22-25 Okay, huge ideas bouncing around in my head. First idea, burning the church: the new church leader is the extremist “go god” person of the story who is trying to completely destroy the African society, or the Social Darwinist movement. This would make him the equivalent of a communist, which fits the time period because before and during WWII there was a great fear of the communist world killing capitalism and if my memory serves many people were tried for being communist. Some of these would end in death which would parallel the burning of the church. Second idea is the major tribal leaders all being taken into courts to me is the whole monopoly type scandals and the trust and the anti trust bills and how many of the major leaders of the time period find themselves in huge legal situations. Lastly Okonkwo’s idea of going to war against the white man: I love it. not much else to say, I believe it has the same symbolic meaning as the rest of the violence only now you see that it’s the end. The goal isn’t worth the price in blood. I just love it.
19-21 These chapters seem bizarre; they throw a multitude of little wrenches into my concepts The basic idea of the benevolent white man who turns arrogant and sometimes antagonistic would equate to when the protests for rights in America and the strikes in factories turned violent. Also the meetings between Mr. Brown and Akunna would equate to union leaders and Social Darwinist employers meet to discuss the rights of the employees only to leave finding they still disagree, although they now better understand the opposition. The execution of Aneto would fit in when the people who are working as scabs, or in the Pinkerton police force are unhappy with the way the new unions and civil rights groups are handling American business so they intervene and find themselves committing senseless acts of violence and getting into trouble with the law. Everything else I didn’t mention I can’t seem to fit in, like the ozo initiations and Okonkwo’s finding many suitors for his daughters. I’m sure these fit in somehow if anyone would care to elaborate I would greatly appreciate.
14-18 Okay, another development in my thoughts Now we have the white man and the church come in. The white man and the church being supposedly more sophisticated and less violent would represent the supposedly more sophisticated and less violent protesters trying to attain rights for the American working man. They begin to take weaker members from the clan and convert them to Christianity. In my Social Darwinist America this would represent the church and human rights activist types who fight for a minimum wage and fire regulations and child labor laws and such. These groups’ first converts would be those who were broken or destroyed by the hard work equal’s success and other Social Darwinist views. Thus the converts to the new church in the book also parallel because they to were outcast by the societies belief system. The action of the clan is also the same as the corporate gods such as Rockefeller and Carnegie who simply fired, or ostracized, persons who joined unions or protested for rights.
11-13 Okay, three major things I want to ponder in this blog One The Egwugwu at the funeral are another proof of my last blog post. The ancestral spirits coming and praising a man of success is just more motivation of doing the ancestors and the gods will. It is an insured prize that comes with the life of following the rules of society, which have been passed down by the successes of the past (like Carnegie and Rockefeller in America) Two The Okonkwo incident that ended in the killing of the child is still more proof of my last blog post. The men in the village are so terrified of the gods and the spirits, whom they impersonate on a regular basis, that they are willing to drive men away and destroy their livelihood over simple accidents. Thus they really have nothing to fear except their own self imposed rules which promise them success, (like Social Darwinism and hard work equals success) Three A man actually thought about the sheer insanity of it all at the end of chapter 13. Obierika thought about why Okonkwo needed to be driven away and thought it was bizarre, however he reckoned it was the earth-goddess’s will that he be shunned. To me he seems to almost have it. he realizes that most of the rules passed on by the “god” and the “ancestors” make no sense, such as driving a man away for seven years for an accident, or in the case of America hard work equals success when it obviously doesn’t. What he hasn’t figured out yet is that the ancestors have been dead for years and their only remains are the masquerading Egwugwu and the gods are phony. To me the comparison is the gods are people like Rockefeller and Carnegie promoting that they are successful because of their Social Darwinist theories. On top of that the Egwugwu would be other successful men who stand as an ideal for the youth of America at that time. Thus the people of that America followed the men like Rockefeller and Carnegie just like the people in the book follow the earth-goddess, not as a person they can see and talk to in most cases, just as a person whose ideals have been passed down as a how to book on success. Just to clarify the main reason I am comparing this book to the Rockefeller/Carnegie era in America is because: one the book was written shortly after that era, two Okonkwo fits the ideal man of that era, and three the society in the book has many similarities with the society in America during that era.
