So here's your space to comment on the first part of Things Fall Apart. What do you find challenging about this text? What are your reactions to this time and place?
To start with, the book is good so far. I found the names are difficult because it seem like they have the same name, and it’s kind of confusing. I feel like back then, they were very strict, there's upper and lower class. I have a question. If you were to marry more than once would that show how rich and wealthy you were? If yes, do you have to marry more than once to show how rich you were?
Yes, I agree that the more wives you have represent the power and wealth you have. In the first chapter, Okonkwo demonstrates his strength as a man when he defeats the undefeated Amalinze Cat. In the second chapter, it mentions about Okonkwo's prosperity by his abundance of yams and housing huts. I believe that Okonkwo's progress of success determines how many wives he may receive.
So far, I find that the book is quite intriguing. I sense that Okonkwo is really a good person, but he's too afraid to show it. He fears that he might become like his old man who was always lazy. Okonkwo is "possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death." It is this fear that drives Okonkwo to his success and his harshness towards his family. Somehow I feel bad for Okonkwo's childhood because his lazy father couldn't provide for the family. It must have been very embarrassing when other people say that your father was a 'woman', not a man. The setting is Africa. Back then, men in the society must not show weakness. They are the ones who dictate. Therefore, for a man to be addressed as a 'woman' was very shameful indeed.
Okay, that's all I wanted to say...quite long though. ^.^
I kind of agreed with you, that his a good person, but his afraid to show it, but still the way his treating his wife, does not show that he a good person, especially the second wife, he beat her up, because his food was not ready. He has three wives, why couldn't he make the other wives cook for him? I really don't see why he making a big deal out of it. I feel he cares more about his yams then his family, and that is sad. His second wife” cut a few leaves off it to wrap food." he gave her a sound of beating". Come on, if that was her first time doing that, why couldn’t he talk to her and tell her not to ever to do it again, but he rather beats her. What’s worst is that he went inside and took a gun "aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn." he even pull the trigger, but thanks to God, nothing happen. That guy has some real anger issue going on.
Okonkwo has three wives. Each wife has their own rank. Apparently, the first wife is the most important wife because she is the "first wife". On page 20, it mentions how "Anasi was the first wife and the others [the younger wives] could not drink before her, so they stood waiting...she also wore the anklet of her husband's titles, which the first wife alone could wear." Gaelle, I think when you said that Okonkwo beat up his second wife for not making the afternoon meal, you really meant his third wife. I agree with you about the unfairness that Okonkwo displays towards his third wife. He overreacts and beat her up during the Week of Peace. Nevertheless, because Okonkwo is a very traditional man, he follows the ways in his village. Since his first two wives are considered superior by their rank, the third wife is considered the youngest and naïve. The younger wives must always respect the elder wife/wives. It’s unfair for the third wife, but I think that’s how this household works. But then again, there’s also the fact that Okonkwo has a great temper so it really does sound unfair for his wives.
Wife and husband can also be seen as masculinity versus femininity. I’m not sure what time this story takes place, but it’s definitely not the 21st century. Like on pages 73-74, it is considered nonsense for a man to be rank underneath his wife. Okonkwo learns that there’s such thing as when a man marries, his children and he belong to his wife’s family, thus taking her family name. You can actually relate this “family thing” to present day today. In most cases, children take their father’s surname when they’re born or that the wife takes her husband’s surname.
I definitely think that the language in the book is quite the impediment, more so than in The Remains of the Day. That being said, I do understand that this is a very cultural peace. With every work of literature (or art for that matter) that is representative of a vastly different culture or lifestyle, there are two distinct perspectives to see it from. Our Americanized perspective produces reactions such as the ones mentioned (injustice towards women, cruelty, the disadvantages of stoicism), but we also must consider the perspective of the African people. For them, these things are the norm. Men are superior to women. That isn’t something that Okonkwo came up with on a boring afternoon; it is the way of the land.
However, from a reader/plot perspective, I’m having trouble seeing where the book could possibly go. The problem with Things Fall Apart being so deeply immersed in the African culture is that there is so little opportunity for change. As can be seen when Okonkwo kills his “son” (the sacrifice kid from the other village), there is no tolerance for anyone doing anything outside of their expected duties. Without this possibility for improvement or change (both internal and external), I’m not finding myself very interested in Okonkwo or anything happening to him. He is an example of his culture, and often literature isn’t created for a complicated plot but to paint a picture of a way of life. Unfortunately, I’m just finding the culture confusing rather than fascinating, so I’m curious to see where the book will take us (if anywhere).
I agree when you guys pointed out the significance of status and the importance of numerous wives in their culture, but I focused more on symbolic meaning as I was reading this book. I based most of my thoughts on the book “How to Read Literature like a Professor”. Very early in the book, Okonkwo was portrayed as a strong and important man in his civilization. Regardless of his faults such as abusing his wives through cruel punishment, he was respected and very prominent in his civilization. This persona that was formed reminded me of a Christ figure that was brought up in “How to Read Literature like a Professor”. Not all characters can be as perfect as the original Christ, but Okonkwo resembles him very well. I also drew this connection from the numerous meetings Okonkwo attended that consisted of wine and kola nut. There were many meetings that consisted of breaking kola nut which resembled breaking bread, as in communion. I think this signified a coming together of people. Wine also comes up a lot in the first part of the book. They used it for ceremonies inside the huts, as well as the marriage ceremony where 50 jugs of wine were offered. Though Okonkwo is very much feared and aggressive, he fits the description of a Christ figure.
One other character that resembled a Christ figure was Ezinma, Ekwefi’s daughter. Her characteristics were not as bold and strong as Okonkwo, but her history made me think of sacrifice. Her mother Ekwefi gave birth to nine other children who had died in infancy. Ezinma was the only child who survived. The situation of Ezinma being born through those other children made me think of sacrifice and Ezinma fighting off their evil spirits. In a way, she shed the impurity of her other siblings, and was reborn into a pure spirit. In the same, Christ was reborn as well.
One part of the book that really interested me was the “quest” that Ekwefi went on when she was following Ezinma and Chielo. “How to Read Literature like a Professor” mentioned characteristics of a “quest” that consisted of a knight, danger, a Holy Grail, evil knight, and princess. In this setting, I found Ekwefi to be the night, the dark trail to be danger, Ezinma’s safety to be the Holy Grail, Agbala to be the dragon, Chielo to be the evil knight, and Ezinma to be the princess that needed to be rescued. I think that this journey to save Ezinma brought Ekwefi and Okonkwo closer as husband and wife. Overall, I think that the author uses Okonkwo and Ezinma as Christ figures regardless of their impurities and imperfections.
Some nice use of How to Read here...be sure you check out the source of the title (the poem should be in the front of the book - if not, it's Yeats) and consider how that fits with the story as it unfolds. You also should think about this as a tragedy, which it is...what are we supposed to get out of a tragedy?
I also tried connecting this book to what I have read in How To Read Literature Like a Professor. It is interesting how Kellie brought up the connection between Okonkwo and Christ because I had never thought of that myself. But rather than being god of the whole universe I find that he is rather trying to keep his position as god in his home. On a deeper note, he might also be trying to rule himself. For example, as mentioned earlier, he may be a better person on the inside but the African culture and lifestyles practically forbids any sort of affection coming from men. He cannot let his macho appearance slip. Another example would be when Ikemefuna was sentenced to death. Even I thought he could not be that desperate to save face, but he killed him! I find his "soft side" to be a temptation in which he struggles with often.
Ms. Clapp brought up how this is supposed to be viewed as a tragedy. Going off of that I believe this story discusses/reveals the tragedies of humanity. Human minds have come to progress into competitive and fierce fighters. Referring to the poem and the title of the book I deciphered that perhaps our world has come to nothing more than pure chaos. No one can hear what another is saying (or doesn't care to do so). Even though the book mentions a "week of peace" it is only one week! Is it necessary for peace to be scheduled? I believe Achebe is trying to point out that human values are fading and life has become a cycle of violence and neglect.
Like Hillary (hilldizzle) and Kellie, I did initially, think about connecting this book to what I learned in How To Read Like a Professor, but I got more caught up in absorbing and understanding the culture of the book.
First of all, it’s so different from the culture we have in this country. For example having more then one wife? Even having several wives for that matter. The one accept of their culture that wasn’t such a culture shock for me was the whole men being so forcefully dominant and also having to be “masculine.” And I put masculine in quotation marks because really, how can being masculine or feminine be defined? If men show any emotion other then being fierce and courageous does that make them girls? And when women are being courageous and taking charge, does that make them masculine? But of course, even today, boys try to prove their “manly” all the time. But as for girls, I would say that at least in our society, women are now, well have been, taking on more “dominant” roles such as taking charge in the workforce and bringing home money and being in charge in general, just like men. That doesn’t make women masculine, right?
What I think the poem in the beginning of the book might have to do with the story is that as we live out the lives we assume others except us to have, like back then when men and women were just expected to have certain roles, “turning and turning in the widening gyre,” we end up not listening to our selves and what we really want. So then we end up having bumps in the road that we can’t fix and “things fall apart” in our lives.
Maybe, because Okonkwo is living his masculine life, his life will fall apart because he isn’t listening to him heart. Just like when he didn’t want to kill his “son” Ikemefuna but did anyways because he thought everyone expected him to be fearless even towards his own emotions. Then he ended up suffering the emotional consequences. And now, his masculinity has made him have to leave his home. Well I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next to parts, but I’m assuming, since this is a tragedy, his life is not going to get any better if he doesn’t listen to his emotions.
When I first started reading “Things Fall Apart” an automatic distinction was placed to contrast Okonkwo from his father, Unoka. I found it interesting that a father and son in this culture did not have a common ground. While reading I got the feeling that the men of this society follow in the footsteps of their father, especially in the African culture.
A strong sense of imagery is used to depict the night life of the village, the darks holds an unknown, ominous factor that can be defined as freighting toward the local people. The scenery outdoors could also translate to the constant demeanor of Okonkwo. His fiert temper is result of his inner fears and a direct correlation not to follow in the path of his deceased father. Okonkwo’s choice to lock away his true feelings only yields detrimental effects for his family. The lack of emotions exhibited could be categorized as a weakness because of his inability to come to terms with sentimental emotions. When Okonkwo killed “his son” he felt remorseful afterwards. The actions he chose to act out ate him up inside because he was too stubborn to tell anyone how he really felt. He was too busy worrying about what the community would think of him if he did not kill “his son” even though he was advised not to take part in his death. His community holds him on a pedestal while his family has been forced to walk on egg shells to placate Okonkwo.
On the other hand, Okonkwo’s unfortunate start at life does not necessarily mean that he has to keep it as a reminder in his life. Okonkwo used his misfortune to make a better life for himself and his family instead of making up excuses. As Okonkwo got older he felt that he had to be “successful” to prove a point. To Okonkwo, being successful means being everything that his father was unable to be and more.
His actions set off signals as to why Okonkwo continues to treat his wives poorly. At this point and time women were seen as secondary. All the men made the important decisions so the well being of the women were not primarily important. The men were only concerned with their wives ability to have healthy children, especially boys. To answer Stephanie’s question (If men show any emotion other then being fierce and courageous does that make them girls?), I think that the men in this community have to be strong if they want to be respected by others. In previous era men were always being placed in the dominant roles. Women were always placed in roles that were more “feminine”. While women who tried to stand up against men were heavily beaten. In this society’s hierocracy men were made to be placed at the top of the totem pole. If they did not claim the place that they were meant to; they were viewed as failures. Unoka was a man who did not show the typical emotion of other men in the community. As a result, the people saw him in a negative light. He was seen as a failure, especially in the eyes of his son.
So, I think I will start this comment with Okonkwo's father. It is mentioned in the book the Okonkwo saw his father as nothing more than a failure, a "woman." But what he doesn't realize is that the book continually emphasizes the relationship aspect that Unoka (the father) has with the others. Although he is poor and hundreds in debt, people still continue to lend him money and continue to help him when he is in need. He is not respected by some, but the characters that we do see, they are still his friends. Okonkwo doesn't realize that his father is just as strong. He is able to continue with life although he is labeled as a woman. Unoka loves his flute and his music but also he loves the peace of staying home and being around his family, something that Okonkwo lacks heavily, something that the clan lacks also, as they are known for their warriors. I believe that Okonkwo is on a journey, to realize the importance of family and human relationships compared power, what he believes now is everything.
Another interesting topic that kept coming up was the idea of darkness, of fear. It said that the "night was always quiet except on moonlight nights. Darkness held a vague terror for these people even the bravest among them." This is like what they are afraid to admit, it is their inner self that they do not want to show, because they are afraid of their outcomes in the clan. Similarly, light, fire, sun, and heat seems to symbolize anger. Okonkwo has a lot of anger to the world, but also the clan has anger too. It seems that even the eldest, the one who warned Okonkwo to not take part in killing his "son" knew that it was wrong, but followed because it is in their culture to do so. It tells us that everyone in the clan knows what how they really feel, but are too ashamed or too scared to actually show it.
As many mentioned before, I also believe that the wives symbolize power and wealth for Okonkwo. What I found really interesting was Okonkwo's knowledge of his second wife already having a husband, and then continued to run off to okonkwo, and he accepted. He said himself that a man has to have power and status over their own wives, then why would he marry a woman that came to him as a "lover." Did he love her that much? Or maybe it his another chance for him to show his power, his ability to take a woman from another man, showing his superiority to the man? Along the way, we find that Okonkwo's soft side begins to show, not only with his "son" but also with his wives. When his daughter was brought away, he waited a "manly" enough hour before he showed but it is clear that he was worried, but even at that moment, having face is still more important to him. But this little moment begins to show that Okonkwo is more caring, or more willing to admit it. In the beginning of the book, he was the warrior, the powerful, best wrestler of the nine villages and not once, did it say anything about Okonkow's feelings other than of hunger or anger.
Now, things fall apart, right when the first part ends, Okonkwo kills a boy by accident, this shows Okonkwo's down fall. But in a sense, I believe his journey just started, to become something different from who he was, to have emotions other than anger, and he has to learn this.
I think I’ll begin by saying that for me, this book was a hundred times easier to read. I read “The Remains of the Day” first, and in comparison, I flew through this book. I don’t know if it was the size of the font or what, but I definitely found the language more manageable. Granted, the names were killer to try to pronounce in your head, so I just took the shortest of my mispronunciations and used that! I am sure there are more eloquent ways of expressing this, but WOW. This book is about 80% culture and 20% story. The author uses the actual Ibo names for most of the specialized terms, and goes into extensive (extremely extensive) anecdotes detailing the individual customs of the Umuofia tribe. It is fascinating to learn about, but I find myself wondering just a little bit what the point is. I guess it sort of sets the scene in the tribe and about Okonkwo’s life. For instance the first story the author recounts, regarding what people thought of Unoka in terms of their society’s expectations of a man’s values, is used as a contrast to detail the behavior and shame that have shaped Okonkwo. To my surprise, the author didn’t exactly demonize Unoka either. They made him lazy, but they kept him human. He was lazy, but he was passionate in his own ways despite his shortcomings in the lieu of what everyone else thought was more important. He was lazy, but like Belinda said, he still managed to keep in everyone’s good graces enough to keep borrowing money from them, and that’s saying something. He had friends, he had a family, and he probably had more fun than most people. At a very early stage in the book, the narrator introduces a key aspect of the novel: the intense structure of morality within the tribe, and the even more extreme struggle Okonkwo fights to show no sign that he is his father’s son.
Let’s face it, we all knew that Ikemefuna was going to be killed, and if you saw his death coming, you probably also saw Okonkwo being the one to do it. The author did a perfectly good job of foreshadowing his death, touting ominous warning signs like “the elders seemed to have forgotten about him.” (52) Well “seeming” never quite is, so right off the bat you knew that they had finally remembered that they needed to exact punishment. Okonkwo’s necessity to express his virility is really nauseating. He already has the respect of the entire village and all the other villages in his tribe, so why, when Obierka tells him not to go with everyone into the forest, does he? Obierka, a man of equally high renown tells him specifically that no one is going to think less of him for going into the forest and watching (and later participating in) his son’s death. I think his actions have a rather controversial effect on the rest of the story. Rather than promoting his manhood, I think he kind of over-shoots it and reveals a little bit of his desperation to stay in his position of power. Of course, the book’s title is “Things Fall Apart” so in a karmic turn of events, Okonkwo’s gun explodes and happens to kill a vibrant youth member of his tribe (in cosmic recompense perhaps?) forcing him into exile for 7 years. I may be Christian myself, but those gods certainly know how to make for a compelling story.
Reading the second coming by Yeats after finishing the first third of the novel helped me understand where the novel was going and it also shed some light on the Unoku’s society.
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre The Falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
Titled the second coming, the poem is representative of Umuofia and how like a gyre, the village continues a circular course. Rigid cultural and societal norms contain everyone within this plane. These range from the kola fruit that you guys brought up, the festivals and the expectations that are placed on men to lead successful and fulfilling lives. These standards are extremely insistent and if they are not consistent through the lives of the villagers then they are immediately disposed off i.e. Okonkwo’s father. However, in this particular tale, things will begin to fall apart and changes will ultimately disrupt the meticulous structure of the village. These new occurrences will not yield with the present systems and as a result “anarchy” will be unleashed. Unoka was detrimental to the system that the village followed. He was a debtor and unlike his fellow men a failure as a farmer. Achebe describes him as “very thin” and “wore a haggard and mournful look.” Immediately the author creates a distinction from every other strong and able man through Unoka’s characterization. Instead of tending to his yams, he was more likely to compose tunes on his flit because it brought him “peace.” Additionally, Unoka was a “coward” and could not stand the “sight of blood.” --- How has this man been able to survive in this village for so long?!?! As a result of being the exact opposite of every other man in the village, he was ultimately forgotten as he was left to die in the Evil Forest. Like Unoka, other characters who did not fit into the village’s system and who were different were expelled. Okonkwo and other villagers in the forest killed Ikemefuna, a boy from a nearby village who was a positive aspect of Okonkwo’s household and to the rest of the village. Although Okonkwo works feverishly to prevent himself from becoming even the slightest bit like his father, he is more like him then he would like to believe. Okonkwo’s action has made him almost an outsider to the village. For example when he beat his wife during the Week of Peace he disregarded the spiritual laws of the village and as a result was punished by the village priest. Furthermore, even the oldest men “could only remember one or two other occasions somewhere in the dim past.” Also, Okonkwo has grown so infatuated with his yam farm that by the Feat of New Yams he was never as “enthusiastic” as other people. Several other instances have surmised where he has had conflicts with the elders and the laws of the gods. This is also attributed to the fact that male chauvinism reeks in this novel. All of these men particularly Okonkwo feel that women are vastly insignificant to them, and showing emotions and sentiment is a sign of weakness. I thought that the wrestling tournament was interesting and symbolic of the power of men in this society. During this festival Achebe accentuates the “frenzied drums” as the men began to wrestle. This event vaulted men miles ahead of women in terms of power, importance, and made them seem almost heavenly as the drummers “became ordinary human beings” after they stopped to break. Overall, it will be interesting to see where Okonkwo’s boisterousness will lead him, and whether he will be expelled into the, DUM DUM DUMM, Evil Forest!!!!
I find the names of the characters in this book very challenging. They're hard to pronounce and we, the readers have no knowledge in how to pronounce them. I like the old folk stories and tales aura about the book but there are some customs they practice that i don't like. I know it is due to the time and especially the place. For example I don't like the gender discrimination that takes place in the book. They treat women in such a condescending manner that it disgusts me. They have no opinions, no rights and they only live to serve men, I hate that about the novel. I also agree that the more wives one has the more power, but that's not what it should be about, I think that's ridiculous about their culture. I allude that part of their culture to the bible because that's the way men were during those ancient times. They had multiple wives and multiple children, the more wives they had signified more power and importance. I disagree, I don't think Okonkwo is as such a good person as one of the previous readers said. I think a good person would show a little sympathy regardless of what they have to display to the public. I do think he's a potentially good person though, he's not there yet. I agree that his father was lazy and couldn't provide him with the best childhood, but that doesn't justify his harshness towards his family. On page 13-14 it talks about how Okonkwo "sought to correct Nwoye by constant nagging abd beating" which caused him to develop in a "sad faced youth". It seems to have the same end result to me because Okonkwo was miserable because of his father's inability to provide for his family, but Okonkwo's son is also miserable, while Okonkwo is very successful. That comes to show it doesn't matter that Okonkwo is successful, he needs to be more sympathetic towards his family, especially his children. Although his father wasn't the best example, he had a very lively and innocent spirit, His "face beamed when he changed the subject and talked about music", I liked that about his character, such thing can never be said about Okonkwo. One thing I really didn't like in the book is how Okonkwo took part in killing Ikemufe,he was really fond of him, but he did it because he was afraid of what people would think. That part of the book made me sad because it is not his fault his father committed a crime, he shouldn't have to pay for it. That's when I really thought about how ridiculous their customs are because of where they live and the period of time they were living in. Overall I do like the book, because I feel as if someone is telling me old African folk tales.
I'm going to assume that the first part of the book was "Part 1" and not one third of the book.
Running with what Keith and David R. said, I believe that this first section was purely here to tell the audience about the culture in that village. To set the scene. Almost every important ritual is described, cleverly disguised as a part of the story. The importance of yams, the concept of manliness and its association with wrestling, the Week of Peace, various punishment laws, polygamy, their religios system, marraige and much more are expounded upon in no particular order and for no particular pupose. Only in the last few pages of this section do we see the becomings of a plot. That does not mean that you can't find meaning in what seems to be half the book.
My first impressions (before reading the back of the book) was that the society seemed old and ritualistic. I immediately thought Native American. What really surprised me was the gun. It didn't seem to fit in with the time period or culture. All it does is bring discord. My theory is that the gun symbolizes the modernazation that brings nothing but harm. It almost hit Okonkwo's "shaken and frighted but quite unhurt" third wife and did kill well respected Ezuedu's 16 year old son.
I notice a lot of people are outraged about the gender disparity. I would like to reference "How to Read Like a Professor" here and say- don't read with YOUR eyes. Their culture also includes laws. To break from them would be like breaking a law. It just isn't done.
I seem to remember in the beginning that the city allows the son to live free from his father's shadow. That's why Okonkwo didn't have to pay his father's debt. My question, then, is why is Ikemefuna killed instead of his father, who supposedly killed the wandering woman? They should have asked for the killer in the first place.
I don't particularly like Okonkwo. But I don't dislike him either. I don't dislike this book (a rare case for me) probably because the village seems like a alien place to me. The characters are far less predictable. I feel like Okonkwo is trying to epitomize manliness to prove something to himself. He needs to know that he is not his father's son. "Deny thy father and refuse thy name"
This book is way easier to read than The remains of The Day. I think it’s really interesting to see this other culture and their customs, even though there’s a lot that they do that I disagree with. But I like it. The way they treat their women is very barbaric. From what I can see the more wives you have the better, the manlier you are. I think that it sucks the way they are treated. From what I can see of Okonkwo’s marriage, the wives are there to serve the men. Even though they answer to the husband they don’t really interact with each other as a couple. I thought it was interesting how every wife has to prepare a meal for the husband. Their society also allows the husband to beat their wives, and they don’t get any punishment for that. It seems like Okonkwo is always s taking his anger out on someone in his family, whether it’s his sons or his wives. Like when he beat his wife for taking some leaves off of a tree, how stupid is that. I see that like in The Remains of the Day, this character also has a problem with his emotions. The only thing he knows how to show is anger. He’s not affectionate, and has no idea how to love. He sees it as a sort of weakness, so he doesn’t deal with that. I was very surprised when Okonkwo, killed Ikemefuna. It’s so weird that just because someone tells them to kill they go and kill. He’s been there for years, not harming anyone and they decide to kill him. What’s the reason for that? It was very sad because you could see that Okonkwo viewed him as a son and thought that he was leading his other boys in the right direction. Everyone already knew what was taking place. I don’t think that Okonkwo should have gone. But even if he was there he shouldn’t have taken part in killing him. That was just wrong. The way their society deal with things is kind of weird. Like how when people have twins they throw them away, that’s just stupid. Even though it seems like they don’t really have any rules, they do. Like how Okonkwo was exiled for 7 years because he killed someone. Even though he didn’t mean to, he did do it. I just didn’t like the fact that they just burned down his place. Shouldn’t sending him away be enough? So he lost everything, and he has to start all over because of one mistake. They shouldn’t be using guns and machetes to celebrate anyways.
