Vocab Question

Which week should we be working on for the Vocab test? I assume week one but should we be going any further with that?

Unoka

I wonder what Okonkwo's father, Unoka, would think about how his son's life turned out. I could see him being happy for his son's success, yet sad because Okonkwo never took the opportunity to enjoy life. Would Unoka have converted to Christianity if he was still alive when the missionaries came? I would say yes because of the fact that Okonkwo was so different from Unoka, but I'm not completely convinced. From the little I know of him, I believe Unoka to be open-minded, but more comfortable in believing what he wanted to believe rather than taking either side. Things would have still fallen apart if Unoka was in Okonkwo's position, however, a mix between both extremes may have been able to prevent the tragic end.

Perspective

I'm sure that this has already been discussed, but I just found it interesting reading the book as a Christian, whereas Christians are basically the villains in the novel. The novel really does have you turn against the Christians, so it was kind of weird turning against my own belief. When I considered that, I decided to change my approach and approach the novel from the missionaries' perspective rather than Okonkwo's. I was able to better understand why the missionaries were so forceful, for they truly did bring some great things to the Igbo people, such as education. However, I still thought their actions were unfair. In the end, I took on a third perspective with an omnipotent point of view, and saw this novel as an example of the ongoing process called life. Things fall apart and new things come together; that's just how life is.

Development

Before I began reading, a friend of mine who had already read the book told me it was about missionaries from England taking over an African clan. Even though that is what the novel is generally about, the missionaries don't appear until at least halfway through the novel. The process of things falling apart happens before the missionaries arrival, albeit the steps are subtle. In a way, the missionaries were merely the straw that broke the camel's back. Achebe develops Okonkwo's life to show that things fall apart little by little until everything builds up and ultimately snaps.

Okonkwo's Pride

When I first started reading the novel and considering the thesis of my essay, I placed Okonkwo's pride as the beast in Yeat's poem. I knew that as I kept reading, I would name the beast something else, but Okonkwo's pride always stuck out to me. Pride can be destructive. I believe it had an influence in the weakening of the Igbo culture and Oknonwo's unshakable will. For example, if you hold something too tightly, you will suffocate it. Pride forced Okonkwo to hold onto tradition. His grip on tradition became so firm that it began to cloud his mind and prevent him from thinking through his situation clearly. His society began to crumble under the weight of his standards and expectations. Pride is not necessarily bad. Pride could have united the clan, however, Okonkwo's was too intense. Pride overran Okonkwo's ability to unite, compromise and appreciate what he had.

Okonkwo

Okonkwo is a very interesting character. He puts on an appearance of being very masculine, but he does have a soft side. As hard as he tries, he is not able to hide his true feelings. The death of Ikemefuna truly affects Okonkwo even though he does not want to accept that it does. Seeing Ikemefuna's death makes Okonkwo lose his appetite and always wonder about the situation. He also has a deep connection with his daughter Ezinma. She may be his daughter, but he feels closer with her than any of his sons. He admires her spirit because he sees himself in her. He goes after Ezinma when Chielo takes her away late at night. He truly cares for his daughter. Okonkwo may put on a tough exterior, but he is not that heartless.

Anonymous Egwugwu

One thing that had me thinking throughout the whole novel was how the Egwugwu were anonymous beings to the villagers.  It made me wonder if egwugu even had spouses or children. Because if they did, would that mean if their kids or wives be able to get away punishment free with a crime? Because then no one would think they got off because they were related to one of the egwugwu. Also what I wondered was if Okonkwo was a an Egwugwu.. I feel like they somewhat were implying that he was when they had that small excerpt where they were saying how he was practically the only man not at the gathering and how his domineering  figure and personality fit the description of an egwugu.

Helplessness

When I was reading the novel I found a re-occuring theme of helpnessness displayed through okonkwo, and his clan members. The reason I say they were helpless is because as the novel started out by displaying okonkwo's childhood, Ii felt that his father seemed like a pretty  helpless man, as he was in debt and unable to provide for his family. I then saw helplessness again later in  the novel when the christian missionaries came to the village and began colinization, the helplessness I saw was from the nigerians. The reason I say this is because they kept relying on their mystical gods to protect them from change brought upon by the white intruders. They sent the missionaries into their "evil forest" to build their church thinking it would bring terror to them, but then were disappointed to see them thriving. Eventually when nigerians began to start even converting it ultimately showed helplessness.

