In the first few chapters, I came across an on going theme; masculinity. It is made clear very early on that the main character of the book, Okonkwo, focuses on masculinity and finds it very important. Okonkwo hates men who he thinks shows feminine characteristics, such as his father Unoka. Unoka was lazy, small in size, gentle, and only loved playing the flute. Okonkwo also saw him as cowardly since he feared blood and wars. Okonkwo on the other hand was completely the opposite of his father. He prided himself on his manly features. He was tall, and solid built with busy eyebrows and a wide nose. His biggest fear was to end up like his father, who had no titles or name in his village of Umuofa. This is why Okonkwo held no patience with anyone who showed the slightest signs of fault. For example when his third wife was late to returning home and late preparing his dinner for him and her kids, Okonkwo beat her heavily (29). He did not want to show that he would not tolerate her failures. Okonkwo was even to the extreme of getting impatient with himself whenever he slightly stammered. The stammer showed a weakness and he would use his fists to compromise for the slight stammer.
I thought these chapters, 5-7, were interesting because to me I felt the author was contrasting two different father figures for the character Nwoye. The first one was Ikemefuna. He was the soft, gentle father figure. He seemed to understand Nwoye better than his own father Okonkwo did. He helped Nwoye and talked to him as an equal and soon Nwoye looked up to Ikemefuna as a positive father figure. Ikemefuna help build Nwoye up to the man Okonkwo wanted him to be, but with compassion and gentleness which to Okonkwo was feminie. The other father figure that contrasts to Ikemfuna was Okonkwo. Okonkwo was obviously all about being tough and masculine. In chaper 5 there is a mention of drums and how it fills Okonkwo’s body with fire. Drums are a strong instrument that gives off a powerful sound, making if a masculine instrument. The drums to me signified the control and strength Okonkwo loved to possess and use against others, especially his son Nwoye. His fire was his raging anger that would lash out to on others when he grew impatient or when he felt weakness. One example of this showing is when Okonkwo goes into the forest with Ikemefuna and the other men. Ikemefuna had called Okonkwo his father and Okonkwo was scared the other men would think Okonkwo would get soft when they tried to kill Ikemefuna, so to assure that he would show no weakness Okonkwo helped in the killing of Ikemefuna.
In general this reading kind of confused me. A lot of the reading dealt with Ekwefi and her troubles with giving birth and then the trail with the Evil Forest. I really couldn’t find the meanings of any of these situations. Even though I couldn’t find much meaning there was one part in this section of reading that I really loved. This part was on page 68 and dealt with the death of the oldest man in the village Ndulue and his first wife Ozoemena. The story is said that Ndulue grows ill and dies early one morning. Well Ndulue’s first wife Ozoemena and she too was very old and too old to care after Ndulue when he grew ill. Well when he died she was informed and went to visit his body in his obi. After she left, she was very upset and later found in her obi dead. This whole scene reminds me of the one in the movie The Notebook. In the movies the same thing happens to the main characters Noah and Allie. They died together in a bed holding hands. In the movies they explain it is because they loved one another so much and that their love overpowered death. In the book it says that Ndulue and Ozoemena shared one heart. I took this to mean that they only lived to love one another, so if one should die then the other had no reason to live and would die too. I just thought this part of the reading was really cute so I wrote about it.
The part I found the most interesting in this reading, chapters 11-13, was when Okonkwo accidently kills Ezeudu’s son. Before the killing of Ikemefuna, Ezeudu had warned Okonkwo not to participate in it since the boy was so close to him. Not only though did Okonkwo go with the group of men, he actually aided them in killing Ikemefuna. I felt that after Okonkwo had went against the wise old man’s advise, that the village kind of looked down upon him. Yes Okonkwo was a well respected man but I think the village started to notice his extreme behavior and worried on how he dealt with certain situations. This was first seeen when he had beat his wife during Peace Week and now the villagers where seeing it again when he shoot the boy with his gun by accident. It seemed to me that Okonkwo’s old fashion way to handle situations were looked down upon to the more modern views the village had. I also felt this is why the community gave Okonkwo the punishment that he got. Okonkwo’s friend Obierika had said he felt that seven years of banishment was a little harsh, but I think the village was sending a message to Okonkwo that is traditional ways of handling his children and wives was out dated and that he needed to change. Then after Okonkwo left his homeland, the village burnt down his house and all his property. This too I felt was really interesting. This was because Okonkwo in the book seems to be represented by fire. It since they burnt his home with fire it shows that Okonkwo is killing himself and doing all this to himself.