To start off this comment, I found the book very intriguing yet difficult to follow at times due to the language. However, after reading a few chapters, it became much easier to understand the plot and the author's intentions. In the beginning of the novel, the author focuses primarily on introducing the African culture to the reader through the various customs such as ceremonies and festivals. Also Achebe spends a considerable amount of time emphasizing the roles of men, women, and children in the society to establish the idea of a male dominated environment. Before the reader is even introduced to all of the characters in the novel, Achebe mentions how Okonkwo is “known throughout the nine villages” for beating “Amalinze the Cat” in a wrestling match. Furthermore, he achieves his titles in Umuofia due to his valor. From this point onwards, the reader is taken on a journey where Okonkwo struggles to maintain his fame in Umuofia through his various acts of violence. Okonkwo’s fear of resembling his father, Unoka and becoming a “woman” provokes him to lash out against his wives and children in order to appear “manly”. For example, Nwoye develops into a “sad-faced youth” due to the constant beating from his father. Similarly even though, Ikemefuna proves to be a good son and influences Nwoye to take on more “masculine tasks”, his father kills him to avoid “being thought [of] [as] weak”. Despite these acts of violence, Okonkwo begins to resemble his father even more through his disregard for the rules of the elders, which is exemplified by when Okonkwo beats Ekwefi during the “Week of Peace”. I agree with Ayoub on the idea that even though Okonkwo is constantly striving to be a different person than Unoka, he eventually assumes the role of his father as an outsider. This proves to be ironic since Okonkwo has spent his entire life building a reputation that differs from his father in every aspect, yet his fear of resembling his father eventually prevails.
Another aspect of male domination that I would like to address is the idea of how women are treated in society. I agree with others that it is wrong to subjugate women and treat them harshly as Okonkwo does with his three wives. However, it should also be noted that these are the norms of African society as Chloe pointed out earlier. Even though women such as Ekwefi are beaten by their husbands, they approve of the violence and accept the male dominated society. The women play a major role in their subjugation by agreeing to the idea that men are more important than women. Also, women desire men who are powerful and known for their strength. For example, Ekwefi “came to live with Okonkwo” because she was impressed by his triumph over “Amalinze the Cat”. Ekwefi could have chosen to live with her previous husband who may not have been as violent as Okonkwo. However, her decision was influenced by the idea of his strength. Similarly, women from the whole village attend the wrestling match in order to watch who is the “better man”. Overall, I believe that women play a significant role in creating the male dominated society in Umuofia.
Finally, I would like to add that Okonkwo’s desperation for masculinity and “his fear of himself” will eventually lead to his downfall in the part two of the novel because the author constantly brings up Ikemefuna’s murder. Also, now that Okonkwo is exiled he no longer possesses the wealth that he was recognized for previously.
I find it odd that woman have such secondary roles in the clan yet the position of Oracle (which seems to be very prestigious) is an unisex position?
On page 74 a conversations about the “white mean with no toes” seems a bit of foreshadowing to me; because I’m assuming around this time slave trade was going on but mainly on the Western side of Africa. It makes sense that they would hear of these strange things and laugh and not really have any knowledge of them seeing how they are in Nigeria. It makes me wonder if after they are cast out if they might meet some of these “white men with no toes”.
Observation:
I personally really like how some of the words are in the Ibo language and so are the names. It makes it easier to immerse yourself in the book, if the author had replaced it with Jim instead of Okinkwo I don’t think I would have gotten a full sense of how the Ibo tribe lived/lives.
Okinkwo is hates everything that’s weeks and in his own twisted way when he beats on his family members he thinks he making them strong. Like his son Nwoye he just wants to shape him into a man; the opportunity he never got himself and had to do on his own. He has so much contempt for his father that anything in relation to him (such as gentle child rearing) he does the opposite. So in his own way he’s protecting them from the embarrassment he had to go through as a child who started out with nothing. But what I don’t think he realizes is that if his father hadn’t treated him like that he wouldn’t have been the successful (although psychologically unbalanced) man he is.
Okinkwo has a lot of insecurities of them being his stuttering which was only briefly touched up in the first part of the book but I think has a lot of meaning to how the character behaves. When I went to http://www.africaguide.com/culture/tribes/ibo.htm and researched the Ibo tribe of Nigerian this came up (among other things) which I find pretty important to the character:
“Idioms and proverbs play an important role in the Ibo language. Someone who does not use them in speech is considered a novice at speaking the language.”
I think this also another reason he is so quick to hit those around him, by not being able to express him self it makes him feel weak and the only way for him not to feel that way is to make someone else appear weaker than him. This is also why I think he doesn’t speak a lot; that and the fact that his dad was a talker.
I am not surprised that Okonkwa killed Ikemefuna even tho he treated him as a son. What we may find as barbaric and uncivilized, when you think about it, it’s their form of government. There leader (Oracle) said kill so they did. Hitler to kill the Jewish babies, because they were an abomination so they did. The Oracle said to kill twin because they are an abomination, so they did. Even tho intellectually they know it’s wrong they did it anyways because that was what they were ordered to do. I’m not saying these situations are the exact same, because Okonkwa had a clear choice to not have a hand in the direct killing of the boy ( I still feel he is at fault for not stopping it) but he was so caught up in imaginary appearances that he murdered Ikemfuna anyways. Their practices and traditions are very different from what we are used to because their government is run by their religion it is still a government. I’m interested to see what happens to them in the second part....
Observations/thoughts: This story is very different to what I am used to reading. It's very eye opening to be able to read of another culture, since it’s not something that we are used to facing here in America. The difference in language sometimes gets me confused but it shows you another side to their culture and ways of living and brings an extra importance to the story. Okonkwo is a very strong man but if I would be placed into the story and take the spot as being one of his children, I believe I would be very frightened of him for being such a coldhearted man. At times it seems like he is mad at the whole world and I sometimes imagine what his wives see in him. His children are always living or trying to live up to his expectations. When Ikimefuna arrived to Umuofia, it seemed that the family grew so attached to him that it changed everyone for the best and there weren't as much fights in between them. He was a very strong young man and very wise for his age and everyone was pleased with him and took him in as one of their own. Even Okonkwo being the man that he is accepted him as his own son and was heart broken when the tribe decided to kill him and Nwoye lost his best friend and role model!
In the beginning of the story I thought that Okonkwo expected too much from his father as a role model and that he tried to be everything opposite of him because everyone saw him as a weak man. Although culturally he was very weak, he also had some good qualities that Okonkwo despising his father has lost. Unoka had a fulfilling desire to always be listening and playing his music which probably gave him the peace within that he needed to encounter all the evil conspiracies and negative thoughts towards him. It took him into another world without even leaving exactly where he was. Although Unoka borrowed money from everyone and never returned it, he was a good man and Okonkwo is a great man but I think he should be more like his father.
To what Gaelle said about the wives, Yes in order for a man in the tribe to have more than one wife he has to be wealthy in order to provide for her and the family. I don't believe you have to get married more than once if you don't want to but it is a big responsibility and if the man can't handle his job I believe he would suffer great consequences and be shunned from the tribe like Unoka.
As many have mentioned before, the idea of a father and son relationship is so prominent throughout the first part of the text. Okonkwo spends much of his time simply striving to be everything that his father was not. His father was said to be lazy and always in debt, so Okonkwo works all the time to avoid such a fate. For some reason or another people tend to avoid becoming like their parents, whether or not they get along with them. Okonkwo’s strong resentment toward his father served as a great means of motivation, seeing as had his father not failed the family, Okonkwo likely would not have had to work for what he had. Okonkwo is considered one of the “great” men in Umuofia, yet he feels the one child that should be prospering, his oldest son, Nwoye, is falling short of his father’s expectations. Okonkwo expects Nwoye to develop at the same rate or even faster than he did as a child. While such expectations may be genuine and not meant to oppress, they certainly do. As a father Okonkwo compares his children to himself, but what he fails to realize is the circumstances him and his children were subjected to vary greatly. Okonkwo had no choice but to grow up fast and provide for his family, because evidently his father failed in that sense, but Okonkwo’s children are being provided for and there isn’t much of a rush for them to start performing for themselves, there’s just no sense of urgency. I remember reading a quote about the children of “great men and women” and it suggested that it is likely that the children of such prestigious figures will fall short of their parents’ legacy as they had not been raised by their great parents, but by others. Here is where I see the cycle, now that Okonkwo is “great” and his family is taken care of, the idea of urgency is entirely wiped out. Nwoye, as the oldest son has been targeted as the successor of sorts to his father’s legacy. The problem lies in the fact that while Okonkwo was out building upon his “greatness” (which he had always done), he failed to pass it on to his children. It was apparent that Okonkwo’s disdain for his father skewed his goals in being a father, he excelled in the providing sense, but neglected the idea of guidance. I understand that much of their culture emphasizes providing physically for the family, but I also think there is a guidance part as well, seeing as without guidance or support children would be unable to continue a legacy of greatness.
First of all, I agree with Chloe that we should not read this book with your eyes. And I agree with Keith and David that this book revolves a lot around culture but I think that’s what makes it interesting for me. I used to watch a lot of drama about medieval China so polygamy doesn’t surprise me as much as it did to many of you guys. However, I do find some of their tradition shocking, such as drinking out of a human’s skull. I wonder if this book is written in another language and then translated to English. If it is written in English, it says a lot because maybe the author wants us (westerners) to learn about their culture in Africa. Most of the time, we view Africa as barbaric and aggressive people. Movies such as “Blood Diamonds” portrayed Africa as a very disordered place. I’m not sure when the story takes place but people always viewed Africans as inferior but this book proves otherwise. They are very peaceful and civilized albeit few very horrifying aspects. However, if we put the French Revolution in aspects, the cruelty level is about the same.
As for the difficulties of the book, like Gaelle and several others, I do find the names hard to keep in track so I wrote them down after the first chapter. Other than that, the culture was easy for me to grasp because I’ve heard similar stories about other cultures before. I find the book really easy to read like David.
Going back to Ms. Clapp’s comment about the poem at the beginning and adding on to what Chloe said, I feel that the first part does establish the setting and get us to familiarize ourselves with their culture. However, the next parts might about the breaking apart of Okonkwo’s exterior and interior, hence “Things Fall Apart.” As previous discussed by Stephanie, Stephany, Helen, and other people, Okonkwo have a very particular image of himself: always show anger and nothing else. Someone mentions that he’s the ‘god’ of the household, the ruler. The poem at the beginning of the book states, “the falcon cannot hear the falconer/things fall apart, the center cannot hold/mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” To me, it sounds like Okonkwo will loose control of his family as well as his power. Or the poem might talks about the breaking down of their culture as the first part focused on a lot about it. But this is just speculations.
First off, I found the names of the characters hard to remember because the names are difficult to pronounce to make them stick in your head.
My first thought of the book was how different Okonkwo turned out. His father was a lazy and dependent person relying on others for help. While Okonkwo became this powerful respected man of the village that has no emotions for love and compassion. But Okonkwo shouldn't view his father's way of living as an abomination because it was a care free way of living where he didn't care about how society judged him. Everything Okonkwo does he does it to be seen by others as a powerful and wealthy man that can support three wives and his children. He still lacks the skill of parenting and to guide his children to grow up successful because all he expects them to do is follow in his footsteps and that's why he thinks Nwoye, his oldest son, is not living up to his expectations. I thought it was very impressive that Okonkwo was able to grow up to become this fearless man unlike his father who was a coward.
What I don't understand is why he is so harsh to his wives. He beats his second wife for not cooking his meal in time. Is this part of the African culture in Umofia? Couldn't he just talk to her in a angry voice instead of going violently berserk on her? Though when this happened I felt this was the first cause for Okonkwo's life to go down the drain. He disturbed the peace during his village's "Week of Peace" by beating his second wife and I think its the gods punishing him for his crime. From this point on Okonkwo just got more and more bad luck that finally led to his seven year exile from Umofia.
Also what do you guys think happened to Ezinma when the priestess of Agbala took her away to see Agbala in the middle of the night? They never went back to talk about what happend to Ezinma and throughout the story that event never came back up.
The beginning of this book was pretty interesting. I liked reading in depth about the culture of Umuofia, it's very different. It is however challenging to read through because if I sped up my pace, I stumbled on many of the words, so it's something that I have to read more slowly and it's a bit hard to get used to. As I said though, I'm really interested in the culture so it isn't bad. My immediate reaction to this era is in a sense awe. It's hard for me to imagine that there are and were people who so strongly participated in these kinds of beliefs. In that time, the people never talked about why they believed or did what they did, they just followed along. The last part I wanted to add is from page 57 to page 61, when Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna. It's really sad that, despite knowing how he feels, Okonkwo won't do anything to stand up for what is right. When he comes back, some people said that he shouldn't have done it and until he finds something to keep himself busy, he is plagued by awful feelings. That scene just reinforces that the people as a whole don't ask questions.