Marriage

When I was reading about the weddings and the marriages in this book I began to feel sorry for the women back then. Their idea of marriage in their culture is so different than our idea today. It is like an arranged marriage and I know that I would never want that but it is almost like they are buying the bride which I found to be kind of surprising/interesting. What I do like about it is the huge feast they have to celebrate which is sort of like a reception I guess (maybe that is why I like it though because it is more like what we are used to).

Death

Death is really the main instigator in the novel.
Okonkwo 'slay's the cat'. In this case, I'm classifying it as dying, because the fighting represents killing people. He sees that he can be strong and earn hponor for causing death, and this really what starts his fasination in death, or having control over others.
When Okonkwo's dad dies, he sets out on his own, trying to become everything his father was not. He creates his own little empire of wives, kids, and yams. He honors and feels he should be honored for killing men in war, for having heads in his house, to drink out of.
Okonkwo lives this life of honor, until he kills his for-all-intents-and-purposes son. His death really symbolizes the first real signs of emotion in Okonkwo.
The next time death changes things is when Okonkwo shoots the man at the party. It sends him to his mother's land. The church resides on the land of the evil dead, and takes in those who are sick. When Okonkwo returns to his homeland, he ends up killing himself over the total take over of the church, and the towns reluctance to kill all the church members.

"The white man"

I found what the people of Abame did to the white to be very interesting. I was sort of surprised when I read that they had killed him. It just seemed like some of them were very intrigued by him being there, but what I found even more interesting is what they did with his "iron horse" after they had killed him. After thinking about it a little bit I thought it was very smart of the people to do that. And because of the word that more were coming what they did made more sense.

The Missionaries

In the novel, I really did not like the missionaries. I was against them and what they did. In my eyes I feel like they were the reason Okonkwo's tribe and other tribes fell apart. I felt like they were creating a drift between other tribe members. They pushed their religion and ignored the religion that was already there. They had no regard for the culture of the tribes. They just cared about getting their way.

Women

"'When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.'"
Okonkwo sees women as emotional, incompetent property; really little more then slaves.

Maybe I'm just a feminist, but I feel that the way the women are treated is part of the downfall of the community. When women are held this low in a community, it eliminates so much potential for growth. When women and bought for family connections and money, there is less happiness and when you aren't happy, you don't try. When half a society isn't attempting to better a community, it is an instant recipe for failure.

I remember reading that a lot of women joined the church because it's beliefs made more sense. I believe if men would embrace women and emotions, the clan would have been able to last longer, resisting the church.

"No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man."

My Opinion

When I first received the novel I automatically assumed that I was going to hate it. From the cover I could tell that this was not a book that I would read for enjoyment. Once I actually started reading the novel I realized that I actually enjoyed reading it. I liked reading about how different the culture was. There were parts I found boring but overall I enjoyed the book. I liked finding out how things worked in their culture. Some of their superstitions were fascinating to me. For example, how they believed if a mother's child died and then if she gave birth again it was the same baby just reborn. I liked reading about how their marriage ceremonies worked. They seemed more like a trade situation. The novel overall was not terrible... Not saying I would recommend it to someone but it is not that horrible to read.

Cold, impotent ash.

"Living fire begets cold, impotent ash."

Out of everything in Things Fall Apart, this made me think the most. It's something I have always pondered on, how sometimes parents and children are opposites. The way Achebe portrays Okonkwo's view of his son is slightly disconcerting, but it suits his character.
Okonkwo believes he is the greatest of great, having slayed five men, and having overcome his birth. When a stranger's son resembles him more then his own son, Okonkwo tries to change his son. He isn't an affectionate person, and he just comes off as brute-ish.
When his son leaves with the church, Okonkwo struggles to deal with it, although he attempts sort of an 'oh well' attitude.

I believe the quote represents the way that Okonkwo rationalizes his loss. He believes it was pre-destined, that there was no other way that his son could have turned out.

To be honest, I started out hating this book. I read it, and the only thing it seemed to be about was an arrogant man who grew lots of yams. As the book progressed, it grew less about the yams, and more about the struggles of a community to overcome an invaders attempt to change them. I feel like this is something every people has dealt with, and I've learned about it a thousand times, yet Things Fall Apart really put in prospective what it would be like and how it came about.
They always say hindsight is 20-20, and this is true to the narrator. He explains how the missionaries came in peace, and how they found themselves in  their good graces of some of the natives. It reminds me of the idiom 'the straw that broke the camel's back'. The clan was slowly falling apart, with more and more things seeming ineffective, and when the Christians joined the community, it's long-standing ways fell apart.