Throughout the book Okonkwo has been applied to have certain characteristics that are similar to fire, but to me it hasn’t really been that obvious till this section. In chapter seventeen, Okonkwo is referred to as the roaring flame. I feel this name suits Okonkwo very well for many of reasons. The first is because fire is powerful. Okonkwo loved power. He loved to know he was wealthy and that with wealth he overpowered those who weren’t as well off as he. Second, fire is a necessity. Okonkwo was a big contributor to his homeland. He grew many crops for the village, and played important roles in all the activities. He was highly respected among the fellow people in his homeland. Third, fire starts as nothing and then grows to this amazing and beautiful flame. Okonkwo too started the same way. He started as a no body and with nothing to inherit. He had to make his own farm, build his own house, and create a name for himself. He fought and eventually won fame through all his accomplishments. And lastly, fire is very beautiful but if it is not controlled then it can be very destructive. Okonkwo was a good man. He had a great farm full of yams, he was a well known wrestler, and he had titles which made him well respected. The downfall to Okonkwo though was his way of handling weakness and failure. Since he was completely terrified by both he would act irrational. This was shown when he killed Ikemefuna, killed Ezeudu’s son and drove away his son Nwoye. Because of his actions he no longer had his farm or home which he worked so hard for. Plus when or if Okonkwo returns to his village he probably won’t have his titles or respect that he held before.
One of the themes in this book is change vs. tradition. I didn’t really see this theme to often till now in chapters 19-21. In this section of reading Okonkwo’s banishment is over and he plans to return back to his father’s homeland. Before he goes though his uncle, Uchendu, gives a speech at his going away dinner. He explains that the new generation has changed the old ways. That the new generation does not follow the same traditions as they had when they were younger. No longer do people travel to make friends with others in their neighboring villages. No longer do they all come together. I felt that Uchendu made a good point. The new generation had tried to change the old ways. Everyone now seems to be more focused on themselves and they have less time to go to their neighbor villages and make friends with them. At least to me this seemed the case for Okonkwo. When Okonkwo’s banishment time was up he couldn’t wait to return to his homeland. Never once did he think about leaving behind his new friends or family. All he wanted was to return to his father’s village and find awhile to gain high rank again. He even planned to use his daughter Eznma to gain more rank. Him and everyone else didn’t seem to worry about others in the other communities. This is one reason why I think the missionaries and church had such an effect on these villages. All the District Commissioner had to do was gain control over one village at a time. If the villages has been more in touch with one another like they were in the past then all that African society could have overpowered the missionaries and lived on with their own traditions, but they weren’t so they lost a lot to the missionaries.
Overall I actually really enjoyed this book. In fact I would rather read this book then the Bell Jar. It was neat because at the beginning of the book I hated the main character Okonkwo. He was an awful father and husband. He always seemed angry and he seemed to always be power hungry. To me he seemed to want to be better than everyone else too. He took not wanting to fail to an extreme level. At the end of the book though I felt really depressed. I felt so sorry for him and felt pity when I pictured him dead up in the tree, hanging by a rope. It was sad how he based his life on fame and how manly a person should be. He went as far as hurting the people he loved, Nwoyo and Ikemefuna, just to prove his masculinity. Then at the end all he wanted was to shed blood by going to war with the missionaries. He only wanted to go to war so that he didn’t have to be ruled by anyone. Okonkwo felt that if the church took over, he would lose his position in the village and be a no body again, which was the last thing he wanted. After he saw that no one else in the village would go to war with him, he killed himself. He would rather die then be a failure and a no body. It’s just all ironic because he killed himself thinking he was showing bravery, but in reality taking your own life is a cowardly move. By killing himself he was running away from the problem instead of facing them like a real man. It was depressing to know that Okonkwo strived his whole life to be a true man with titles and honor and then in the end he lost the all of it by killing himself. He ended a worse failure then his father which was his greatest hear. He truly was a tragic hero.
Didn't the passage of background information say that Antigone was a victim of Creon's hubris? Some of you are suggesting that Antigone is the tragic hero. Thoughts on that.