Starting out my comment on the first third of my book I must touch upon the importance of the African culture on the book. The culture is so saturated into the story it is hard to get away from and often I find I am more intrigued with the cultural traditions and beliefs in Umuofia. As I started reading the language began to confuse me but as I was drawn more into the story I learned to focus more on what was going on and the words seemed to just fit themselves into place.
Referring to the poem at the beginning of the book, I think it best describes this never ending cycle that Umuofia is stuck in which has been set by its immense culture. The “gyre” seems to mean this cycle and along with it Okonkwo seems to be stuck in his own cycle which stems from his hatred of his fathers life. I think it foreshadows that this cycle which both Okonkwo and his village has been stuck in will be challenged by outsiders and as this “anarchy” takes hold it will cause major struggle.
The most intriguing part of the story for me must be Okonkwo’s need to separate him from what his father left him. The disappointment and shame that he has towards his father really helps in developing him as a character and helps make him slightly more relatable for me. He seems to have two sides to himself, on the exterior he seems almost cruel to me, but as Achebe describes where he came from it helps me to look past his actions and see what he overcame.
I feel like I am all over the place in this post, but I must touch upon the contrast between our society and the African culture represented in the book. The first thing that struck me was the role of women in the book. I guess it stems from the focus on women’s roles in World History AP last year, but it was shocking the way that women were treated. The fact that a man was allowed to have multiple wives was hard to wrap my mind around and the relations between Okonkwo and his children was also hard to grasp. I think that the cultural differences between us and the society in this book make it even more interesting for me and at this point is my favorite part of the book.
This book so far is really intriguing because of all these weird and sometimes barbarous customs. They have so many superstitions that play a big part in how they live their lives, it seems pretty overwhelming. And to add on, each society has a different set of customs and beliefs—something that is considered good in one community could be negative in another. There really isn’t much to relate to.
As for Okonkwo, I feel like his idea of what makes a true man is a more extreme version of what most in his tribe believe. This has to do with his hate for his lazy and worthless father, and fear of turning into him. This also makes it seem like he can’t think for himself. Not only is he bound by the many customs of his tribe, but also by his own fear. This fear causes him to “rule” over his household with a strict and cruel hand. He tries to control his family, although he really has no control over himself. He even killed someone who was basically his own son, out of fear of seeming weak if he didn’t do it himself. All of this is why I can’t stand the guy. I realized this when Okonkwo went to talk to his friend, Obierika (I have to look back in the book every time for these names). He told Okonkwo that he would not have killed his own “son” the way he did and this was the first time I realized what he did was considered bad, or at least not normal. Whenever I read something that surprises me, I won’t know how the characters in the book would react, so I can’t really judge how grave a situation is. I know at least that Nwoye thought it was as bad as I did.
I think I’m going to predict that Nwoye is going to end up hating his father for being too “manly” and then he’ll want to be nothing like him. Either that or he turns out well in things other than fighting or wrestling.
Like many of you mention I find the use of names and references hard in this book. The names are hard to remember, every time when I thought I know this character, it turns out that I confused it with another. However, it got easier after a couple of chapters.
To respond to what Mel and Malik said about Okonkwo trying to be the opposite of his farther I completely agree. The way I see it he uses violence as a way to differentiate between his father and himself. Even in the beginning of the book he kept on mentioning how he hated his father that he never wants to become like that. A weak man who couldn’t even provide for himself. I think acting out is his way of showing that he is not weak, that he has the strength to protect himself and what belongs to him. Just like how he became famous for winning the wrestling match.
Based on the book “How to Read Lit Like Pro” one of the chapters mention that we as readers shouldn’t read through our own eyes, rather through the perception of the characters. Like what Chloe and Ngoc said, if you look at it as a person from that time period and setting, you wouldn’t react so strongly. They’ve always lived that way, from their point of view, having multiple wives shows sign of wealth like many of you mention. I'm not surprised about it because I can relate to it. In Ancient China, when there was still kings and queens, the king often have one queen and can have up to hundreds of concubines. That shows his wealth and power as the ruler of the country. Similarity high position officials often take multiple wives also. It all comes to represent power and wealth one has in their society.
Hmm...kind of tough for me to say what I make of the book as of yet. However, there does seem to be some instances where peace is priority, but then there are some instances where violence and hatred seem to be dominant.
Regarding peace, it was definitely a huge part of the near-war between Umofia and Mbaino. Ogbuefi decides to offer a peaceful resolution between the two tribes, or else there will be war. However, I find it a little ironic that Okonkwo was the one that delivered the message, seeing as he is well known for his prowess in battle and his iron-clad dominion over his household. Another instance where peace seems to be dominant is just in regular society. The breaking of the kola nut seems to be a pretty important tradition, and always seems to be a necessity, no matter what the following conversations will discuss.
Okonkwo is actually quite boring to me. I'm not really a big fan of how he has been presented so far in the novel, and he actually bores me quite a bit.
This book is a good read, so far. It's easy to follow along (except for the names - they all look the same, and it's kind of hard to keep track of who's who.) It's hard to tell where and when the book is taking place, but it's clearly far in the past, back when polygamy showed how wealthy you were, along with numerous children. I like that the story goes more in-depth with the children of Okonkwo's marriages, because other stories I've heard like that don't go into dept about the children of these marriages, and I've always been curious to see how the relationship is with the father. As for Ikemefuna, I wonder if he will (in the form of an idea or theme) return in the story, having been killed so early on. I ask because it seems that he really altered Okonkwo's way of life, and feel he is much more important later in the story.
I also see that there is a major importance concerning the harvest and the friendship that comes from a Kola nut and alligator salt. These are both very important to the power of their village. Okonkwo, I think, relies on his harvest so much because he needs to prove to himself that he can be better than his father. The kola nut idea, I believe is just a custom that those in the village are familiar with when sharing important news or asking a favor.
Okay, first off the names in this book, have given me a tough time simply because I can't keep track of whose who, and that they are really hard to pronounce. However, the reading itself is easy. I don't think I like it very much though. I feel as though Okonkwo looks down too much on weakness, and that he has the wrong impression of weakness. With the example of his father I can see why he would look down on weakness but at the same time he fails to see the beauty in what his father had so much love for. He focuses too much on strength.
In regards to Okonkwos status in his village, I do see what "How to read Like a Professor" was talking about, Okonkwo is kind of like a Christ figure. However, I see him more as a Hercules figure like in the 5th chapter of How To Read... I feel as though the author is drawing from history (particularly the myth of Hercules) for example: Okonkwo like Hercules is what he is today because of his tragic past. Hercules did his twelve deeds to redeem himself. and in a way Okonkwo is working so hard to redeem himself and be better than his father.
The first part of the book like Chloe mentioned is set there to create the setting and give the readers background information on the culture and social interaction. I also believe though that this section of the book was used to show the reader the way in which Okonkwo was at odds with his own traditions. The most important of these examples is in ch4 when he beats his wife during the “week of peace” . And in ch7 we see how he goes against the warning of the oracle and attacks his “son”. In ch12 we see how he is prepared to go against his gods laws to protect his daughter. All of these outbursts of anger are due to his need of disassociating himself from his father. He strives to be the exact opposite of what his father was, and by doing so goes against anything that he considers feminine and weak. I see irony in his actions though, since by being so consumed in the idea of being manly and not showing his emotions he demonstrates a lack of strength in controlling his actions based on them. Sure he doesn’t let show how he is deeply “concerned” for his daughter, or how much he cares for his family, but he is not shy in letting his anger forth. This anger is what lead to his sin during the week of peace and it is his emotions that are center cause for his attack on Ikemefuna. Most importantly it is his emotional turmoil and concern that lead him to the caves to defend his daughter. Concerning his daughter, I find it interesting how Okonkwo has more respect for her than he does for his sons. He repeatedly wished that she were a boy and tell Obierika that this is because she has the “right spirit”. This seemed to me that Okonkwos definition of manliness may not actually have to do with a person’s gender but of their ideals and the strengths in which they present themselves. She is also not the only female that he has respect for since he does a certain fear/respect of Chielo. It is because of his disregard for the woth of anything that has to do with the opposite gender, that I find it interesting how he has to go seek refuge in his mother’s village. This leads me to my final point concerning the white men. The locusts I thought were a foreshadowing of the plague that would be the Christian missionaries. A locust plague is dangerous in the way that it can bring a village to ruin, and I think that is deeply symbolic in regard to the white men. Also when they are compared to the lepers (ch8) I see the idea of wasting away represented again. I was wondering though on the connection between the time that the locust would stay and the time in which Okonkwo would stay in exile, both were 7 years. I fail to see a connection here.
As with many of the others, the only hindrances the book has brought forth so far for me have been the naming and the culture that is so deeply embedded into the story. I can admit to knowing nearly nothing about African culture, and Achebe writes as though he assumes the reader knows all of the terminology and customs. There have been quite a few instances of proverbs and handed down sayings, some of which I couldn't possibly decipher because I don't come from the same background.
That, and did anybody else find the drinking out of the human head thing strange? The author really only mentions it then continues on, because it is a minor detail, but coming from our culture it is fascinating that something like that is commonplace.
I agree with stef that Chinua Achebe does seem to utilize imagery frequently. As I read through the first third of the book, I felt as though I had been transported to a realm within the wilderness. This wilderness would not include people as “evolved” and structured as we are today, but rather those who bear similar characteristics to our primitive ancestors, as Chloe had stated. The reason that I am imagining that the story’s setting is outside of a city is because of the manners of the people. Everyone of the Umuofia village builds their life around violence—wrestling and intertribal warfare. Notice how anger and hatred, and other dark qualities, motivate these forms of violence. People bearing these qualities reflect their dark, innately evil nature inside of them, which man is born with. The Umuofians allow us to picture the evil of man. From domestic beatings, which are accepted, to the people prizes of war, there is clearly no authority figure around with the level of ethics and control as found in today’s society. I mean, come on, when an old woman is killed to be a medicine and people are passed around as compensation, we know that something is not right there.
Referring back to Lord of the Flies, the many instances of drumming is not a coincidence. These beatings stimulate the body (adrenaline), capable of starting uncontrollable frenzies. Usually “dancing” requires some sort of music. The dancing here is not the average pastime. Instead, it is a sign or indication of the presence of primitive behavior. The music here is the beatings of the drums.
There was an instance during the novel where
“The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people.”
Wrestling can be viewed as an act of “dancing”. Ikezue and Okafo are simply the dancers and their art of wrestling is stimulated by the drumming in the background. The very fact that the drummings were described to have come from the Umuofians themselves and not the drums indicates the level of savagery and primitive behavior in the scene. When a person thinks about it, dancing in the wilderness attracts evil, and inevitably the devil himself. Dancing is an act of defying the structures of society, including the many laws which enforce it. The devil, who encourages one to sin, would propose dancing. Being described as “primitive” isn’t a good thing as well. This usually refers a person to be like those cavemen from long ago—having a foolish and uncontrollable appeal to them.
Chinua Achebe may be trying to comment on human nature and how it has become so corrupt and impure during these past centuries. There is an increase in violent act ivies in society today, some of which are present in the book. Whether he is trying to remind us that man has a tendency to be evil or to introduce it to us for the first time, Achebe definitely has my attention when it comes to this subject.
P.S. I wonder if, in time, Okonkwo will grow and forgive his father for his failures.
The book feels, to me like a story of an adult's (Onkonkwo) interpretation of his early ancestors failures in life as he tries to live his life opposite to his father's(Unoka). Onkonkwo as a child in the book seemed to hate the way his father was looked like through the village as a lazy, leaching man who couldn't take care of his responsibilities and left it basically up to the village and their crop. Onkonkwo clearly does become the total opposite of his father a strong man, with I believe three wives(?) The only problem I have with Onkonkwo's ways is his violent aggressive attitude towards almost everyone in the village to prove his "manhood", he pushes around & abuses his wive(s) and children, even the child he has "abducted" or taken under the law of the village (Ikemefuna) seems afraid of him. He forces his control on all the people around him to show he is not like his father when it already seen by many with little action. The only time he seems any how calm and cool towards anyone is when he realizes the Ikemefuna is a good influence on his son Nwoye, who is described in the text as a softened boy (Which can't hardly be his fault because he has been mostly raised by his mother or mothers)
I can't wait to get through this and see how the title and the theme come together...
This site will be the summer resource for students in Mr. Gallagher and Ms. Clapp's AP Literature courses. You'll come here to discuss summer reading, college searches and applications, and literary topics in general.
