks that Lacuna has saved his money in.
Cite instances of irony and sarcasm in the scene.
"Did these hands embrace a foreigner?" (pg.118). What would be the traditional implication of Lulu embracing a foreigner on the night of the commemoration?
Outline the weakness of Lacuna's leadership as portrayed in the scene.
Contrast the character of Lacuna as a leader and as a carnal man with reference to the advances he makes on Lulu.

Movement Four

It is at dawn in a house in the densely forested mountains. Bengo is chairing a meeting of a group of leaders from the village both young and old, which plans to overthrow Lacuna's government. Sangoi comes in later.
There is a conflict between the young male leader and the elderly leader over the previous approach to issues where the elderly leaders have been slow in the cause of their actions over serious matters in the name of caution leading to the current predicament of the people of Kutula.
The group has to review their approach now that a curfew has been declared to ensure the success of the demo. They have the support of every tribe including some of Lacuna's loyalists.
Bengo says that the mission should be accomplished without pain, hate or bloodshed. He insists on unity to win and if not at least died saying, " no" to tyranny; particularly the tyranny of our history and international neo- slavery." (pg.125).
Sangoi is the favourite of everybody and the suggested leader after Lacuna is overthrown. However, she accepts the leadership with a condition to withdraw the armed section of the movement. This receives a lot of objection from the leaders who feel they should be armed because Lacuna has an armed army, too.
Sangoi will embark on her church roles and a political leader sought afterwards.
How does the enemy catch Bengo and his family off-guard in the entire play?
"We have persisted because we know and are convinced that our cause is just," Give reasons to justify this statement.
Why do you think the people have so much confidence in Sangoi?
What is the purpose of the meeting?
Explain the conflict that arises between the young and the old.
"Can you imagine the bitterness throughout the land?" Comment on this statement with regard to the episode.
Outline the details of the plan on how to attack the palace.
What does the young leader mean when he says, "Our leopards move among Lacuna's forces" (pg. 124)?
Outline the steps that the new leadership will take to rebuild the state?
Explain what Sangoi means by saying "They squandered it and we have felt its yoke on our necks."
It is in the morning and an agitated Lacuna and a cowering Chipande are in the palace and out of control. Lacuna has fired everybody including Malipoa.
People have mobilized themselves and the demonstration is on. Lacuna orders for the mobilization of the troops to attack the rabble of dissidents and orders for the detention of Robert and Goldstein.
Lacuna is obsessed with having Lulu as his second bride. He instructs Chipande amidst the confusion to prepare to be the best man during the ceremony.
Lacuna is adamant until he hears the sounds of gunshots. Attendant II shows him the march has drawn close to the palace from all directions. The city is under attack, the barracks have fallen and the palace has been besieged.
The protestors surround the palace chanting, "Down with Lacuna! Corrupting our children! Stealing from the poor! Starving the poor!" . ..."We shall not be moved "Down with tyrants!" "Down with curfews in free land!" (pg. 132).
Meanwhile Bengo, Sangoi and Tamina come closer to Lacuna as Bengo addresses the crowd about the need for justice and restrains people from using violence against Lacuna.
Reverend Sangoi addresses the crowd amid cheers and chants of revenge to perpetrators of evil from the crowd. She confirms the need to deal with the evils of the past before forging forward with the reconstruction and healing of the land.
Sangoi is quick to point out that the evil ones have reduced the people to beggars in their own homeland, the youth into criminals and drug addicts, disintegration of families ,"... Tamina, Zen Melo and others . ...since disaster struck her home, she has lost her mind.. '' (pg.135).
Lacuna is ordered to join Robert and Goldstein. The crowd refers to them as leeches that bleed the country dry. Lacuna is guilty of tyranny and sinking the country into debts.
Sangoi commands Lacuna, Malipoa and Chipande to be jailed.
Lacuna blames his advisors but Chipande says Lacuna always gave orders.
Even after Sangoi is educated abroad and married by a white, she does not spare Goldstein and Robert. The two foreigners are deported back to their country.
She informs Robert in response to his demand for their debt that the money was borrowed in the name of the natives but squandered by Lacuna and his cronies.
Lulu moves to the front where she embraces her mother Tamina. Sangoi questions Lacuna over Lulu 's confinement and Tamina out of rage slaps Lacuna for confining her daughter for many days.
"I can see further without glasses than he with his spiritual binoculars." Show the irony of Lacuna's statement in light of the events later in the scene.
What is Sangoi's role in liberating her people?
"I AM POPULAR! Not so?" Comment on the irony of this statement.
Outline the evils that the natives have suffered due to Lacuna's leadership.
What is Bengo's role during the demonstrations?
"Hang the leeches! Bleeding our country dry!" Explain the above statements.
Identify and explain the use of language in this episode.
What is Sangoi's attitude towards Lacuna, Robert and Goldstein?

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Jesse Owens: Beyond the Finish Line

This essay about Jesse Owens highlights his extraordinary impact on athletics and society. Born in 1913, Owens defied racial barriers and became a global icon by winning four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. His success challenged Nazi ideologies and inspired many. Despite facing racial discrimination in the US, Owens advocated for civil rights, promoting racial integration in sports and beyond. His legacy continues to symbolize resilience, equality, and the power of determination.

How it works

Jesse Owens, titan of track and field, cut an inheritance that crosses a lake athletics achievement, leaving, mark indelible on sport and society. Born in 1913 in Oakville, Alabama, overdose of Owens appeared modest undertaking to become the global icon of resilient and advantages.

The crowning moment of Owens’ came during 1936 Berlin olympic games, where on refused to obey expectations and pedigree warning, concluding the four gilded youths in 100 meters, 200 meters, bruise along long, and relay of 4×100 meters. His exploits not only proposed on his shop-window unprecedented speed and athleticism but and loud reproach delivered concepts do Adolf of Hitler Aryjczyka of advantage, taking world attention and inspiring millions.

Before his Olympic triumphs, Owens registered in State University of Ohio, setting frequent world records and winning numerous university championship. His achievements on track were not straight athletics landmarks but by deep statements against pedigree barriers, toruj?c a road for the future generations of African-American of athletes.

After his athletics mastery, Owens ran into substantial calls in separate America, where pedigree discrimination was penetrating. Without regard to these obstacles, he remained proof in his pursuit of equality, using his platform, to protect for civil laws and challenge of social norms. Courage of Owens’ and totality from track removed his mastery thereon, cementing his status how the symbol of resilient and social progress.

In addition, the action of Owens’ stretched on sport. He fixed the popularity, to move pedigree integration toward athletics and society, upright the marine lantern of hope for data second-rate societies in the whole world. His inheritance, as a pioneer for pedigree equality and example for an imitation for expedient athletes prolongs to philosophize, underlining his patient power of inheritance.

In maintenance, history of life of Jesse Owens’ is a testament to the triumph of human spirit above a misfortune. His trip from poverty to Olympic glory is an example power of obstinacy and talent, what yields to transformation, inspiring individuals, to refuse to obey limits and try for a grandeur. Inheritance of Owens’ serves as too late the remark of importance of courage, totality, and determinations in pursuit of dreams.

Upon completion, the achievements of Jesse Owens’ go beyond medals and records; they present the inheritance of courage resilient, and defences. His operating on sporting and society bits and pieces, deep, serving as patient inspiration, that generations came.

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The Inheritance of Loss

By kiran desai.

The Inheritance of Loss Summary

The Inheritance of Loss is set in 1986 and unfolds in a non-linear fashion. The story opens on the curmudgeonly and Anglicized judge Jemubhai Patel, his teenage granddaughter, and their cook, living in a dilapidated mansion in the Himalayan village of Kalimpong. A group of young Nepalese separatists invade the mansion, stealing the judge's hunting rifles and liquor. The novel then explains the events leading up to this robbery through flashbacks and interconnected vignettes.

Sai , Judge Patel's teenage granddaughter, moved to his estate, Cho Oyu, after her parents' untimely death in the Soviet Union. Sai, raised in convent schools, is introverted and disconnected from her Indian heritage. Under her grandfather's care, Sai lives in isolation, escaping her dreary existence by reading National Geographic magazines and colonial travelogues. Sai's closest companion and father figure is Judge Patel's servant, referred to as "the cook."

Judge Patel hires two elderly anglophiles, Noni and Lola, to tutor Sai. When Sai's education surpasses Noni's, Judge Patel hires a recent university graduate, a Nepali boy named Gyan , to tutor Sai in math and physics. The two quickly fall in love and become deeply involved despite a vast socio-economic divide.