Ekwefi

The character that I found the most interesting in the novel was Ekwefi. I felt that she was very "modern" compared to the other women in the novel. She ran away from her first husband to be with Okonkwo. She saw Okonkwo win in a fighting match and from that moment she knew she wanted to marry him. In this time period love marriage didn't exist but she went against everything and went to the man she loved. I also find her very bold. She is not scared to break the rules for the ones she loves. She was warned not to go after Ezinma when Chielo took her but she still went. She didn't care for her own safety. All she cared about was her daughter. Ekwefi is also very strong. She has given birth to so many children and has watched all of them die. Even after all the deaths she still had the strength to give birth again. She also had the strength to face the criticism from the society that came along with all the deaths.

Changing view of the Igbo lifestyle

When Achebe first revealed different elements of the Igbo culture such as male superiority, the murdering of twin babies, and the outcasting of "weak" individuals, it was easy to automatically disagree with their way of life and since our lifestyle is so different. As I was reading the book, I couldn't believe that Okonkwo almost murdered his wife, and I disliked him on many occasions. However, as I got further and further into the novel, I found that I began to accept the Igbo lifestyle and the actions of the people. I realized that their culture is totally different from my own, so what I have been taught to be wrong is sometimes completely different than the customs that they have been taught their whole lives. The way in which they act is entirely due to the customs and values in place, and the long-standing beliefs in various gods. Additionally, I felt respect for them when they displayed loyalty and love such as when Ekwefi and Okonkwo followed Ezinma over countless miles to make sure she was safe or when Obierika stuck up for Okonkwo and continually visited him when he was exiled. Overall, Achebe is able to change the negative view of the Igbo people throughout the novel and prove that they aren't the cruel, compassionless people that they first appeared to be to the reader and to the European missionaries.

Point of View

     Achebe uses a clever and somewhat interesting point of view throughout the novel. Though the novel is written in third-person, it focuses extensively on Okonkwo's life, thoughts, and feelings; almost making it seem as though the events are being told through his perspective.
     Additionally, in most of the encounters between the Igbo and missionaries, Achebe reveals the thoughts and feelings of the Igbo, but not of the missionaries. By doing this, he can effectively show how the Igbo viewed the Europeans as strange foreign beings who practically invaded and destroyed their way of life. If Achebe had revealed the inner-emotions of the missionaries in every encounter, he would have lost his purpose of counteracting the negative, inferior view of Igbo Africans and allowing them to give their side of the story.

Picking up where one left off

After reading this novel I was amazed at how different the culture was from ours. I know this novel took place so long ago, but its amazing how things change. I couldnt believe the tribes were so small and secluded, yet the tribe people could go to different clans in a matter of days. I also  found it interesting how Okonkwo went to his "mother clan" when he got kicked out of his. It just goes to show how family centered the whole era is. I found it wierd how his family was so welcomed into the new tribe, and how they picked up life as they left it. The other thing that got me was the fact that even though it had been seven years Okonkwo still wanted to go back to his old tribe. Why would anyone want to put ones family through that again? Or why would you want to do all that work just to start over? Okonkwo should have just stayed in one place.

No Love

I was surprised by the amount of love there wasn't in the book. I feel like the only way the people in the tribe showed love was by beating and being mean to the people they cared about. I feel like the men wanted to be respected more than anything else, and would use fear and pain to achieve the level of respect they wanted. Okonkwo was constantly beating his wives or yelling at his children, but then the narrator would describe that Okonkwo was doing it in the person's best interest. Okonkwo is described as caring about Nwoye, but is constantly yelling and criticizing him. Okonkwo worries that his son will be lazy like Okonkwo's father, but how does Okonkwo deal with that? He yells and beats Nwoye. Okonkwo is also disrespectful and violent towards his wives. I understand that Okonkwo probably didn't marry them because he loved them, but more because it is culture in the tribe to have wives, but he is still so cruel to them. Even if he isn't cruel to them I still don't see very many instances where he is kind to them. 

Nwoye

The character I think I liked the best was Okonkwo's son, Nwoye. I think I can identify with him the closest. I don't think of him as lazy as Okonkwo did in the book, but I think he just had a different set of skills that Okonkwo would consider weak or lazy. He was obviously very smart, but also very cautious. He didn't like his original religion because it ultimately left many of his questions unanswered. I think he was smart to question his religion and not just take what his relatives and neighbors told him at face value. I was happy when Nwoye finally let his father stop bullying him around and went into education and pursued something that he was not only good at, but something that made him happy, regardless of how his father felt about it.

