Vultures

By Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930 where his father worked for the Church Missionary Society. After

university, he studied broadcasting at the BBC then worked in Lagos for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service.  He is one of the most admired African novelists who write

in English. His novels trace Africa's transition from traditional to modern ways. He writes with a mission, and

he believes that any good work of art should have a purpose - an idea that stems from the oral tradition of

storytelling in Africa. He is interested in speech and his novels present a wide range of language, from the

English spoken by the Ibo to different levels of formal English. He also writes poetry and essays.  He married in 1961 and has four children.  

He became an honorary professor at the University of Nigeria in 1985.  

The Vulture has few predators. His most common defensive tactic is to projectilely vomit at his adversary and fly away.

Vultures can digest meat in any stage of decay, and withstand diseases that would kill any other creature.

Unlike most birds Vultures do not build nests.

Vultures can fly effortlessly for hours at a time. They do so by gliding over thermal updrafts (warm rising pockets of air), grabbing a free lift.

Vultures have an acute sense of smell, which helps them find their dinner.

Vultures urinate to cool off ( they lack sweat glands ) and to disinfect their legs. Vulture urine kills any germs picked up walking through a carcass.

The Vultures head is bald, making it difficult for bacteria to stick to him. What little does he bakes off using sunlight.

When a Vulture's dinner has too thick a hide for his beak to open, He waits for a larger scavenger to eat first.

Chinua Achebe chose to write the first half of his poem about Vultures because they are seen as such revolting creatures.

He says they look like a: ‘Pebble on a stem’

He also calls them a: dump of gross feathers.

They eat the insides of a dead animal’s bowels

The vultures eat the contents of the bowels which would mainly be……..

Excrement !

But even though the vultures are so revolting and disgusting they..

Love Each other

I love you

Mrs

Vulture.

I Love you too.

Belsen was a concentration camp set up by the Nazis,

in World War 2.

Over 6 million Jews were killed in Belsen and other similar camps.

Their bodies were burned in

incinerators.

The Gas Chambers

The Jews were led into a large room and told to strip for a shower.

But….

Instead of water, poisonous gas was pumped into the room.

The room was sealed to ensure

that no-one escaped

and when the people were dead the bodies

were shovelled out and

sent to the incinerator

s.

As the bodies burned in the great ovens smoke could be seen leaving the large chimneys in the camp.

People in the camp could constantly smell what they thought was roasting meat.It was the smell of

‘human roast’

Those working in the camp would have this smell of dead human beings ‘clinging to’ their ‘nostrils’

Vultures

Humans

Now who do you think are the

animals?