34 comments:
To start with, the book is good so far. I found the names are difficult because it seem like they have the same name, and it’s kind of confusing. I feel like back then, they were very strict, there's upper and lower class. I have a question. If you were to marry more than once would that show how rich and wealthy you were? If yes, do you have to marry more than once to show how rich you were?
Yes, I agree that the more wives you have represent the power and wealth you have. In the first chapter, Okonkwo demonstrates his strength as a man when he defeats the undefeated Amalinze Cat. In the second chapter, it mentions about Okonkwo's prosperity by his abundance of yams and housing huts. I believe that Okonkwo's progress of success determines how many wives he may receive.
So far, I find that the book is quite intriguing. I sense that Okonkwo is really a good person, but he's too afraid to show it. He fears that he might become like his old man who was always lazy. Okonkwo is "possessed by the fear of his father's contemptible life and shameful death." It is this fear that drives Okonkwo to his success and his harshness towards his family. Somehow I feel bad for Okonkwo's childhood because his lazy father couldn't provide for the family. It must have been very embarrassing when other people say that your father was a 'woman', not a man. The setting is Africa. Back then, men in the society must not show weakness. They are the ones who dictate. Therefore, for a man to be addressed as a 'woman' was very shameful indeed.
Okay, that's all I wanted to say...quite long though. ^.^
I kind of agreed with you, that his a good person, but his afraid to show it, but still the way his treating his wife, does not show that he a good person, especially the second wife, he beat her up, because his food was not ready. He has three wives, why couldn't he make the other wives cook for him? I really don't see why he making a big deal out of it. I feel he cares more about his yams then his family, and that is sad. His second wife” cut a few leaves off it to wrap food." he gave her a sound of beating". Come on, if that was her first time doing that, why couldn’t he talk to her and tell her not to ever to do it again, but he rather beats her. What’s worst is that he went inside and took a gun "aimed at her as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn." he even pull the trigger, but thanks to God, nothing happen. That guy has some real anger issue going on.
Okonkwo has three wives. Each wife has their own rank. Apparently, the first wife is the most important wife because she is the "first wife". On page 20, it mentions how "Anasi was the first wife and the others [the younger wives] could not drink before her, so they stood waiting...she also wore the anklet of her husband's titles, which the first wife alone could wear." Gaelle, I think when you said that Okonkwo beat up his second wife for not making the afternoon meal, you really meant his third wife. I agree with you about the unfairness that Okonkwo displays towards his third wife. He overreacts and beat her up during the Week of Peace. Nevertheless, because Okonkwo is a very traditional man, he follows the ways in his village. Since his first two wives are considered superior by their rank, the third wife is considered the youngest and naïve. The younger wives must always respect the elder wife/wives. It’s unfair for the third wife, but I think that’s how this household works. But then again, there’s also the fact that Okonkwo has a great temper so it really does sound unfair for his wives.
Wife and husband can also be seen as masculinity versus femininity. I’m not sure what time this story takes place, but it’s definitely not the 21st century. Like on pages 73-74, it is considered nonsense for a man to be rank underneath his wife. Okonkwo learns that there’s such thing as when a man marries, his children and he belong to his wife’s family, thus taking her family name. You can actually relate this “family thing” to present day today. In most cases, children take their father’s surname when they’re born or that the wife takes her husband’s surname.
I definitely think that the language in the book is quite the impediment, more so than in The Remains of the Day. That being said, I do understand that this is a very cultural peace. With every work of literature (or art for that matter) that is representative of a vastly different culture or lifestyle, there are two distinct perspectives to see it from. Our Americanized perspective produces reactions such as the ones mentioned (injustice towards women, cruelty, the disadvantages of stoicism), but we also must consider the perspective of the African people. For them, these things are the norm. Men are superior to women. That isn’t something that Okonkwo came up with on a boring afternoon; it is the way of the land.
However, from a reader/plot perspective, I’m having trouble seeing where the book could possibly go. The problem with Things Fall Apart being so deeply immersed in the African culture is that there is so little opportunity for change. As can be seen when Okonkwo kills his “son” (the sacrifice kid from the other village), there is no tolerance for anyone doing anything outside of their expected duties. Without this possibility for improvement or change (both internal and external), I’m not finding myself very interested in Okonkwo or anything happening to him. He is an example of his culture, and often literature isn’t created for a complicated plot but to paint a picture of a way of life. Unfortunately, I’m just finding the culture confusing rather than fascinating, so I’m curious to see where the book will take us (if anywhere).
I agree when you guys pointed out the significance of status and the importance of numerous wives in their culture, but I focused more on symbolic meaning as I was reading this book. I based most of my thoughts on the book “How to Read Literature like a Professor”. Very early in the book, Okonkwo was portrayed as a strong and important man in his civilization. Regardless of his faults such as abusing his wives through cruel punishment, he was respected and very prominent in his civilization. This persona that was formed reminded me of a Christ figure that was brought up in “How to Read Literature like a Professor”. Not all characters can be as perfect as the original Christ, but Okonkwo resembles him very well. I also drew this connection from the numerous meetings Okonkwo attended that consisted of wine and kola nut. There were many meetings that consisted of breaking kola nut which resembled breaking bread, as in communion. I think this signified a coming together of people. Wine also comes up a lot in the first part of the book. They used it for ceremonies inside the huts, as well as the marriage ceremony where 50 jugs of wine were offered. Though Okonkwo is very much feared and aggressive, he fits the description of a Christ figure.
One other character that resembled a Christ figure was Ezinma, Ekwefi’s daughter. Her characteristics were not as bold and strong as Okonkwo, but her history made me think of sacrifice. Her mother Ekwefi gave birth to nine other children who had died in infancy. Ezinma was the only child who survived. The situation of Ezinma being born through those other children made me think of sacrifice and Ezinma fighting off their evil spirits. In a way, she shed the impurity of her other siblings, and was reborn into a pure spirit. In the same, Christ was reborn as well.
One part of the book that really interested me was the “quest” that Ekwefi went on when she was following Ezinma and Chielo. “How to Read Literature like a Professor” mentioned characteristics of a “quest” that consisted of a knight, danger, a Holy Grail, evil knight, and princess. In this setting, I found Ekwefi to be the night, the dark trail to be danger, Ezinma’s safety to be the Holy Grail, Agbala to be the dragon, Chielo to be the evil knight, and Ezinma to be the princess that needed to be rescued. I think that this journey to save Ezinma brought Ekwefi and Okonkwo closer as husband and wife. Overall, I think that the author uses Okonkwo and Ezinma as Christ figures regardless of their impurities and imperfections.
Some nice use of How to Read here...be sure you check out the source of the title (the poem should be in the front of the book - if not, it's Yeats) and consider how that fits with the story as it unfolds. You also should think about this as a tragedy, which it is...what are we supposed to get out of a tragedy?
I also tried connecting this book to what I have read in How To Read Literature Like a Professor. It is interesting how Kellie brought up the connection between Okonkwo and Christ because I had never thought of that myself. But rather than being god of the whole universe I find that he is rather trying to keep his position as god in his home. On a deeper note, he might also be trying to rule himself. For example, as mentioned earlier, he may be a better person on the inside but the African culture and lifestyles practically forbids any sort of affection coming from men. He cannot let his macho appearance slip. Another example would be when Ikemefuna was sentenced to death. Even I thought he could not be that desperate to save face, but he killed him! I find his "soft side" to be a temptation in which he struggles with often.
Ms. Clapp brought up how this is supposed to be viewed as a tragedy. Going off of that I believe this story discusses/reveals the tragedies of humanity. Human minds have come to progress into competitive and fierce fighters. Referring to the poem and the title of the book I deciphered that perhaps our world has come to nothing more than pure chaos. No one can hear what another is saying (or doesn't care to do so). Even though the book mentions a "week of peace" it is only one week! Is it necessary for peace to be scheduled? I believe Achebe is trying to point out that human values are fading and life has become a cycle of violence and neglect.
Like Hillary (hilldizzle) and Kellie, I did initially, think about connecting this book to what I learned in How To Read Like a Professor, but I got more caught up in absorbing and understanding the culture of the book.
First of all, it’s so different from the culture we have in this country. For example having more then one wife? Even having several wives for that matter. The one accept of their culture that wasn’t such a culture shock for me was the whole men being so forcefully dominant and also having to be “masculine.” And I put masculine in quotation marks because really, how can being masculine or feminine be defined? If men show any emotion other then being fierce and courageous does that make them girls? And when women are being courageous and taking charge, does that make them masculine? But of course, even today, boys try to prove their “manly” all the time. But as for girls, I would say that at least in our society, women are now, well have been, taking on more “dominant” roles such as taking charge in the workforce and bringing home money and being in charge in general, just like men. That doesn’t make women masculine, right?
What I think the poem in the beginning of the book might have to do with the story is that as we live out the lives we assume others except us to have, like back then when men and women were just expected to have certain roles, “turning and turning in the widening gyre,” we end up not listening to our selves and what we really want. So then we end up having bumps in the road that we can’t fix and “things fall apart” in our lives.
Maybe, because Okonkwo is living his masculine life, his life will fall apart because he isn’t listening to him heart. Just like when he didn’t want to kill his “son” Ikemefuna but did anyways because he thought everyone expected him to be fearless even towards his own emotions. Then he ended up suffering the emotional consequences. And now, his masculinity has made him have to leave his home. Well I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next to parts, but I’m assuming, since this is a tragedy, his life is not going to get any better if he doesn’t listen to his emotions.
When I first started reading “Things Fall Apart” an automatic distinction was placed to contrast Okonkwo from his father, Unoka. I found it interesting that a father and son in this culture did not have a common ground. While reading I got the feeling that the men of this society follow in the footsteps of their father, especially in the African culture.
A strong sense of imagery is used to depict the night life of the village, the darks holds an unknown, ominous factor that can be defined as freighting toward the local people. The scenery outdoors could also translate to the constant demeanor of Okonkwo. His fiert temper is result of his inner fears and a direct correlation not to follow in the path of his deceased father. Okonkwo’s choice to lock away his true feelings only yields detrimental effects for his family. The lack of emotions exhibited could be categorized as a weakness because of his inability to come to terms with sentimental emotions. When Okonkwo killed “his son” he felt remorseful afterwards. The actions he chose to act out ate him up inside because he was too stubborn to tell anyone how he really felt. He was too busy worrying about what the community would think of him if he did not kill “his son” even though he was advised not to take part in his death. His community holds him on a pedestal while his family has been forced to walk on egg shells to placate Okonkwo.
On the other hand, Okonkwo’s unfortunate start at life does not necessarily mean that he has to keep it as a reminder in his life. Okonkwo used his misfortune to make a better life for himself and his family instead of making up excuses. As Okonkwo got older he felt that he had to be “successful” to prove a point. To Okonkwo, being successful means being everything that his father was unable to be and more.
His actions set off signals as to why Okonkwo continues to treat his wives poorly. At this point and time women were seen as secondary. All the men made the important decisions so the well being of the women were not primarily important. The men were only concerned with their wives ability to have healthy children, especially boys. To answer Stephanie’s question (If men show any emotion other then being fierce and courageous does that make them girls?), I think that the men in this community have to be strong if they want to be respected by others. In previous era men were always being placed in the dominant roles. Women were always placed in roles that were more “feminine”. While women who tried to stand up against men were heavily beaten. In this society’s hierocracy men were made to be placed at the top of the totem pole. If they did not claim the place that they were meant to; they were viewed as failures. Unoka was a man who did not show the typical emotion of other men in the community. As a result, the people saw him in a negative light. He was seen as a failure, especially in the eyes of his son.
So, I think I will start this comment with Okonkwo's father. It is mentioned in the book the Okonkwo saw his father as nothing more than a failure, a "woman." But what he doesn't realize is that the book continually emphasizes the relationship aspect that Unoka (the father) has with the others. Although he is poor and hundreds in debt, people still continue to lend him money and continue to help him when he is in need. He is not respected by some, but the characters that we do see, they are still his friends. Okonkwo doesn't realize that his father is just as strong. He is able to continue with life although he is labeled as a woman. Unoka loves his flute and his music but also he loves the peace of staying home and being around his family, something that Okonkwo lacks heavily, something that the clan lacks also, as they are known for their warriors. I believe that Okonkwo is on a journey, to realize the importance of family and human relationships compared power, what he believes now is everything.
