Out of Africa Analysis

Baroness Karen von Blixen (the Danish author that initially wrote the book entitled Out of Africa which details her experience there) is the central figure in the film Out of Africa, and the movie is primarily based on her life in the east African region of Nairobi Kenya as the owner a coffee farm. Throughout the film, Blixen’s attempts to fully eradicate her colonialist European mindset engrained in her are mostly successful, however slight clues throughout the film imply that she never fully embraces the culture or its people without an aura of European superiority.

I do believe that Karen Blixen’s actions are intended to be quite compassionate and genuine. She is actively involved with all of the people of Nairobi that live on her farm. She sets up English lessons to be taught to adults and Children in the evenings (even though this action could also be seen as egocentric, implying that the English language is more valuable than Swahili or other local dialects of the region) and provides medical care to anyone in need of it each morning. She even establishes close bonds with some of her neighbors. She treats a young Kikuyu boy named Kamante and establishes a relationship with him, ultimately making him her chef and teaches him how to cook traditional European dishes. Blixen also forms a friendship with one of her servants by the name of Farah. These actions suggest that she is immersing herself with her Nairobi neighbors and treating them very humanely (something not seen at all in the African slave trade). Yet both of the relationships that I addressed exemplify the power and superiority that remains in her and the subtle devaluing of the culture that originally inhabited that land.

Blixen’s enormous, lavish house serves as a constant reminder to the viewer of her wealth and privilege. Yes, she helps the native people of Nairobi often, but her indirect actions also make it clear that her way of living is drastically better than that of her neighbors.