The novel then shifts focus to Biju , the cook's son. Biju illegally resides in New York City after overstaying his tourist visa. To survive, Biju works low-paying odd jobs in restaurants until his employers inevitably fire him before routine green card checks. In his letters home, Biju exaggerates and idealizes his life in the United States, and in turn, the cook denies rumors of political unrest in Darjeeling. The cook brags about his son to his friends, family, and neighbors, who request Biju assist their sons in obtaining visas.

Biju suffers from poverty, isolation, and racial discrimination from American customers and his immigrant coworkers. Biju questions his own prejudices when he befriends Saeed Saeed , a Zanzibarian Muslim and local legend.

Struggling to find a sense of self while alone and abroad, Biju quits his job at a steakhouse and works at the only restaurant that does not serve beef, an all-Hindu establishment called the Gandhi cafe. Biju longs to return home but is afraid of disappointing his father and cannot legally procure an airline ticket without a green card. While working in dreadful conditions and sleeping in a rat-infested basement, Biju injures his leg, and his employer refuses to pay for his medical treatment. Biju decides to return home after receiving news of the Gorkha National Liberation Front activities in Kalimpong.

The novel narrates Judge Patel's past to explain his cruelty and strange devotion to colonial England. In 1939, during the British Raj, twenty-year-old Jemubhai left India to study at Cambridge University, paying for the trip with the dowry he received by marrying fourteen-year-old Nimi Patel.

Jemu tries to assimilate, but his English classmates, professors, and neighbors cruelly discriminate against him. Jemu undergoes long periods of isolation and grows increasingly ashamed of his appearance and accent. After nearly failing his examinations, Jemu applies for a judgeship in the Indian Civil Service. He returns home to India traumatized and anglicized. He constantly travels, abusing his wife when he returns home because she represents what he dislikes about India. A political rival for office takes advantage of the judge's estranged marriage and Nimi's isolation by inviting her to a rally supporting Jawaharlal Nehru, an Indian nationalist who later becomes prime minister. Disgraced, Judge Patel beats Nimi and sends her back to her family, where she gives birth to their only child. After the collapse of British India, Jemu learns his wife burned to death, likely murdered by her brother-in-law. When Sai comes to live with Jemu, he interprets her arrival as a way to redeem himself for abusing Nimu.

The novel jumps to the "present," and the disparate stories begin to intersect. Conditions worsen for the residents of Kalimpong. Police randomly torture civilians, GNLF members illegally take up residence on Noni and Lola's property, and shortages bring the entire community to the brink of starvation. Gyan and Sai's relationship turns sour as Gyan joins the Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF). To Gyan, Sai represents the oppressive social and political systems that prevent him from advancing in life. Having tutored Sai in Cho Oyu, Gyan has intimate knowledge of the mansion. Ge informs the GNLF of the judge's cache of weapons.

Guilt-stricken by his involvement in the robbery but unwilling to answer for it, Gyan ignores Sai as political tensions in Kalimpong worsen. Distraught, Sai secretly follows him to his house one day and sees his abject poverty. After overcoming her initial shock, Sai and Gyan fight in front of Gyan's sister, who reports Gyan's involvement in the GNLF to their grandmother. The matriarch forbids Gyan from attending the Indo-Nepali Treaty burning, effectively ending his involvement with the GNLF. Relieved to no longer be politically aligned, Gyan considers making up with Sai.

The GNLF requires one member of each household to attend the treaty burning. The cook goes in Judge Patel's stead. The parade turns bloody, several police officers are beheaded, and many civilians are injured. The cook barely escapes; traumatized, he returns to Cho Oyu. There, the wife of a drunk wrongfully accused of robbing Cho Oyu begs Judge Patel for charity, but he refuses several times. The drunk's wife, desperate, steals Judge Patel's beloved dog, Mutt, and sells her. Upon discovering the loss of his treasured pet, the judge frantically searches the village and then brutally beats the cook, blaming him for the dog's disappearance.

Meanwhile, Biju arrives in India with all his savings and expensive American goods. Road closures prevent him from taking the bus to Kalimpong. Left with no choice, Biju bribes GNLF members to drive him to the village. After days of driving, the insurgents rob Biju, taking even his clothes and shoes. On his still injured leg, Biju walks to Cho Oyu wearing nothing but a woman's nightdress. The cook and Biju reunite, both overjoyed.

