Sunday, September 7, 2008

Summer Reading Posts: "Things Fall Apart"

Post #1: I also noticed the continued use of dehumanization throughout part one of the novel. The people are often treated or given animal-like qualities. Achebe often uses terms such as "roared" to get his points across. One other thing I realized is that women basically don't have many rights at all. They get beaten if they do things wrong and they rarely ask any questions. They keep everything inside, in fear of getting beaten for speaking up. It was said that, "No woman ever asked questions about the most powerful and most secret cult in the clan."(88) I really found it interesting how much the people depend on each God. After the accidental death by Okonkwo, he had to leave the land and only return in seven years. That was because he murdered a female. It really showed how they are not used to using technology that would be easy used in today's times. I wanted to know what would have happened if he had killed a male. Would he had ever been able to come back? I find the rules of the clans very difficult to keep track of, but very interesting to learn about as well. I am very eager to know the future of Okonkwo since he is forced to leave the clan. Will people try to locate him, breaking the rules, or will he just be forgotten until his return in seven years?


Post #2: I agree with all three of you when you said that the second part is very ironic. Okonkwo is always the stronger of the men and believes that men rule over all. The fact that he is exiled isn't enough, but he is sent to his mother's land as well. That just shows that sometimes things happen and you cannot always be the tough man that you are so set on becoming. I agree with Angel when she used the quotes where Uchendu asked Okonkwo all those questions, and he did not know the answers. It really did show that he is still a child in people's minds and he isn't this great person that he thought he was. I also really concentrated when Uchendu said, "You think you are the greatest sufferer in the world? Do you know that men are sometimes banished for life? Do you know that men sometimes lose all their yams and even their children?"(135) That really must have struck Okonkwo's ego. He came into the new clan expecting to have everyone feel bad for him and help him. This isn't the case, people understand what he is going through but also know that people are going through much worse then he is.The new religion was quite a suprise to me. Throughout the beginning of the book everything was based on this one religion. No one ever disobeyed it. If they had, they were punished according to the religion. Now, a whole new religion is emerging that they are unfamiliar with. It relates very much to the title "Things Fall Apart" Right when Okonkwo murdered the female, everything began to go downhill. The religion was supposed to have failed long ago due to them being put into the "Evil Forest," but now that it hasn't people are becoming much more skeptical of their religion.The course of Okonkwo's exile has really gone by fast. I was not expecting it to be time for him to return already. I am very anxious to see wether this new religion completely takes over the one that has been built upon for such a long time. I also find it very ironic that the white man who everyone kind of looks up to now has the same name as our principal. It just adds to the irony.


Post #3: When i began reading the third part of "Things Fall Apart" I noticed that Okonkwo is becoming very upset with the white men. He is planning on returning and earning back his rightful spot. Also there was a reference to the title right away. Okonkwo says, "He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart."(176) This really shows the meaning of the title. When the new religion emerged, the old one is beginning to be wiped out. People such as Okonkwo are not ready to give up their religion and say that it is beginning to fall apart. Akunna made a good point on page 179. He was saying that the other Gods are false. He said that if you put a face on a piece of wood and call it a God, it is still only a piece of wood. I believe that this religion is better then the old one because the older one is very aggressive and hostel. There are way too many rules and many innocent people die due to them. Schools, churches, and hosptitals were being built. There was also a stable government emerging. I do like the new religion better, but I feel as if the people of Umuofia are better off with their own religion. The white men have no right to try to take over a place that was doing fine on their own. Okonkwo is sick of what is happening to his land and is ready to try to fix it. He is very angry with the fact that so many men are converting to this new religion. Okonkwo also refers to the men in Umuofia as becoming "soft like women."(183) It really shows the inequality between men and women in the clans.I understand what the missionaries are trying to do, but in a way i feel as if they shouldn't have intruded on a clan that already had a set religion. Also the demasking of the spirit stood out to me as what is going on in the society. The old religion is being demasked and turned into something it is not supposed to be. I found it quite ironic that it happened. The white men are basically torturing the leaders until the fee is paid off. I thought they were trying to bring a better society into place, but now i know that they are just trying to take over everything and control all the lands. I agree with Angel when she talked about the strike to Okonkwo's ego. Eventually he kills himself, and Obierika knows that it is the commisioners' fault. Okonkwo always followed the rules of society and was completely against the evil. So it is pretty ironic that in the end, Okonkwo becomes one of the "evil bodies." In my mind he died for what he believed in and shouldn't be considered evil. The society believes otherwise, and "Things Fall Apart."

No comments: