Robert Franks Article - the Hungry Gap, Crop Failure, and Famine - Literature review Example

A critical review of Robert Frank’s article: the “Hungry Gap”, Crop Failure, and Famine: the Fourteenth‐Century Agricultural Crisis and Piers Plowman. Name: Course: Professor: Institution: City and State: Date: Introduction Beginning with the 1949 catastrophic famine in the Blantyre District of South Malawi, Robert Worth gives the readers a vivid insight about what exactly transpires in the event. Moreover, captures our interest as he takes us through past historic famines not only in Africa, but also in Western Europe, Ireland and China (Frank, 1990). He engages intangible illustrations and colorfully demonstrates the ramifications of famines in a world that has not been short of them, and he is keen to cite other sources that share similar sad events of this epidemic. From the songs coined to capture the memories of such days and how age was estimated, it was relative to the timing of such events. He clearly signifies how harsh a famine can be, that it gets engraved in our brain for so many years, and he even philosophically states that, those “famines gather history around them”. Incorporation of literary work couldn’t have made the article more sophisticated. Langland’s poem stealthily draws our attention and makes us yearn for more as he takes us into his world of a fatal famine. With so many incidences of hunger in the world today, the timing of this article couldn’t be better as it illuminates famine as one major cause. Many parts of Africa are victims of famine, and the suffering that comes with it is immeasurable. Robert Worth looks at the historical famines, and we see the connection with today’s famines. This paper reviews Robert Worth’s article, and we shall be keen to evaluate the merits and shortcomings of the content, that is structurally, methodically and in so many other ways. Summary Robert has designed his article to portray the threat of famine as a strong competitor in terror as its recurrent nature hurts humanity time and again. He is keen to mention that it happened not once or twice in Malawi, but thrice. It happened in 1903, 1922 and 1949 all the way to 1950. He illuminates the suffering underwent in such a period, and we can point out some of these impacts. One notable event is foraging followed by migration. There is intense movement in such for food. Robert mentions how Malawians moved and had cases of husbands deserting their wives. They move in such for food and green pastures leaving behind their families. Robert sites disturbed cohesion of families an element that leads to disintegration. Communities and families lose touch. The reader empathizes with this situation, and we see the pain that comes with famine. Robert quotes cases of intense selflessness and extreme individualism. Famine takes away our character, and all that matters is a meal for our bellies. We get it by all means necessary. He doesn’t get into depth but somehow he cites abnormal weather conditions as a cause of the famine in Malawi. Robert later takes as through the plowing scene of Piers Plowman. The reader is made to see the role of agriculture in eliminating hunger and starvation. There is a need to identify our responsibilities as piers is working on the farm to feed his society. He illustrates creatively how Piers half-line reflects the truth of the14th century, when Western Europe was characterized by agricultural crisis and depression. These famines were so severe that 10% of the population died. Robert takes the reader through Langland’s poem, and he is keen to mention that hunger and famine haunted his mind as the words can tell. Robert gives the reader a breakdown of the sources of hunger inadequacy that dates back to the 14th century. He identifies three major sources which he puts as, Famine proper, Crop failure (Bad years) and Hungry gap. He describes for the reader what hungry gap entails. Robert tells this as a period in the mid-summer and just before the harvest. This period was characterized by food shortage, and the most affected were the poor. Landless workers, beggars and the unemployed were victims of this spell. The rich were not affected as they always had enough. The writer introduces the reader to the term ‘’ stuff of life’’ which referred to the bread. It became difficult to obtain or afford it as the cost escalated, and nutritional value declined. The writer gives the reader an insight about the meaning of the bird years. These were times characterized by such things as crop failure thus the harvest could not suffice the needs of the people. This was attributed to droughts as Robert takes the reader back to the scene of Piers where he is working on the firm as the drought lasts. Robert Worth is keen to guide the reader through the years 1339, 1343, 1346, 1349, and 1380 that were typical examples of bad years in Western Europe. He draws inspiration from Langland’s poem that suggests that Langland felt that a bad weather, crop failures, and man’s sinfulness had brought the punishment from God. The writer describes the third source of food inadequacy as famine. He is keen to borrow from David Anord, who argues that if hunger is a disease, famine is an epidemic. He reveals to the reader what it was like to go through such famines. The people were reduced to beggars, scavengers, cannibals and ate whatever they found, dirty or clean. He cites for the reader the potato famine of Ireland and Honan famine in China. So many died that there was barely enough alive to bury them. Analysis of the content The writer intention is to illuminate the extent of suffering that comes with famine. He draws a good image of this menace and takes us through history to show us what much it did. The outcomes have always been similar in many events, and the idea of hunger and starvation has been portrayed to be as good as a competitor of terror. Having cited so many sources, the writer is credible, and the reader can count on his content. Having quoted Africa, Western Europe, and some Asians countries help the reader to look at famine as a global phenomena that need be addressed. His