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The Inheritance of Loss Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Inheritance of Loss is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai

GradeSaver has a complete list of characters, as well as their descriptions readily available in its study guide for the unit.

Summary of chapter 24

The food at the Ghandi cafe is the same generic Indian food that is served all throughout the states. Harish-Harry knows his market saying Indians make good immigrants because they understood demand-supply. Malini, Harish's wife is also a tough...

The climax of this novel want to know

The novel's climax occurs in Chapter 43, when the public burning of the Indo-Nepal Treaty devolves into violence between police and local residents.

Study Guide for The Inheritance of Loss

The Inheritance of Loss study guide contains a biography of Kiran Desai, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

About The Inheritance of Loss
Character List

Essays for The Inheritance of Loss

The Inheritance of Loss essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.

The Inheritance of Loss: A Struggle with Cultural Identity
Cultural Transcendence in The Inheritance of Loss and Clear Light of Day

Lesson Plan for The Inheritance of Loss

About the Author
Study Objectives
Common Core Standards
Introduction to The Inheritance of Loss
Relationship to Other Books
Bringing in Technology
Notes to the Teacher
Related Links
The Inheritance of Loss Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for The Inheritance of Loss

Introduction

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INHERITANCE KCSE ESSAY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
INHERITANCE DAVID MULWA ESSAY QUESTION 5. "Lacuna's poor governance results to the suffering of the people of Kutula.". Using Judah Zen Melo's family, write an essay depicting the truth of the statement. In David Mulwa's "The Inheritance", Lacuna Kasoo's brutal and harsh leadership causes a lot of harm to his subjects.
Inheritance by David Mulwa
Essay questions and answers on Inheritance by David Mulwa The essays below are mostly in marking scheme format. With points that examiners check. It should be noted that in an exam situation, essays should be written in prose and not point form as in some of the examples below. In an exam, the "...
Heredity and the Different Types of Inheritance Essay
There might be several types of human inheritance among which dominant-recessive, incomplete dominance, co-dominant, sex-limited, and sex-influenced are. The bright example of a sex-influenced inheritance is baldness. "Two of every three American men will develop some form of balding," states Chiras (350).
8.1: Case Study: Genes and Inheritance
This page titled 8.1: Case Study: Genes and Inheritance is shared under a CK-12 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Suzanne Wakim & Mandeep Grewal via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform. People tend to look similar to their biological parents, but, you can also inherit traits ...
Inheritance by David Mulwa setbook guide, themes, and summary
Inheritance by David Mulwa is a play revolving around individuality and development perspectives as seen through the eyes of a modern-day liberated African. It highlights the conflict between the white settlers and African natives over land inheritance, leadership, and resources. David Mulwa. Photo: @JontesJoram.
Essay on Inheritance for Students
Inheritance is not just about getting things; it's also about learning. Family stories, skills, and knowledge are all part of what you can inherit. Knowing how to cook a special family recipe or understanding the language your grandparents spoke are treasures that come from inheritance. In summary, inheritance is a mix of the physical traits ...
Inheritance Study Guide
This category contains the guide and summary notes of the Inheritance setbook play by David Mulwa. Get chapter and plot summary, stylistic devices, sample essays and so much more.
INHERITANCE STUDY NOTES: A guide for KCSE candidates.
KCSE SET BOOKS ESSAY QUESTIONS and ANSWERS : INHERITANCE STUDY NOTES: A guide for KCSE candidates. Enjoy free KCSE revision materials on imaginative compositions, essay questions and answers and comprehensive analysis (episodic approach) of the set books including Fathers of Nations by Paul B. Vitta, The Samaritan by John Lara, A Silent Song by ...
70 INHERITANCE STUDY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
KCSE SET BOOKS ESSAY QUESTIONS and ANSWERS : 70 AMAZING INHERITANCE STUDY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. Enjoy free KCSE revision materials on imaginative compositions, essay questions and answers and comprehensive analysis (episodic approach) of the set books including Fathers of Nations by Paul B. Vitta, The Samaritan by John Lara, A Silent Song by ...
Themes
It is demonstrated by the reprisal and escalating violence between the natives and white settlers. The natives destroy the White's property and molest their children and women. The author brings out the conflict of attitude where the white settlers consider themselves civilized, democratic and modernized.