Things Only Kinda Falling Apart

I was surprised in the book by the lack of "falling apart" in the book. I did read the poem first and I thought that if the book was as bad as the book then this would be an ordeal similar to the Columbus case, where the entire tribe would somehow be destroyed due to the missionaries presents. Although people were killed and there was definitely some controversy in the tribe, the mayhem didn't reach the level I thought it would.
I thought that the book's title would signify the falling apart of the tribe, but after reading I think the title may refer closer to the internal trials faced by Okonkwo. Maybe in his eyes his entire world was falling apart. But then you have persons like Okonkwo's son who appeared to actually gain from the presence of the missionaries, as they provided him with answers to questions and an education. So even though their is a major internal conflict in regards to Okonkwo, the tribe only kind of fell apart.

Corupt Missionaries

It's kind of a cliche now, but I still find myself really upset by the corrupt missionaries. I hate the idea of someone who takes advantage of people's trust and uses that trust to manipulate in order to get what they want. I was happy when Mr. Brown didn't fit this corrupted description and treated the tribe with dignity and respect, but then got upset when Rev. Smith didn't follow Mr. Brown's example. I also feel really bad for the tribe who were blindsided by Rev. Smith's strict and harmful attitude. I think Mr. Brown's technique was more effective anyway and obviously less harmful.   

Okonkwo, a tragic hero

I found the different resources and articles that appear before and after the novel in this addition to be especially helpful. As I was reading the section titled “Technique and Theme in Things Fall Apart”, I came across a comparison between Okonkwo and a typical hero in Greek tragedy. I can definitely see the connection now that I think back to when we covered greek tragedy sophomore year because Okonkwo shares many of the same characteristics of Sophocles’s Oedipus or any other tragic hero for that matter. For example:

o   Okonkwo holds an insecurity caused by his father’s weakness that eventually triggers his demise. His fear of not being a great warrior or appearing effeminate is essentially his “tragic flaw”, and what brings about eternal disappointment.

o   Because Okonkwo holds a tragic flaw, he undergoes a tragic event which results in his demise. As he beheads a Christian in a moment of intense hatred and war-like instinct, Okonkwo initiates his downfall and ultimately takes his own life.

o   After his dramatic murder, Okonkwo finally realizes that he can’t reverse his tribe’s new transformation no matter how hard he tries. This increased self-awareness is like that of a tragic hero.

o   When the novel reveals that Okonkwo has committed suicide, the audience can’t help but feel shock and sorrow for him, especially as Obierka tells the white men that they drove one of the greatest men in Umuofia to kill himself.

Chinua Achebe

                As I was searching the Internet for outside sources, I came across a few interviews and biographies of Chinua Achebe which held an interesting piece of information. It turns out that Achebe’s parents were converts to the Christian religion and he was a Christian himself. This is interesting considering that his novel paints a bad image of Christian missionaries and converts by showing how they devastate the Igbo religion, and that his novel is told through the perspective of the Africans who wholly believe in the Igbo faith.

                With this, Achebe’s purpose for writing the novel becomes even nobler, since he truly aimed to change the demeaning view that White European authors had created for Igbo Africans even though he and his family were considered to be some of the natives who had betrayed their fellow tribe members. Though Achebe didn’t practice the Igbo faith, he was fascinated by it, and those who practiced it, so he wanted to allow them to share their lifestyle fairly through their point of view. Perhaps his fascination and ability to fully depict a religion that he personally doesn’t follow is what makes Chinua Achebe the talented, widely popular author that he is today.

Ezinma's connection with Okonkwo

Ezinma has the best relationship with Okonkwo out of all his children. I think that they share a special bond with each other because Ezinma handles Okonkwo's anger better than the rest of his family. She understands his personality as his only way of showing affection. Okonkwo also repetitively states that he wishes Ezinma was a boy because of her "spirit." This shows how he wishes his sons were different in a way that they could share the same bond he has with her. His relationship with his daughter is not completely about masculinity but more about understanding and sympathy verses his relationship with his sons.

Okonkwo's Personality

I think many people believe that Okonkwo's character or personality is arrogant and controling but I believe that it is a product of his enviroment. When it comes to part 3 in the book, Okonkwo's character becomes more clear to understand. He cares for his family and being superior is the only way he knows how to protect them. It is also clear that Okonkwo has extreme difficulty in accepting change. This is noticable when the tribe starts to follow the missionaries beliefs and they begin to accept their European culture. His inability to accept change is one of the main causes of his death.