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In the first few chapters, I came across an on going theme; masculinity. It is made clear very early on that the main character of the book, Okonkwo, focuses on masculinity and finds it very important. Okonkwo hates men who he thinks shows feminine characteristics, such as his father Unoka. Unoka was lazy, small in size, gentle, and only loved playing the flute. Okonkwo also saw him as cowardly since he feared blood and wars. Okonkwo on the other hand was completely the opposite of his father. He prided himself on his manly features. He was tall, and solid built with busy eyebrows and a wide nose. His biggest fear was to end up like his father, who had no titles or name in his village of Umuofa. This is why Okonkwo held no patience with anyone who showed the slightest signs of fault. For example when his third wife was late to returning home and late preparing his dinner for him and her kids, Okonkwo beat her heavily (29). He did not want to show that he would not tolerate her failures. Okonkwo was even to the extreme of getting impatient with himself whenever he slightly stammered. The stammer showed a weakness and he would use his fists to compromise for the slight stammer.
I thought these chapters, 5-7, were interesting because to me I felt the author was contrasting two different father figures for the character Nwoye. The first one was Ikemefuna. He was the soft, gentle father figure. He seemed to understand Nwoye better than his own father Okonkwo did. He helped Nwoye and talked to him as an equal and soon Nwoye looked up to Ikemefuna as a positive father figure. Ikemefuna help build Nwoye up to the man Okonkwo wanted him to be, but with compassion and gentleness which to Okonkwo was feminie. The other father figure that contrasts to Ikemfuna was Okonkwo. Okonkwo was obviously all about being tough and masculine. In chaper 5 there is a mention of drums and how it fills Okonkwo’s body with fire. Drums are a strong instrument that gives off a powerful sound, making if a masculine instrument. The drums to me signified the control and strength Okonkwo loved to possess and use against others, especially his son Nwoye. His fire was his raging anger that would lash out to on others when he grew impatient or when he felt weakness. One example of this showing is when Okonkwo goes into the forest with Ikemefuna and the other men. Ikemefuna had called Okonkwo his father and Okonkwo was scared the other men would think Okonkwo would get soft when they tried to kill Ikemefuna, so to assure that he would show no weakness Okonkwo helped in the killing of Ikemefuna.
In general this reading kind of confused me. A lot of the reading dealt with Ekwefi and her troubles with giving birth and then the trail with the Evil Forest. I really couldn’t find the meanings of any of these situations. Even though I couldn’t find much meaning there was one part in this section of reading that I really loved. This part was on page 68 and dealt with the death of the oldest man in the village Ndulue and his first wife Ozoemena. The story is said that Ndulue grows ill and dies early one morning. Well Ndulue’s first wife Ozoemena and she too was very old and too old to care after Ndulue when he grew ill. Well when he died she was informed and went to visit his body in his obi. After she left, she was very upset and later found in her obi dead. This whole scene reminds me of the one in the movie The Notebook. In the movies the same thing happens to the main characters Noah and Allie. They died together in a bed holding hands. In the movies they explain it is because they loved one another so much and that their love overpowered death. In the book it says that Ndulue and Ozoemena shared one heart. I took this to mean that they only lived to love one another, so if one should die then the other had no reason to live and would die too. I just thought this part of the reading was really cute so I wrote about it.
The part I found the most interesting in this reading, chapters 11-13, was when Okonkwo accidently kills Ezeudu’s son. Before the killing of Ikemefuna, Ezeudu had warned Okonkwo not to participate in it since the boy was so close to him. Not only though did Okonkwo go with the group of men, he actually aided them in killing Ikemefuna. I felt that after Okonkwo had went against the wise old man’s advise, that the village kind of looked down upon him. Yes Okonkwo was a well respected man but I think the village started to notice his extreme behavior and worried on how he dealt with certain situations. This was first seeen when he had beat his wife during Peace Week and now the villagers where seeing it again when he shoot the boy with his gun by accident. It seemed to me that Okonkwo’s old fashion way to handle situations were looked down upon to the more modern views the village had. I also felt this is why the community gave Okonkwo the punishment that he got. Okonkwo’s friend Obierika had said he felt that seven years of banishment was a little harsh, but I think the village was sending a message to Okonkwo that is traditional ways of handling his children and wives was out dated and that he needed to change. Then after Okonkwo left his homeland, the village burnt down his house and all his property. This too I felt was really interesting. This was because Okonkwo in the book seems to be represented by fire. It since they burnt his home with fire it shows that Okonkwo is killing himself and doing all this to himself.