8-10 Okonkwo actually shows emotion in this reading. His mindless wanderings and turmoil after his murder of his son shows he does actually have emotions. However the main point of this blog is the Egwugwu. This may be a stretch but I’m going to try to connect some thoughts here. The book is a commentary on that ideal man mentioned in my first and second blogs which has developed into a man who has no emotions, is successful, and is willing to do anything to succeed. I’m now going to try to prove that this ideal man is really just an overgrown terrified child, so bear with me. The author mentions a hint that of the nine spirits of the Egwugwu the second is actually played by Okonkwo. On top of this the Egwugwu is supposed to be some kind of court of ancestors whose decisions are infallible. Lastly all the people, including Okonkwo are terrified of these gods and spirits. I believe that this is all an elaborate charade. A select few in these tribes play the gods and spirits throughout daily life, such as Okonkwo in the Egwugwu and Chielo as the priestess. This provides a group of gods who provide instructions that if followed will lead to success. Then the people, such as Okonkwo fear these gods and do everything they are told to be successful. Thus they have no fear of failure, because after all the gods told them to do it, how can it be wrong. So in the end they forget that is indeed themselves who told themselves what to do and can continue to lie to and deceive themselves, and all those around them, into believing they’re walking toward a bright future with the gods as their lead and can forget their extreme fear of failure. Thus we have our author’s opinion on the American ideal. They are so terrified of failure they deceive themselves and all those around them into fallowing false gods that should lead to success, such as the hard work equals success concept (which is a concept we find in American society and in Okonkwo), which proves to not always be true.
5-7 These chapters just further my first impression of the book. The people continuously prove to have the ideals that were similar to The American ideal mentioned in my first blog post; however a new aspect appears to have come into play. The basic idea is that the people of the villages, especially the one our story is set in, all seem to value wrestling as the most important event in a mans lifetime. The sheer excitement, enthusiasm, and almost ecstasy experienced by all the people at the feast and later the wrestling matches are simple awesome. This then brings up the point that what is more masculine than two people beating the hell out of each other and finally besting each other in a contest of strength, agility, and power. On top of this, we are constantly reminded about how important Okonkwo’s wrestling match was in his life; it was his first real personal success. The new aspect is how in chapter seven Okonkwo kills his “son” which he has been given to care after, Ikemefuna. He does this because he is told to by the gods. This shows that he is willing to sacrifice anything in order to remain successful, which reminds me of Andrew Carnegie, and Rockefeller who stepped on so many people in order to reach the top they eventually tried to atone for this by donating large parts of their wealth to different organizations.
1-4 As is evident this book opens with Okonkwo who is described as showing relatively no emotion, a self made man of many accomplishments, and driven to be better than his fathers before him. He grew up in the lowest levels of poverty and through hard work and dedication to his goal he grew up and took many titles and through his actions continuously proved his greatness. This description fits the qualities of the ideal man in America beginning early on in the industrial revolution and continuing up through the World War One and World War Two eras. Based on this information I am expecting this book to express Achebe’s views on the ideal American man, which Okonkwo embodies with exceptional perfection. To further this I would also venture to say that based on the title of the book being Things Fall Apart this book is going to try and point out the failures of this man and this ideal.
Whole book Okay, I know that this is after the deadline and won’t count for a grade but I have more analysis I really want to share. Over all I never really analyzed what the author’s intentions were for the book and it just came to me. From the very beginning I liked Okonkwo. He had many poor traits but over all I liked the guy. By the end of the book however, it became apparent that he was doomed to destroy or damage almost everything around him; including himself. This in my opinion is one of the many things that the author was really trying to say. That the ideal social Darwinist male of the authors time period was doomed to destroy the lives of all those around him, and likely his own due to his passion for making himself successful and rich. The many other aspects of the author’s messages in this book I feel need more thought and a likely more intelligent reader to really do them justice so I won’t even attempt to explain them.
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.
8 comments:
22-25
Okay, huge ideas bouncing around in my head.
First idea, burning the church: the new church leader is the extremist “go god” person of the story who is trying to completely destroy the African society, or the Social Darwinist movement. This would make him the equivalent of a communist, which fits the time period because before and during WWII there was a great fear of the communist world killing capitalism and if my memory serves many people were tried for being communist. Some of these would end in death which would parallel the burning of the church.
Second idea is the major tribal leaders all being taken into courts to me is the whole monopoly type scandals and the trust and the anti trust bills and how many of the major leaders of the time period find themselves in huge legal situations.
Lastly Okonkwo’s idea of going to war against the white man: I love it. not much else to say, I believe it has the same symbolic meaning as the rest of the violence only now you see that it’s the end. The goal isn’t worth the price in blood. I just love it.
19-21
These chapters seem bizarre; they throw a multitude of little wrenches into my concepts
The basic idea of the benevolent white man who turns arrogant and sometimes antagonistic would equate to when the protests for rights in America and the strikes in factories turned violent.
