Out of Africa Themes

Out of Africa Themes

Race

You know how sometimes we forgive old people for being crabby, prejudiced, or using embarrassing, out-of-date terms because they are a "product of their time"? Well, we're not saying you have to fo...

Memory and the Past

In Out of Africa, memory is the boss. The book is a memoir, which ought to be our first clue that memory is important, and almost the entire book gives you the feeling you are accessing a lost past...

Religion

It's time for State Church Death Match! In her memoir on her life in Africa, Isak Dinesen describes the competing colonial religious interests as they try to get Kenyan souls to join their side.Fro...

Justice and Judgment

There's lots of crime and punishment in Out of Africa, but justice is not an absolute in the memoir. Rather, it is nice and flexible, like Gumby.A whole chunk of the book is dedicated to a case of...

Change

In many ways, change is what every story in Out of Africa is about. Whether it's dealing with how Africa has changed or changes in the author's personal life, the book is basically a whole bunch of...

Foreignness and 'The Other'

Where do we begin? Out of Africa looks at foreignness from pretty much every possible angle. For one thing, the narrator herself is a stranger in a strange land, a Danish immigrant in British East...

Visions of Kenya

Well, let's start with the title: Out of Africa. That is a great clue that we're going to get our fill of visions of the African continent. In particular, the book is a memoir of the author's life...

The Home

In Out of Africa Baroness Blixen's farm works as a home not only to herself and her husband (although he never seems to be around), but also the "squatters", servants, animals, and traveling friend...