Throughout the novel it can be seen that Okonkwo's masculinity takes over all of his emotions which causes him to feel mainly "manly" emotions such as anger or aggression. Therefore, Okonkwo is opposed to anything that shows any soft or weak emotions, such as poetry or some forms of music. This is the reason why poetry has no thematic connections to the novel or to the characters themselves.
While Okonkwo may be opposed to music, Chinua Achebe puts poetry in the novel, not to make a thematic connection, but rather to show the characters in the different manner. "The rain is falling, the sun is shining, Alone Nnadi is cooking and eating" (p. 35) The author puts poetry of this sort in the novel in order to describe the setting and characters in relation to each other and in relation to whats going on in the surrounding setting. The author makes this seem like a natural occurrence through the use of poetry.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Themes
Resistence to and inability to adapt to change
Throughout the novel, Okonkwo portrays his inability to adapt to changes in the novel from what he knows to be the norm. Okonkwo considered tradition to be most important to him and thus, when tradition conflicted with the changes all around him he resisted these changes until they took a toll on him. A major example of this occurs towards the end of the novel when Okonkwo returns from his exile to find his city being overrun by the white missionaries. He attempts to undue these changes, but once that fails he refuses to change himself in order to adapt to the new society and thus he commits suicide.
Effects Past has on present/future
Throughout the novel, Okonkwo seems to make several of his decisions based on his past and tries to go the opposite direction of his father. Okonkwo constantly refers back to his father's failure and how he refuses to have the same fate. The author is attempting to portray how the past may shape the decisions made in the present/future. Okonkwo's past pushes him to achieve success and become more respected than most others in the clan. Once his past has shaped his future, Okonkwo can then forget his past and move on through life.
The overall balance of the world
This theme is associated basically with Karma and the effect it has on Okonkwo. Throughout the novel Okonkwo's actions affect the events that happen to him later in the story. For example, Okonkwo partook in the killing of his "son" Ikemefuna when he was told not too. This clearly led him to have bad karma. This was seen when Okonkwo's gun accidently fired at the funeral killing the man's son, leading to Okonkwo's exile.
Throughout the novel, Okonkwo portrays his inability to adapt to changes in the novel from what he knows to be the norm. Okonkwo considered tradition to be most important to him and thus, when tradition conflicted with the changes all around him he resisted these changes until they took a toll on him. A major example of this occurs towards the end of the novel when Okonkwo returns from his exile to find his city being overrun by the white missionaries. He attempts to undue these changes, but once that fails he refuses to change himself in order to adapt to the new society and thus he commits suicide.
Effects Past has on present/future
Throughout the novel, Okonkwo seems to make several of his decisions based on his past and tries to go the opposite direction of his father. Okonkwo constantly refers back to his father's failure and how he refuses to have the same fate. The author is attempting to portray how the past may shape the decisions made in the present/future. Okonkwo's past pushes him to achieve success and become more respected than most others in the clan. Once his past has shaped his future, Okonkwo can then forget his past and move on through life.
The overall balance of the world
This theme is associated basically with Karma and the effect it has on Okonkwo. Throughout the novel Okonkwo's actions affect the events that happen to him later in the story. For example, Okonkwo partook in the killing of his "son" Ikemefuna when he was told not too. This clearly led him to have bad karma. This was seen when Okonkwo's gun accidently fired at the funeral killing the man's son, leading to Okonkwo's exile.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Biographical Information
- His Full name was Albert Chinualumogu Achebe
- Born November 16, 1930 in the Igbo village of Nneobi
- Was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic
- Things Fall Apart was his first and his most well known novel
- Raised in igbo village of Ogidi
- Parents Raised him Christian
- Did very well in school and got a scholarship in undergraduate studies became veryfasinated with the world and african culture
- Achebe became a devoted supporter of Biafran(Region that broke off from Nigeria) Independence and served as ambassador for the people of the new nation
- He lived in the United States for several years in the 1970s, and returned to Nigeria in 1990 after a debilitating car accident.
- Achebe's novels focus on the traditions of Igbo society, the effect of Christian influences, and the clash of values during and after the colonial era
- Achebe's parents, Isaiah Okafo Achebe and Janet Anaenechi Iloegbunam, were converts to the Protestant ChurchMission Society
Character Development
Childhood
In the start of the novel Okonkwo is a proud individual whose only goal in life is to achieve success and prove to the rest of the Umoufia tribe that he is not like his father. Throughout his childhood Okonkwo led an independent life as he could not rely on his father. Okonkwo never expected to inherit anything from his father and so he needed to make a name for himself, which he first accomplished after wrestling Amalinze the Cat.
Adulthood
Okonkwo's success was achieved when he was able to build and develop his compound into the drawing you see above. In Umoufia, a man with multiple wives was seen as a wealthy individual, this represented Okonkwo as he had three different wives that each had their own house on the compound. Okonkwo's success was quickly brought to an end as he was exiled to Mbanta due to an accidental killing of a tribesman. This led Okonkwo to rely on others for help in order to rebuilt his legacy.
During/Returning from Exile
During his exile in Mbanta, a extreme shift in Okonkwo's character was noticed as he allowed his arrogance to show and resented the help he recieved. Okonkwo felt as thought accepting this help from his Uncle showed weakness and reminded him off his father's failure as Unoka was always in need of help from others.
Once he returned to his home village, Okonkwo noticed a major change in his home village as the White missionaries have settled in and are spreading through the village like an uncontrollable epidemic. Once he realized that he no longer was recogized as a leader in the village and therefore felt as if he has failed to prove his worth to his town. Sadly, Okonkwo's "failure" led him to take his own life because could not live with the thought of failure.
In the start of the novel Okonkwo is a proud individual whose only goal in life is to achieve success and prove to the rest of the Umoufia tribe that he is not like his father. Throughout his childhood Okonkwo led an independent life as he could not rely on his father. Okonkwo never expected to inherit anything from his father and so he needed to make a name for himself, which he first accomplished after wrestling Amalinze the Cat.
Adulthood
Okonkwo's success was achieved when he was able to build and develop his compound into the drawing you see above. In Umoufia, a man with multiple wives was seen as a wealthy individual, this represented Okonkwo as he had three different wives that each had their own house on the compound. Okonkwo's success was quickly brought to an end as he was exiled to Mbanta due to an accidental killing of a tribesman. This led Okonkwo to rely on others for help in order to rebuilt his legacy.
During/Returning from Exile
During his exile in Mbanta, a extreme shift in Okonkwo's character was noticed as he allowed his arrogance to show and resented the help he recieved. Okonkwo felt as thought accepting this help from his Uncle showed weakness and reminded him off his father's failure as Unoka was always in need of help from others.
Once he returned to his home village, Okonkwo noticed a major change in his home village as the White missionaries have settled in and are spreading through the village like an uncontrollable epidemic. Once he realized that he no longer was recogized as a leader in the village and therefore felt as if he has failed to prove his worth to his town. Sadly, Okonkwo's "failure" led him to take his own life because could not live with the thought of failure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
