Artifact Portfolio paper

The Guilt of Giving

            The “guilt of giving” is a poem written by Laban Erapu. The poem focuses on how the society looks down upon the less fortunate in the society. In the poem, Erapu points a case of a person who gives a needy person a coin. Unluckily the coin misses and fells on the ground. The man walks out fast in shame from the people who were watching him. The African author has contributed a lot in development of literature in Africa especially in the East African region.

            The reason for choosing the text is because the society has deviated from the key purpose of giving. In many societies today many people consider helping the poor as the government duty and not their responsibility. The effects are observable especially in third world countries where there is a very wide gap between the rich and the poor (Cook et al, 1). In most Africans parts, the people who are economically well off are always aiming at accumulating more wealth and not helping the others who are living in absolute poverty to be better.

            In the poem, the main thing that puzzles a lot is why should a person who is willing to offer help to a needy person feel guilty afterwards. In the poem, the author says that when a coin missed the target and fell on the ground and the needy person was quick after it with a lot of gratitude the man who had given out the coin vanished from the look of the crowd that had gathered (Cook et al, 1).The needy person was thankful for the help but the giver felt guilt that made him divide in the nearby shops. It is expected that the man who offered help would be proud because the beggar acknowledged the assistance.

 

 

Work cited

Cook, David, and David Rubadiri. Poems from East Africa. Vol. 96. East African Publishers, 1996.