target audience is the general public, though the article would prove useful in any academic setting. Citing some excerpts from Langland’s poem is resourceful for the reader though there could be a loss of touch with some audience if they don’t understand the version of the language used. Evaluation The author presents his facts in a special way while citing many sources to authenticate his arguments. We can address the merits and shortcomings of his work. Merits One of the merits of the article is the ability of the writer to communicate the areas of concern and to draw enough attention to the subject matter. His core intention was to illuminate the causes of famine, the effects and the corrective measures in the event of a famine. Right from the start, the writer is keen to share with us the suffering that comes with a famine. Masterfully, he narrates the afflictions suffered in Malawi where we see death, foraging and migration and extreme individualism. Robert Worth takes the readers to this world, and they empathize with the characters. With so much to offer, the reader is intrigued and gets along with the writer until where we see the Malawians seek wild foods to deal with their hunger until relief systems come to their rescue. Another strong point is the accuracy of the facts presented. With the references provided, it is easy to navigate through other written works and confirm the content. He provides authentic statistics, and this proves useful to the reader and can easily associate famine with death and empathize with those who were affected. Application of literary work of Langland and Piers was a brilliant idea. Integration of art and real life situation make it a thrilling read. There is so much to look up to, and chances of boredom are completely cut out of the picture. Robert worth keeps in touch with his readers and quotes these poets here and there reminding the readers the relevance of such pieces of art. There is so much information passed on through the poems that teach on the importance of farming. Piers reveal to us the role of agriculture in the society. He has to keep on working to feed the society. Langland illuminates the role of the weather in hunger and starvation. No one could predict the weather changes, not even the witty sailors. He even gets religious when he feels that the sins of man were the cause of judgment from God. We must agree that the writer did well to reveal the causes of famine in Western Europe. He doesn’t digress or forget the relevance of his writing. With backup citation, he informs the reader about the exhaustion of marginal lands as a causative agent of famine in Europe. Much had been to uses other than agriculture affecting food production. The soils were overworked, and the nutrient content was low. Weather factors also affected production and agriculture in general. The writer is keen to quote the change in social relations and shift to marketing economy. With elaborative skills, the writer delivers this crucial information, and the reader is not lost along the way. Shortcomings Robert Worth’s work incorporates too many sources at a go, and the appreciation of literary pieces of art would be restricted to those conversant with the version of the language used by Langland and Piers. The writer doesn’t bother to provide or paraphrase the content throughout the test. That happens only in a few selected areas, and many readers would be lost in the process. The poems would lack relevance in the long run, and His efforts would be a waste of time and his energy. There would be a need to provide backup material to benefit all the readers. At one point, the writer associates ignorance with the third world, an aspect that would be offensive to those found there. While implying that there have been cases of famine in USA, he felt that everybody should know not unless you hailed from the third world. Knowledge flies these days. Everyone can access information with the click of a button, regardless of your location, third world, first world or even in space. Sadly, the writer doesn’t clearly state the most appropriate measures to address famine, hunger, and starvation. Writing about famines in history and the present is one thing, but offering a solution is quite another. Robert has no measures to offer and leaves the reader stranded in the world of his famines and has to find a way out on their own. He couldn’t suggest alternatives that any average writer would have figured out. With such suffering illuminated in his article, one is left to wonder whether he fell short of ink half way, or he just didn’t feel the need to share corrective measures. Conclusion This critical review focused more on the logical flow of the facts in the article, their accuracy, and relevance. We were keen to establish whether the important facts were clearly stated and whether they were credible enough for the reader to count on them. We must agree that the writer helps us understand his point of argument, and he was not short of words from himself and other sources. We can look in the past and see how famine has been tied around history. As early as 14th century, Robert takes us there, right after sharing with us about the famine in Malawi. Western Europe is brought into focus, where we see England as the poetic works of Langland and Piers reveal to us the sufferings that come with famines. Hunger and malnourishment are a menace and result to disgraces and finally death. The writer mentions a number of causes, and we can fill up the cracks in the article with appropriate measures to handle famine. With a well-conserved environment, we would be sure that the climate would not be affected, and thus cases of adverse weather conditions would become a thing of the past. With informed agricultural practices, our soils would be safe to sustain continuous production. Maybe, with enough research on genetic engineering, hunger and starvation would become a thing of the past. Failure to mention such points was a big shortcoming in this article. References Frank, R. W., 1990. "Hungry gap," crop failure, and famine: Agricultural crisis and Piers Plowman. pp. 1-19. Read More