Throughout the book Okonkwo has been applied to have certain characteristics that are similar to fire, but to me it hasn’t really been that obvious till this section. In chapter seventeen, Okonkwo is referred to as the roaring flame. I feel this name suits Okonkwo very well for many of reasons. The first is because fire is powerful. Okonkwo loved power. He loved to know he was wealthy and that with wealth he overpowered those who weren’t as well off as he. Second, fire is a necessity. Okonkwo was a big contributor to his homeland. He grew many crops for the village, and played important roles in all the activities. He was highly respected among the fellow people in his homeland. Third, fire starts as nothing and then grows to this amazing and beautiful flame. Okonkwo too started the same way. He started as a no body and with nothing to inherit. He had to make his own farm, build his own house, and create a name for himself. He fought and eventually won fame through all his accomplishments. And lastly, fire is very beautiful but if it is not controlled then it can be very destructive. Okonkwo was a good man. He had a great farm full of yams, he was a well known wrestler, and he had titles which made him well respected. The downfall to Okonkwo though was his way of handling weakness and failure. Since he was completely terrified by both he would act irrational. This was shown when he killed Ikemefuna, killed Ezeudu’s son and drove away his son Nwoye. Because of his actions he no longer had his farm or home which he worked so hard for. Plus when or if Okonkwo returns to his village he probably won’t have his titles or respect that he held before.
One of the themes in this book is change vs. tradition. I didn’t really see this theme to often till now in chapters 19-21. In this section of reading Okonkwo’s banishment is over and he plans to return back to his father’s homeland. Before he goes though his uncle, Uchendu, gives a speech at his going away dinner. He explains that the new generation has changed the old ways. That the new generation does not follow the same traditions as they had when they were younger. No longer do people travel to make friends with others in their neighboring villages. No longer do they all come together. I felt that Uchendu made a good point. The new generation had tried to change the old ways. Everyone now seems to be more focused on themselves and they have less time to go to their neighbor villages and make friends with them. At least to me this seemed the case for Okonkwo. When Okonkwo’s banishment time was up he couldn’t wait to return to his homeland. Never once did he think about leaving behind his new friends or family. All he wanted was to return to his father’s village and find awhile to gain high rank again. He even planned to use his daughter Eznma to gain more rank. Him and everyone else didn’t seem to worry about others in the other communities. This is one reason why I think the missionaries and church had such an effect on these villages. All the District Commissioner had to do was gain control over one village at a time. If the villages has been more in touch with one another like they were in the past then all that African society could have overpowered the missionaries and lived on with their own traditions, but they weren’t so they lost a lot to the missionaries.
Overall I actually really enjoyed this book. In fact I would rather read this book then the Bell Jar. It was neat because at the beginning of the book I hated the main character Okonkwo. He was an awful father and husband. He always seemed angry and he seemed to always be power hungry. To me he seemed to want to be better than everyone else too. He took not wanting to fail to an extreme level. At the end of the book though I felt really depressed. I felt so sorry for him and felt pity when I pictured him dead up in the tree, hanging by a rope. It was sad how he based his life on fame and how manly a person should be. He went as far as hurting the people he loved, Nwoyo and Ikemefuna, just to prove his masculinity. Then at the end all he wanted was to shed blood by going to war with the missionaries. He only wanted to go to war so that he didn’t have to be ruled by anyone. Okonkwo felt that if the church took over, he would lose his position in the village and be a no body again, which was the last thing he wanted. After he saw that no one else in the village would go to war with him, he killed himself. He would rather die then be a failure and a no body. It’s just all ironic because he killed himself thinking he was showing bravery, but in reality taking your own life is a cowardly move. By killing himself he was running away from the problem instead of facing them like a real man. It was depressing to know that Okonkwo strived his whole life to be a true man with titles and honor and then in the end he lost the all of it by killing himself. He ended a worse failure then his father which was his greatest hear. He truly was a tragic hero.
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