Inheritance Etiquette, Talking to Your Family About Money and Wills
Manners expert Peggy Post says givers should be specific and receivers respectful. When it comes to inheritance, the guidelines of propriety are far from clear. "It's about being respectful," says Peggy Post. Rules of etiquette govern life events from the monumental to the mundane. But when it comes to inheritance — whether you're passing ...
Literature on Inheritance: A Summary of What Can Be Learnt
The routines and progressions that have shaped the inheritance in human societies received extensive scholarly consideration. Studies in this field have explored and investigated the impact of legal and traditional rules of property transmission on the structures of the society and the models of political power. This review is not aimed as an exhaustive evaluation of the extant literature.
Inheritance 101: How Inheritance Works
Step 2: Asset Valuation. Next up, the value of your grandmother's assets must be calculated. The courts require a listing of all assets in the inheritance, as well as their date-of-death value. If you as the beneficiary decide to sell any of the assets, you'll be assessed capital gains tax.
Root and Branch: Essays on Inheritance
A collaboration between the Australian Centre and NewSouth Books. 12 th July 2022. Root and Branch: Essays on Inheritance. Join Associate Professor Lorenzo Veracini in conversation with author Eda Gunaydin to celebrate the release of Root & Branch. I have come to see that I am an argumentative person who is frequently convinced that my angle ...
Inheritance
I is for inheritance, which no one in my family ever expected to give. My parents grew up poor but worked their way into being able to afford a nice home. ... View Essays . Leave a Reply Cancel reply. You must be logged in to post a comment. Previous Essay. Suzanne Cope. The Essay as Bouquet "Hermit crab" essays can take many forms, both ...
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This special issue deals with modern European literature's engagement with inheritance from around 1600 to the present. Conflicts over inheritance have fueled countless narratives from Shakespeare's King Lear (1605-6) through canonical novels like Balzac's Père Goriot (1835) and Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov (1880) to contemporary TV-series like Succession (2018-).
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The mere awareness that money is coming down the pike has led to their lack of prudence. And now they apparently need the inheritance, sooner rather than later, to ease the burden of their ...
Plot Summary
Movement One Summary: Leadership Inheritance. Kutula, thirty years later, is an independent Republic under the leadership of Lacuna Kasoo yet the standards of living are poor.; Tamina Zen Melo is emaciated and older than her age with no proper housing and food.; Bengo, a political activist who has just arrived from jail in the capital, is treated to a cold welcome by Tamina who still holds to ...
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The Inheritance of Loss Essay Questions
Essays for The Inheritance of Loss. The Inheritance of Loss essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. The Inheritance of Loss: A Struggle with Cultural Identity; Cultural Transcendence in The Inheritance of Loss and Clear ...
INHERITANCE ESSAYS
Enjoy free KCSE revision materials on imaginative compositions, essay questions and answers and comprehensive analysis (episodic approach) of the set books including Fathers of Nations by Paul B. Vitta, The Samaritan by John Lara, A Silent Song, An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro and Parliament of Owls by Adipo Sidang'.
The Inheritance of Loss Chapters 1
The Inheritance of Loss Summary and Analysis of Chapters 1 - 10. Summary. The text opens on an estate in Kalimpong in the northeastern Himalayas. Sai, a seventeen-year-old girl, reads a vintage issue of National Geographic while her grandfather, judge Jemubhai Patel, plays chess by himself. An entitled, surly man, the judge scolds his cook for ...
The Inheritance of Loss Summary
Essays for The Inheritance of Loss. The Inheritance of Loss essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. The Inheritance of Loss: A Struggle with Cultural Identity; Cultural Transcendence in The Inheritance of Loss and Clear ...
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For the millions of Americans expecting to take part in the great wealth transfer, inheriting money comes with the question of how to manage it.
Top Online Financial Advisors 2024: Reviews & Comparisons
Betterment Investing offers individual and joint taxable brokerage, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, inherited IRA, and trust. What stands out: Betterment is a robust trading platform offering ...

Heredity and the Different Types of Inheritance Essay

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Jesse Owens: Beyond the Finish Line

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The Inheritance of Loss

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