Things Fall Apart

The idea of Things Fall Apart can be compared to how a old society changes or adapts to a new one. I believe Chinua Achebe was relating the event of the missionaries trying to change old traditions of the tribe to European traditions to how Yeats describes "things fall apart; the centre cannot hold," the center being the society of Okonkwo's tribe.

The Second Coming

When I was researching about the relationship between Things Fall Apart and The Second Coming, I looked at the history of Yeats writing to get a better understanding of the poem. It was interesting to know the in a previously published book called, The Voice, Yeats describes a theory about the Universe which he took many years to create. The theory is based on the "gyres" mentioned in The Second Coming. He used them to describe how the coming of the new era and the ending of the present coexist. This idea could be compared to the missionaries coming to Okonkwo's village and bringing in a new society's beliefs.

Change.

I believe the entire novel is a metaphor for the battle of morality versus obedience. When Okonkwo is forced to kill the child towards the rising climax of the novel, he experiences this struggle but obedience wins overall. Finally, at the end, by committing suicide, Okonkwo's morality overcomes obedience in the battle for a stake in Okonkwo's life. Is this because Okonkwo simply realized what he had to do via epiphany? Or did the novel recognize a change throughout the story of his character and values?

Things Fall Apart

You could see the ending of the novel as things falling apart in the sense that old ways are being destroyed and broken. Perhaps "falling apart" simply means coming apart so something new can form; a second coming one might say. Things falling apart signifies a new era in the society of Umuofia. When Okonkwo was exiled, he came back to a place of change. At the end when he commits suicide, perhaps this signifies that Umuofia can finally enter that new era through a great transformation.

Okonkwo's Fate

There is a lot of debate on whether or not Okonkwo's hanging was "noble" or "right". In their society and even a bit in the modern world, suicide is not very just and is in general, simply frowned upon as a disgrace. However, perhaps it was Okonkwo's only choice. The actions of the evangelists forced him into making a decision of either losing his dignity or committing suicide. If he hadn't killed himself, he would be living in a society taken over by people that live to suppress his ideas, so perhaps his only available response was death to save himself.

Religious Curiosity

I found the whole concept of the battle of religion to be the most interesting idea in this novel. Religion seemed to not only rule their beliefs, but it also controlled their overall life and actions. When a new idea was presented to a native, their beliefs, personality, and entire life would change to match this new faith. This seems like an extreme of loose religion on one end of the spectrum and on the other end is the religion in modern society where people of religion attack those of other beliefs due to their tight restrictions of faith. Would our society be better if we had loose religion or would Okonkwo's clan be better off using tight boundaries of faith?

The Death of Okonkwo

I thought it was interesting that Okonkwo hung himself at the end of the novel. After a whole book of building up his masculinity and to the letter following off society's traditions, he kills himself. Not only is this a disgraceful way to die in their society (his own people can't bury him) it seems cowardly. His whole life he faces every problem head on, not running away from any confrontation, criticizing any man who didn't face problems the same way he did calling them womanly, and then he kills himself. The Roaring Flame gives up and runs away from his problem in the most absolute way. I was very, very surprised when I read that part of the book and found it a very interesting  way for Achebe to finish his story. The falling apart for both Okonkwo's society and life was absolutely complete.

Okonkwo's Struggle

While reading, I found myself sympathizing with Okonkwo. It's true he is very stubborn to any change at all, but I can understand his grief in the change of his people. It would be easy to just look at his situation and think that he is being ridiculous because there are several things that are off about their culture, but I found that if you look at through his perspective it becomes harder. This is a way of life that he has dedicated his whole life too. And I know if some outside group of people came in and started denouncing Christianity and  pushing people that follow that religion to believe it is nonsense, I would be very upset for my fellow Christians. After thinking on this I started to see Okonkwo as a different character, I started to sympathize with him a lot more than at first when I saw him as a stubborn man who was behind the times.

The Countdown is on!

Hello, AP Lit-ers!

I am wading through your summer homework essays now and hope to have them back to you within the first week (or possibly two) of classes. I'm seeing some interesting things happening!

I also wanted to let you know that at this point, I've responded to all of the emails I've seen. If you are still awaiting a response from me, please try resending your email. I have been on maternity leave since February so there were a LOT of emails to sift through this week when I came back to work, and it's entirely possible that one or two may have goten missed in the shuffle. If so, apologies!

I look forward to seeing you all next week! Enjoy your last week of break!