Another interesting topic that kept coming up was the idea of darkness, of fear. It said that the "night was always quiet except on moonlight nights. Darkness held a vague terror for these people even the bravest among them." This is like what they are afraid to admit, it is their inner self that they do not want to show, because they are afraid of their outcomes in the clan. Similarly, light, fire, sun, and heat seems to symbolize anger. Okonkwo has a lot of anger to the world, but also the clan has anger too. It seems that even the eldest, the one who warned Okonkwo to not take part in killing his "son" knew that it was wrong, but followed because it is in their culture to do so. It tells us that everyone in the clan knows what how they really feel, but are too ashamed or too scared to actually show it.
As many mentioned before, I also believe that the wives symbolize power and wealth for Okonkwo. What I found really interesting was Okonkwo's knowledge of his second wife already having a husband, and then continued to run off to okonkwo, and he accepted. He said himself that a man has to have power and status over their own wives, then why would he marry a woman that came to him as a "lover." Did he love her that much? Or maybe it his another chance for him to show his power, his ability to take a woman from another man, showing his superiority to the man? Along the way, we find that Okonkwo's soft side begins to show, not only with his "son" but also with his wives. When his daughter was brought away, he waited a "manly" enough hour before he showed but it is clear that he was worried, but even at that moment, having face is still more important to him. But this little moment begins to show that Okonkwo is more caring, or more willing to admit it. In the beginning of the book, he was the warrior, the powerful, best wrestler of the nine villages and not once, did it say anything about Okonkow's feelings other than of hunger or anger.
Now, things fall apart, right when the first part ends, Okonkwo kills a boy by accident, this shows Okonkwo's down fall. But in a sense, I believe his journey just started, to become something different from who he was, to have emotions other than anger, and he has to learn this.
I think I’ll begin by saying that for me, this book was a hundred times easier to read. I read “The Remains of the Day” first, and in comparison, I flew through this book. I don’t know if it was the size of the font or what, but I definitely found the language more manageable. Granted, the names were killer to try to pronounce in your head, so I just took the shortest of my mispronunciations and used that!
I am sure there are more eloquent ways of expressing this, but WOW. This book is about 80% culture and 20% story. The author uses the actual Ibo names for most of the specialized terms, and goes into extensive (extremely extensive) anecdotes detailing the individual customs of the Umuofia tribe. It is fascinating to learn about, but I find myself wondering just a little bit what the point is. I guess it sort of sets the scene in the tribe and about Okonkwo’s life. For instance the first story the author recounts, regarding what people thought of Unoka in terms of their society’s expectations of a man’s values, is used as a contrast to detail the behavior and shame that have shaped Okonkwo.
To my surprise, the author didn’t exactly demonize Unoka either. They made him lazy, but they kept him human. He was lazy, but he was passionate in his own ways despite his shortcomings in the lieu of what everyone else thought was more important. He was lazy, but like Belinda said, he still managed to keep in everyone’s good graces enough to keep borrowing money from them, and that’s saying something. He had friends, he had a family, and he probably had more fun than most people. At a very early stage in the book, the narrator introduces a key aspect of the novel: the intense structure of morality within the tribe, and the even more extreme struggle Okonkwo fights to show no sign that he is his father’s son.
Let’s face it, we all knew that Ikemefuna was going to be killed, and if you saw his death coming, you probably also saw Okonkwo being the one to do it. The author did a perfectly good job of foreshadowing his death, touting ominous warning signs like “the elders seemed to have forgotten about him.” (52) Well “seeming” never quite is, so right off the bat you knew that they had finally remembered that they needed to exact punishment.
Okonkwo’s necessity to express his virility is really nauseating. He already has the respect of the entire village and all the other villages in his tribe, so why, when Obierka tells him not to go with everyone into the forest, does he? Obierka, a man of equally high renown tells him specifically that no one is going to think less of him for going into the forest and watching (and later participating in) his son’s death. I think his actions have a rather controversial effect on the rest of the story. Rather than promoting his manhood, I think he kind of over-shoots it and reveals a little bit of his desperation to stay in his position of power.
Of course, the book’s title is “Things Fall Apart” so in a karmic turn of events, Okonkwo’s gun explodes and happens to kill a vibrant youth member of his tribe (in cosmic recompense perhaps?) forcing him into exile for 7 years. I may be Christian myself, but those gods certainly know how to make for a compelling story.
Reading the second coming by Yeats after finishing the first third of the novel helped me understand where the novel was going and it also shed some light on the Unoku’s society.
“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The Falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.
Titled the second coming, the poem is representative of Umuofia and how like a gyre, the village continues a circular course. Rigid cultural and societal norms contain everyone within this plane. These range from the kola fruit that you guys brought up, the festivals and the expectations that are placed on men to lead successful and fulfilling lives. These standards are extremely insistent and if they are not consistent through the lives of the villagers then they are immediately disposed off i.e. Okonkwo’s father.
However, in this particular tale, things will begin to fall apart and changes will ultimately disrupt the meticulous structure of the village. These new occurrences will not yield with the present systems and as a result “anarchy” will be unleashed.
Unoka was detrimental to the system that the village followed. He was a debtor and unlike his fellow men a failure as a farmer. Achebe describes him as “very thin” and “wore a haggard and mournful look.” Immediately the author creates a distinction from every other strong and able man through Unoka’s characterization. Instead of tending to his yams, he was more likely to compose tunes on his flit because it brought him “peace.” Additionally, Unoka was a “coward” and could not stand the “sight of blood.” --- How has this man been able to survive in this village for so long?!?! As a result of being the exact opposite of every other man in the village, he was ultimately forgotten as he was left to die in the Evil Forest.
Like Unoka, other characters who did not fit into the village’s system and who were different were expelled. Okonkwo and other villagers in the forest killed Ikemefuna, a boy from a nearby village who was a positive aspect of Okonkwo’s household and to the rest of the village.
Although Okonkwo works feverishly to prevent himself from becoming even the slightest bit like his father, he is more like him then he would like to believe. Okonkwo’s action has made him almost an outsider to the village. For example when he beat his wife during the Week of Peace he disregarded the spiritual laws of the village and as a result was punished by the village priest. Furthermore, even the oldest men “could only remember one or two other occasions somewhere in the dim past.” Also, Okonkwo has grown so infatuated with his yam farm that by the Feat of New Yams he was never as “enthusiastic” as other people. Several other instances have surmised where he has had conflicts with the elders and the laws of the gods.
This is also attributed to the fact that male chauvinism reeks in this novel. All of these men particularly Okonkwo feel that women are vastly insignificant to them, and showing emotions and sentiment is a sign of weakness. I thought that the wrestling tournament was interesting and symbolic of the power of men in this society. During this festival Achebe accentuates the “frenzied drums” as the men began to wrestle. This event vaulted men miles ahead of women in terms of power, importance, and made them seem almost heavenly as the drummers “became ordinary human beings” after they stopped to break.
Overall, it will be interesting to see where Okonkwo’s boisterousness will lead him, and whether he will be expelled into the, DUM DUM DUMM, Evil Forest!!!!
I find the names of the characters in this book very challenging. They're hard to pronounce and we, the readers have no knowledge in how to pronounce them. I like the old folk stories and tales aura about the book but there are some customs they practice that i don't like. I know it is due to the time and especially the place. For example I don't like the gender discrimination that takes place in the book. They treat women in such a condescending manner that it disgusts me. They have no opinions, no rights and they only live to serve men, I hate that about the novel. I also agree that the more wives one has the more power, but that's not what it should be about, I think that's ridiculous about their culture. I allude that part of their culture to the bible because that's the way men were during those ancient times. They had multiple wives and multiple children, the more wives they had signified more power and importance.
I disagree, I don't think Okonkwo is as such a good person as one of the previous readers said. I think a good person would show a little sympathy regardless of what they have to display to the public. I do think he's a potentially good person though, he's not there yet. I agree that his father was lazy and couldn't provide him with the best childhood, but that doesn't justify his harshness towards his family. On page 13-14 it talks about how Okonkwo "sought to correct Nwoye by constant nagging abd beating" which caused him to develop in a "sad faced youth". It seems to have the same end result to me because Okonkwo was miserable because of his father's inability to provide for his family, but Okonkwo's son is also miserable, while Okonkwo is very successful. That comes to show it doesn't matter that Okonkwo is successful, he needs to be more sympathetic towards his family, especially his children. Although his father wasn't the best example, he had a very lively and innocent spirit, His "face beamed when he changed the subject and talked about music", I liked that about his character, such thing can never be said about Okonkwo. One thing I really didn't like in the book is how Okonkwo took part in killing Ikemufe,he was really fond of him, but he did it because he was afraid of what people would think. That part of the book made me sad because it is not his fault his father committed a crime, he shouldn't have to pay for it. That's when I really thought about how ridiculous their customs are because of where they live and the period of time they were living in. Overall I do like the book, because I feel as if someone is telling me old African folk tales.
I'm going to assume that the first part of the book was "Part 1" and not one third of the book.
Running with what Keith and David R. said, I believe that this first section was purely here to tell the audience about the culture in that village. To set the scene. Almost every important ritual is described, cleverly disguised as a part of the story. The importance of yams, the concept of manliness and its association with wrestling, the Week of Peace, various punishment laws, polygamy, their religios system, marraige and much more are expounded upon in no particular order and for no particular pupose. Only in the last few pages of this section do we see the becomings of a plot. That does not mean that you can't find meaning in what seems to be half the book.
My first impressions (before reading the back of the book) was that the society seemed old and ritualistic. I immediately thought Native American. What really surprised me was the gun. It didn't seem to fit in with the time period or culture. All it does is bring discord. My theory is that the gun symbolizes the modernazation that brings nothing but harm. It almost hit Okonkwo's "shaken and frighted but quite unhurt" third wife and did kill well respected Ezuedu's 16 year old son.
I notice a lot of people are outraged about the gender disparity. I would like to reference "How to Read Like a Professor" here and say- don't read with YOUR eyes. Their culture also includes laws. To break from them would be like breaking a law. It just isn't done.
I seem to remember in the beginning that the city allows the son to live free from his father's shadow. That's why Okonkwo didn't have to pay his father's debt. My question, then, is why is Ikemefuna killed instead of his father, who supposedly killed the wandering woman? They should have asked for the killer in the first place.
I don't particularly like Okonkwo. But I don't dislike him either. I don't dislike this book (a rare case for me) probably because the village seems like a alien place to me. The characters are far less predictable. I feel like Okonkwo is trying to epitomize manliness to prove something to himself. He needs to know that he is not his father's son. "Deny thy father and refuse thy name"
This book is way easier to read than The remains of The Day. I think it’s really interesting to see this other culture and their customs, even though there’s a lot that they do that I disagree with. But I like it.
The way they treat their women is very barbaric. From what I can see the more wives you have the better, the manlier you are. I think that it sucks the way they are treated.
From what I can see of Okonkwo’s marriage, the wives are there to serve the men. Even though they answer to the husband they don’t really interact with each other as a couple. I thought it was interesting how every wife has to prepare a meal for the husband. Their society also allows the husband to beat their wives, and they don’t get any punishment for that. It seems like Okonkwo is always s taking his anger out on someone in his family, whether it’s his sons or his wives. Like when he beat his wife for taking some leaves off of a tree, how stupid is that.
I see that like in The Remains of the Day, this character also has a problem with his emotions. The only thing he knows how to show is anger. He’s not affectionate, and has no idea how to love. He sees it as a sort of weakness, so he doesn’t deal with that.
I was very surprised when Okonkwo, killed Ikemefuna. It’s so weird that just because someone tells them to kill they go and kill. He’s been there for years, not harming anyone and they decide to kill him. What’s the reason for that? It was very sad because you could see that Okonkwo viewed him as a son and thought that he was leading his other boys in the right direction. Everyone already knew what was taking place. I don’t think that Okonkwo should have gone. But even if he was there he shouldn’t have taken part in killing him. That was just wrong.
The way their society deal with things is kind of weird. Like how when people have twins they throw them away, that’s just stupid. Even though it seems like they don’t really have any rules, they do. Like how Okonkwo was exiled for 7 years because he killed someone. Even though he didn’t mean to, he did do it. I just didn’t like the fact that they just burned down his place. Shouldn’t sending him away be enough? So he lost everything, and he has to start all over because of one mistake. They shouldn’t be using guns and machetes to celebrate anyways.
To start off this comment, I found the book very intriguing yet difficult to follow at times due to the language. However, after reading a few chapters, it became much easier to understand the plot and the author's intentions. In the beginning of the novel, the author focuses primarily on introducing the African culture to the reader through the various customs such as ceremonies and festivals. Also Achebe spends a considerable amount of time emphasizing the roles of men, women, and children in the society to establish the idea of a male dominated environment. Before the reader is even introduced to all of the characters in the novel, Achebe mentions how Okonkwo is “known throughout the nine villages” for beating “Amalinze the Cat” in a wrestling match. Furthermore, he achieves his titles in Umuofia due to his valor. From this point onwards, the reader is taken on a journey where Okonkwo struggles to maintain his fame in Umuofia through his various acts of violence. Okonkwo’s fear of resembling his father, Unoka and becoming a “woman” provokes him to lash out against his wives and children in order to appear “manly”. For example, Nwoye develops into a “sad-faced youth” due to the constant beating from his father. Similarly even though, Ikemefuna proves to be a good son and influences Nwoye to take on more “masculine tasks”, his father kills him to avoid “being thought [of] [as] weak”. Despite these acts of violence, Okonkwo begins to resemble his father even more through his disregard for the rules of the elders, which is exemplified by when Okonkwo beats Ekwefi during the “Week of Peace”. I agree with Ayoub on the idea that even though Okonkwo is constantly striving to be a different person than Unoka, he eventually assumes the role of his father as an outsider. This proves to be ironic since Okonkwo has spent his entire life building a reputation that differs from his father in every aspect, yet his fear of resembling his father eventually prevails.
Another aspect of male domination that I would like to address is the idea of how women are treated in society. I agree with others that it is wrong to subjugate women and treat them harshly as Okonkwo does with his three wives. However, it should also be noted that these are the norms of African society as Chloe pointed out earlier. Even though women such as Ekwefi are beaten by their husbands, they approve of the violence and accept the male dominated society. The women play a major role in their subjugation by agreeing to the idea that men are more important than women. Also, women desire men who are powerful and known for their strength. For example, Ekwefi “came to live with Okonkwo” because she was impressed by his triumph over “Amalinze the Cat”. Ekwefi could have chosen to live with her previous husband who may not have been as violent as Okonkwo. However, her decision was influenced by the idea of his strength. Similarly, women from the whole village attend the wrestling match in order to watch who is the “better man”. Overall, I believe that women play a significant role in creating the male dominated society in Umuofia.
Finally, I would like to add that Okonkwo’s desperation for masculinity and “his fear of himself” will eventually lead to his downfall in the part two of the novel because the author constantly brings up Ikemefuna’s murder. Also, now that Okonkwo is exiled he no longer possesses the wealth that he was recognized for previously.
Questions/ Inferences:
I find it odd that woman have such secondary roles in the clan yet the position of Oracle (which seems to be very prestigious) is an unisex position?
On page 74 a conversations about the “white mean with no toes” seems a bit of foreshadowing to me; because I’m assuming around this time slave trade was going on but mainly on the Western side of Africa. It makes sense that they would hear of these strange things and laugh and not really have any knowledge of them seeing how they are in Nigeria. It makes me wonder if after they are cast out if they might meet some of these “white men with no toes”.
Observation:
I personally really like how some of the words are in the Ibo language and so are the names. It makes it easier to immerse yourself in the book, if the author had replaced it with Jim instead of Okinkwo I don’t think I would have gotten a full sense of how the Ibo tribe lived/lives.
Okinkwo is hates everything that’s weeks and in his own twisted way when he beats on his family members he thinks he making them strong. Like his son Nwoye he just wants to shape him into a man; the opportunity he never got himself and had to do on his own. He has so much contempt for his father that anything in relation to him (such as gentle child rearing) he does the opposite. So in his own way he’s protecting them from the embarrassment he had to go through as a child who started out with nothing. But what I don’t think he realizes is that if his father hadn’t treated him like that he wouldn’t have been the successful (although psychologically unbalanced) man he is.
Okinkwo has a lot of insecurities of them being his stuttering which was only briefly touched up in the first part of the book but I think has a lot of meaning to how the character behaves. When I went to http://www.africaguide.com/culture/tribes/ibo.htm and researched the Ibo tribe of Nigerian this came up (among other things) which I find pretty important to the character:
“Idioms and proverbs play an important role in the Ibo language. Someone who does not use them in speech is considered a novice at speaking the language.”
I think this also another reason he is so quick to hit those around him, by not being able to express him self it makes him feel weak and the only way for him not to feel that way is to make someone else appear weaker than him. This is also why I think he doesn’t speak a lot; that and the fact that his dad was a talker.
I am not surprised that Okonkwa killed Ikemefuna even tho he treated him as a son. What we may find as barbaric and uncivilized, when you think about it, it’s their form of government. There leader (Oracle) said kill so they did. Hitler to kill the Jewish babies, because they were an abomination so they did. The Oracle said to kill twin because they are an abomination, so they did. Even tho intellectually they know it’s wrong they did it anyways because that was what they were ordered to do. I’m not saying these situations are the exact same, because Okonkwa had a clear choice to not have a hand in the direct killing of the boy ( I still feel he is at fault for not stopping it) but he was so caught up in imaginary appearances that he murdered Ikemfuna anyways. Their practices and traditions are very different from what we are used to because their government is run by their religion it is still a government. I’m interested to see what happens to them in the second part....
Observations/thoughts: This story is very different to what I am used to reading. It's very eye opening to be able to read of another culture, since it’s not something that we are used to facing here in America. The difference in language sometimes gets me confused but it shows you another side to their culture and ways of living and brings an extra importance to the story. Okonkwo is a very strong man but if I would be placed into the story and take the spot as being one of his children, I believe I would be very frightened of him for being such a coldhearted man. At times it seems like he is mad at the whole world and I sometimes imagine what his wives see in him. His children are always living or trying to live up to his expectations. When Ikimefuna arrived to Umuofia, it seemed that the family grew so attached to him that it changed everyone for the best and there weren't as much fights in between them. He was a very strong young man and very wise for his age and everyone was pleased with him and took him in as one of their own. Even Okonkwo being the man that he is accepted him as his own son and was heart broken when the tribe decided to kill him and Nwoye lost his best friend and role model!
In the beginning of the story I thought that Okonkwo expected too much from his father as a role model and that he tried to be everything opposite of him because everyone saw him as a weak man. Although culturally he was very weak, he also had some good qualities that Okonkwo despising his father has lost. Unoka had a fulfilling desire to always be listening and playing his music which probably gave him the peace within that he needed to encounter all the evil conspiracies and negative thoughts towards him. It took him into another world without even leaving exactly where he was. Although Unoka borrowed money from everyone and never returned it, he was a good man and Okonkwo is a great man but I think he should be more like his father.
To what Gaelle said about the wives, Yes in order for a man in the tribe to have more than one wife he has to be wealthy in order to provide for her and the family. I don't believe you have to get married more than once if you don't want to but it is a big responsibility and if the man can't handle his job I believe he would suffer great consequences and be shunned from the tribe like Unoka.
As many have mentioned before, the idea of a father and son relationship is so prominent throughout the first part of the text. Okonkwo spends much of his time simply striving to be everything that his father was not. His father was said to be lazy and always in debt, so Okonkwo works all the time to avoid such a fate. For some reason or another people tend to avoid becoming like their parents, whether or not they get along with them. Okonkwo’s strong resentment toward his father served as a great means of motivation, seeing as had his father not failed the family, Okonkwo likely would not have had to work for what he had.
Okonkwo is considered one of the “great” men in Umuofia, yet he feels the one child that should be prospering, his oldest son, Nwoye, is falling short of his father’s expectations. Okonkwo expects Nwoye to develop at the same rate or even faster than he did as a child. While such expectations may be genuine and not meant to oppress, they certainly do. As a father Okonkwo compares his children to himself, but what he fails to realize is the circumstances him and his children were subjected to vary greatly. Okonkwo had no choice but to grow up fast and provide for his family, because evidently his father failed in that sense, but Okonkwo’s children are being provided for and there isn’t much of a rush for them to start performing for themselves, there’s just no sense of urgency. I remember reading a quote about the children of “great men and women” and it suggested that it is likely that the children of such prestigious figures will fall short of their parents’ legacy as they had not been raised by their great parents, but by others. Here is where I see the cycle, now that Okonkwo is “great” and his family is taken care of, the idea of urgency is entirely wiped out. Nwoye, as the oldest son has been targeted as the successor of sorts to his father’s legacy. The problem lies in the fact that while Okonkwo was out building upon his “greatness” (which he had always done), he failed to pass it on to his children. It was apparent that Okonkwo’s disdain for his father skewed his goals in being a father, he excelled in the providing sense, but neglected the idea of guidance. I understand that much of their culture emphasizes providing physically for the family, but I also think there is a guidance part as well, seeing as without guidance or support children would be unable to continue a legacy of greatness.
First of all, I agree with Chloe that we should not read this book with your eyes. And I agree with Keith and David that this book revolves a lot around culture but I think that’s what makes it interesting for me. I used to watch a lot of drama about medieval China so polygamy doesn’t surprise me as much as it did to many of you guys. However, I do find some of their tradition shocking, such as drinking out of a human’s skull. I wonder if this book is written in another language and then translated to English. If it is written in English, it says a lot because maybe the author wants us (westerners) to learn about their culture in Africa. Most of the time, we view Africa as barbaric and aggressive people. Movies such as “Blood Diamonds” portrayed Africa as a very disordered place. I’m not sure when the story takes place but people always viewed Africans as inferior but this book proves otherwise. They are very peaceful and civilized albeit few very horrifying aspects. However, if we put the French Revolution in aspects, the cruelty level is about the same.
As for the difficulties of the book, like Gaelle and several others, I do find the names hard to keep in track so I wrote them down after the first chapter. Other than that, the culture was easy for me to grasp because I’ve heard similar stories about other cultures before. I find the book really easy to read like David.
Going back to Ms. Clapp’s comment about the poem at the beginning and adding on to what Chloe said, I feel that the first part does establish the setting and get us to familiarize ourselves with their culture. However, the next parts might about the breaking apart of Okonkwo’s exterior and interior, hence “Things Fall Apart.” As previous discussed by Stephanie, Stephany, Helen, and other people, Okonkwo have a very particular image of himself: always show anger and nothing else. Someone mentions that he’s the ‘god’ of the household, the ruler. The poem at the beginning of the book states, “the falcon cannot hear the falconer/things fall apart, the center cannot hold/mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” To me, it sounds like Okonkwo will loose control of his family as well as his power. Or the poem might talks about the breaking down of their culture as the first part focused on a lot about it. But this is just speculations.
First off, I found the names of the characters hard to remember because the names are difficult to pronounce to make them stick in your head.
My first thought of the book was how different Okonkwo turned out. His father was a lazy and dependent person relying on others for help. While Okonkwo became this powerful respected man of the village that has no emotions for love and compassion. But Okonkwo shouldn't view his father's way of living as an abomination because it was a care free way of living where he didn't care about how society judged him. Everything Okonkwo does he does it to be seen by others as a powerful and wealthy man that can support three wives and his children. He still lacks the skill of parenting and to guide his children to grow up successful because all he expects them to do is follow in his footsteps and that's why he thinks Nwoye, his oldest son, is not living up to his expectations. I thought it was very impressive that Okonkwo was able to grow up to become this fearless man unlike his father who was a coward.
What I don't understand is why he is so harsh to his wives. He beats his second wife for not cooking his meal in time. Is this part of the African culture in Umofia? Couldn't he just talk to her in a angry voice instead of going violently berserk on her? Though when this happened I felt this was the first cause for Okonkwo's life to go down the drain. He disturbed the peace during his village's "Week of Peace" by beating his second wife and I think its the gods punishing him for his crime. From this point on Okonkwo just got more and more bad luck that finally led to his seven year exile from Umofia.
Also what do you guys think happened to Ezinma when the priestess of Agbala took her away to see Agbala in the middle of the night? They never went back to talk about what happend to Ezinma and throughout the story that event never came back up.
The beginning of this book was pretty interesting. I liked reading in depth about the culture of Umuofia, it's very different.
It is however challenging to read through because if I sped up my pace, I stumbled on many of the words, so it's something that I have to read more slowly and it's a bit hard to get used to.
As I said though, I'm really interested in the culture so it isn't bad. My immediate reaction to this era is in a sense awe. It's hard for me to imagine that there are and were people who so strongly participated in these kinds of beliefs. In that time, the people never talked about why they believed or did what they did, they just followed along.
The last part I wanted to add is from page 57 to page 61, when Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna. It's really sad that, despite knowing how he feels, Okonkwo won't do anything to stand up for what is right. When he comes back, some people said that he shouldn't have done it and until he finds something to keep himself busy, he is plagued by awful feelings.
That scene just reinforces that the people as a whole don't ask questions.
Starting out my comment on the first third of my book I must touch upon the importance of the African culture on the book. The culture is so saturated into the story it is hard to get away from and often I find I am more intrigued with the cultural traditions and beliefs in Umuofia. As I started reading the language began to confuse me but as I was drawn more into the story I learned to focus more on what was going on and the words seemed to just fit themselves into place.
Referring to the poem at the beginning of the book, I think it best describes this never ending cycle that Umuofia is stuck in which has been set by its immense culture. The “gyre” seems to mean this cycle and along with it Okonkwo seems to be stuck in his own cycle which stems from his hatred of his fathers life. I think it foreshadows that this cycle which both Okonkwo and his village has been stuck in will be challenged by outsiders and as this “anarchy” takes hold it will cause major struggle.
The most intriguing part of the story for me must be Okonkwo’s need to separate him from what his father left him. The disappointment and shame that he has towards his father really helps in developing him as a character and helps make him slightly more relatable for me. He seems to have two sides to himself, on the exterior he seems almost cruel to me, but as Achebe describes where he came from it helps me to look past his actions and see what he overcame.
I feel like I am all over the place in this post, but I must touch upon the contrast between our society and the African culture represented in the book. The first thing that struck me was the role of women in the book. I guess it stems from the focus on women’s roles in World History AP last year, but it was shocking the way that women were treated. The fact that a man was allowed to have multiple wives was hard to wrap my mind around and the relations between Okonkwo and his children was also hard to grasp. I think that the cultural differences between us and the society in this book make it even more interesting for me and at this point is my favorite part of the book.
This book so far is really intriguing because of all these weird and sometimes barbarous customs. They have so many superstitions that play a big part in how they live their lives, it seems pretty overwhelming. And to add on, each society has a different set of customs and beliefs—something that is considered good in one community could be negative in another. There really isn’t much to relate to.
As for Okonkwo, I feel like his idea of what makes a true man is a more extreme version of what most in his tribe believe. This has to do with his hate for his lazy and worthless father, and fear of turning into him. This also makes it seem like he can’t think for himself. Not only is he bound by the many customs of his tribe, but also by his own fear. This fear causes him to “rule” over his household with a strict and cruel hand. He tries to control his family, although he really has no control over himself. He even killed someone who was basically his own son, out of fear of seeming weak if he didn’t do it himself. All of this is why I can’t stand the guy. I realized this when Okonkwo went to talk to his friend, Obierika (I have to look back in the book every time for these names). He told Okonkwo that he would not have killed his own “son” the way he did and this was the first time I realized what he did was considered bad, or at least not normal. Whenever I read something that surprises me, I won’t know how the characters in the book would react, so I can’t really judge how grave a situation is. I know at least that Nwoye thought it was as bad as I did.
I think I’m going to predict that Nwoye is going to end up hating his father for being too “manly” and then he’ll want to be nothing like him. Either that or he turns out well in things other than fighting or wrestling.
Like many of you mention I find the use of names and references hard in this book. The names are hard to remember, every time when I thought I know this character, it turns out that I confused it with another. However, it got easier after a couple of chapters.
To respond to what Mel and Malik said about Okonkwo trying to be the opposite of his farther I completely agree. The way I see it he uses violence as a way to differentiate between his father and himself. Even in the beginning of the book he kept on mentioning how he hated his father that he never wants to become like that. A weak man who couldn’t even provide for himself. I think acting out is his way of showing that he is not weak, that he has the strength to protect himself and what belongs to him. Just like how he became famous for winning the wrestling match.
Based on the book “How to Read Lit Like Pro” one of the chapters mention that we as readers shouldn’t read through our own eyes, rather through the perception of the characters. Like what Chloe and Ngoc said, if you look at it as a person from that time period and setting, you wouldn’t react so strongly. They’ve always lived that way, from their point of view, having multiple wives shows sign of wealth like many of you mention. I'm not surprised about it because I can relate to it. In Ancient China, when there was still kings and queens, the king often have one queen and can have up to hundreds of concubines. That shows his wealth and power as the ruler of the country. Similarity high position officials often take multiple wives also. It all comes to represent power and wealth one has in their society.
Hmm...kind of tough for me to say what I make of the book as of yet. However, there does seem to be some instances where peace is priority, but then there are some instances where violence and hatred seem to be dominant.
Regarding peace, it was definitely a huge part of the near-war between Umofia and Mbaino. Ogbuefi decides to offer a peaceful resolution between the two tribes, or else there will be war. However, I find it a little ironic that Okonkwo was the one that delivered the message, seeing as he is well known for his prowess in battle and his iron-clad dominion over his household.
Another instance where peace seems to be dominant is just in regular society. The breaking of the kola nut seems to be a pretty important tradition, and always seems to be a necessity, no matter what the following conversations will discuss.
Okonkwo is actually quite boring to me. I'm not really a big fan of how he has been presented so far in the novel, and he actually bores me quite a bit.
This book is a good read, so far. It's easy to follow along (except for the names - they all look the same, and it's kind of hard to keep track of who's who.) It's hard to tell where and when the book is taking place, but it's clearly far in the past, back when polygamy showed how wealthy you were, along with numerous children. I like that the story goes more in-depth with the children of Okonkwo's marriages, because other stories I've heard like that don't go into dept about the children of these marriages, and I've always been curious to see how the relationship is with the father. As for Ikemefuna, I wonder if he will (in the form of an idea or theme) return in the story, having been killed so early on. I ask because it seems that he really altered Okonkwo's way of life, and feel he is much more important later in the story.
I also see that there is a major importance concerning the harvest and the friendship that comes from a Kola nut and alligator salt. These are both very important to the power of their village. Okonkwo, I think, relies on his harvest so much because he needs to prove to himself that he can be better than his father. The kola nut idea, I believe is just a custom that those in the village are familiar with when sharing important news or asking a favor.
Okay, first off the names in this book, have given me a tough time simply because I can't keep track of whose who, and that they are really hard to pronounce. However, the reading itself is easy. I don't think I like it very much though. I feel as though Okonkwo looks down too much on weakness, and that he has the wrong impression of weakness. With the example of his father I can see why he would look down on weakness but at the same time he fails to see the beauty in what his father had so much love for. He focuses too much on strength.
In regards to Okonkwos status in his village, I do see what "How to read Like a Professor" was talking about, Okonkwo is kind of like a Christ figure. However, I see him more as a Hercules figure like in the 5th chapter of How To Read... I feel as though the author is drawing from history (particularly the myth of Hercules) for example: Okonkwo like Hercules is what he is today because of his tragic past. Hercules did his twelve deeds to redeem himself. and in a way Okonkwo is working so hard to redeem himself and be better than his father.
The first part of the book like Chloe mentioned is set there to create the setting and give the readers background information on the culture and social interaction. I also believe though that this section of the book was used to show the reader the way in which Okonkwo was at odds with his own traditions. The most important of these examples is in ch4 when he beats his wife during the “week of peace” . And in ch7 we see how he goes against the warning of the oracle and attacks his “son”. In ch12 we see how he is prepared to go against his gods laws to protect his daughter. All of these outbursts of anger are due to his need of disassociating himself from his father. He strives to be the exact opposite of what his father was, and by doing so goes against anything that he considers feminine and weak. I see irony in his actions though, since by being so consumed in the idea of being manly and not showing his emotions he demonstrates a lack of strength in controlling his actions based on them. Sure he doesn’t let show how he is deeply “concerned” for his daughter, or how much he cares for his family, but he is not shy in letting his anger forth. This anger is what lead to his sin during the week of peace and it is his emotions that are center cause for his attack on Ikemefuna. Most importantly it is his emotional turmoil and concern that lead him to the caves to defend his daughter.
Concerning his daughter, I find it interesting how Okonkwo has more respect for her than he does for his sons. He repeatedly wished that she were a boy and tell Obierika that this is because she has the “right spirit”. This seemed to me that Okonkwos definition of manliness may not actually have to do with a person’s gender but of their ideals and the strengths in which they present themselves. She is also not the only female that he has respect for since he does a certain fear/respect of Chielo. It is because of his disregard for the woth of anything that has to do with the opposite gender, that I find it interesting how he has to go seek refuge in his mother’s village.
This leads me to my final point concerning the white men. The locusts I thought were a foreshadowing of the plague that would be the Christian missionaries. A locust plague is dangerous in the way that it can bring a village to ruin, and I think that is deeply symbolic in regard to the white men. Also when they are compared to the lepers (ch8) I see the idea of wasting away represented again. I was wondering though on the connection between the time that the locust would stay and the time in which Okonkwo would stay in exile, both were 7 years. I fail to see a connection here.
As with many of the others, the only hindrances the book has brought forth so far for me have been the naming and the culture that is so deeply embedded into the story. I can admit to knowing nearly nothing about African culture, and Achebe writes as though he assumes the reader knows all of the terminology and customs. There have been quite a few instances of proverbs and handed down sayings, some of which I couldn't possibly decipher because I don't come from the same background.
That, and did anybody else find the drinking out of the human head thing strange? The author really only mentions it then continues on, because it is a minor detail, but coming from our culture it is fascinating that something like that is commonplace.
I agree with stef that Chinua Achebe does seem to utilize imagery frequently. As I read through the first third of the book, I felt as though I had been transported to a realm within the wilderness. This wilderness would not include people as “evolved” and structured as we are today, but rather those who bear similar characteristics to our primitive ancestors, as Chloe had stated. The reason that I am imagining that the story’s setting is outside of a city is because of the manners of the people. Everyone of the Umuofia village builds their life around violence—wrestling and intertribal warfare. Notice how anger and hatred, and other dark qualities, motivate these forms of violence. People bearing these qualities reflect their dark, innately evil nature inside of them, which man is born with. The Umuofians allow us to picture the evil of man. From domestic beatings, which are accepted, to the people prizes of war, there is clearly no authority figure around with the level of ethics and control as found in today’s society. I mean, come on, when an old woman is killed to be a medicine and people are passed around as compensation, we know that something is not right there.
Referring back to Lord of the Flies, the many instances of drumming is not a coincidence. These beatings stimulate the body (adrenaline), capable of starting uncontrollable frenzies. Usually “dancing” requires some sort of music. The dancing here is not the average pastime. Instead, it is a sign or indication of the presence of primitive behavior. The music here is the beatings of the drums.
There was an instance during the novel where
“The crowd had surrounded and swallowed up the drummers whose frantic rhythm was no longer a mere disembodied sound but the very heartbeat of the people.”
Wrestling can be viewed as an act of “dancing”. Ikezue and Okafo are simply the dancers and their art of wrestling is stimulated by the drumming in the background. The very fact that the drummings were described to have come from the Umuofians themselves and not the drums indicates the level of savagery and primitive behavior in the scene. When a person thinks about it, dancing in the wilderness attracts evil, and inevitably the devil himself. Dancing is an act of defying the structures of society, including the many laws which enforce it. The devil, who encourages one to sin, would propose dancing. Being described as “primitive” isn’t a good thing as well. This usually refers a person to be like those cavemen from long ago—having a foolish and uncontrollable appeal to them.
Chinua Achebe may be trying to comment on human nature and how it has become so corrupt and impure during these past centuries. There is an increase in violent act ivies in society today, some of which are present in the book. Whether he is trying to remind us that man has a tendency to be evil or to introduce it to us for the first time, Achebe definitely has my attention when it comes to this subject.
P.S. I wonder if, in time, Okonkwo will grow and forgive his father for his failures.
The book feels, to me like a story of an adult's (Onkonkwo) interpretation of his early ancestors failures in life as he tries to live his life opposite to his father's(Unoka). Onkonkwo as a child in the book seemed to hate the way his father was looked like through the village as a lazy, leaching man who couldn't take care of his responsibilities and left it basically up to the village and their crop. Onkonkwo clearly does become the total opposite of his father a strong man, with I believe three wives(?) The only problem I have with Onkonkwo's ways is his violent aggressive attitude towards almost everyone in the village to prove his "manhood", he pushes around & abuses his wive(s) and children, even the child he has "abducted" or taken under the law of the village (Ikemefuna) seems afraid of him. He forces his control on all the people around him to show he is not like his father when it already seen by many with little action. The only time he seems any how calm and cool towards anyone is when he realizes the Ikemefuna is a good influence on his son Nwoye, who is described in the text as a softened boy (Which can't hardly be his fault because he has been mostly raised by his mother or mothers)
I can't wait to get through this and see how the title and the theme come together...
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