Also the meetings between Mr. Brown and Akunna would equate to union leaders and Social Darwinist employers meet to discuss the rights of the employees only to leave finding they still disagree, although they now better understand the opposition.
The execution of Aneto would fit in when the people who are working as scabs, or in the Pinkerton police force are unhappy with the way the new unions and civil rights groups are handling American business so they intervene and find themselves committing senseless acts of violence and getting into trouble with the law.
Everything else I didn’t mention I can’t seem to fit in, like the ozo initiations and Okonkwo’s finding many suitors for his daughters. I’m sure these fit in somehow if anyone would care to elaborate I would greatly appreciate.
14-18
Okay, another development in my thoughts
Now we have the white man and the church come in. The white man and the church being supposedly more sophisticated and less violent would represent the supposedly more sophisticated and less violent protesters trying to attain rights for the American working man. They begin to take weaker members from the clan and convert them to Christianity. In my Social Darwinist America this would represent the church and human rights activist types who fight for a minimum wage and fire regulations and child labor laws and such. These groups’ first converts would be those who were broken or destroyed by the hard work equal’s success and other Social Darwinist views. Thus the converts to the new church in the book also parallel because they to were outcast by the societies belief system.
The action of the clan is also the same as the corporate gods such as Rockefeller and Carnegie who simply fired, or ostracized, persons who joined unions or protested for rights.
11-13
Okay, three major things I want to ponder in this blog
One
The Egwugwu at the funeral are another proof of my last blog post. The ancestral spirits coming and praising a man of success is just more motivation of doing the ancestors and the gods will. It is an insured prize that comes with the life of following the rules of society, which have been passed down by the successes of the past (like Carnegie and Rockefeller in America)
Two
The Okonkwo incident that ended in the killing of the child is still more proof of my last blog post. The men in the village are so terrified of the gods and the spirits, whom they impersonate on a regular basis, that they are willing to drive men away and destroy their livelihood over simple accidents. Thus they really have nothing to fear except their own self imposed rules which promise them success, (like Social Darwinism and hard work equals success)
Three
A man actually thought about the sheer insanity of it all at the end of chapter 13. Obierika thought about why Okonkwo needed to be driven away and thought it was bizarre, however he reckoned it was the earth-goddess’s will that he be shunned. To me he seems to almost have it. he realizes that most of the rules passed on by the “god” and the “ancestors” make no sense, such as driving a man away for seven years for an accident, or in the case of America hard work equals success when it obviously doesn’t. What he hasn’t figured out yet is that the ancestors have been dead for years and their only remains are the masquerading Egwugwu and the gods are phony. To me the comparison is the gods are people like Rockefeller and Carnegie promoting that they are successful because of their Social Darwinist theories. On top of that the Egwugwu would be other successful men who stand as an ideal for the youth of America at that time. Thus the people of that America followed the men like Rockefeller and Carnegie just like the people in the book follow the earth-goddess, not as a person they can see and talk to in most cases, just as a person whose ideals have been passed down as a how to book on success.
Just to clarify the main reason I am comparing this book to the Rockefeller/Carnegie era in America is because: one the book was written shortly after that era, two Okonkwo fits the ideal man of that era, and three the society in the book has many similarities with the society in America during that era.
8-10
Okonkwo actually shows emotion in this reading. His mindless wanderings and turmoil after his murder of his son shows he does actually have emotions.
However the main point of this blog is the Egwugwu. This may be a stretch but I’m going to try to connect some thoughts here. The book is a commentary on that ideal man mentioned in my first and second blogs which has developed into a man who has no emotions, is successful, and is willing to do anything to succeed. I’m now going to try to prove that this ideal man is really just an overgrown terrified child, so bear with me. The author mentions a hint that of the nine spirits of the Egwugwu the second is actually played by Okonkwo. On top of this the Egwugwu is supposed to be some kind of court of ancestors whose decisions are infallible. Lastly all the people, including Okonkwo are terrified of these gods and spirits. I believe that this is all an elaborate charade. A select few in these tribes play the gods and spirits throughout daily life, such as Okonkwo in the Egwugwu and Chielo as the priestess. This provides a group of gods who provide instructions that if followed will lead to success. Then the people, such as Okonkwo fear these gods and do everything they are told to be successful. Thus they have no fear of failure, because after all the gods told them to do it, how can it be wrong. So in the end they forget that is indeed themselves who told themselves what to do and can continue to lie to and deceive themselves, and all those around them, into believing they’re walking toward a bright future with the gods as their lead and can forget their extreme fear of failure. Thus we have our author’s opinion on the American ideal. They are so terrified of failure they deceive themselves and all those around them into fallowing false gods that should lead to success, such as the hard work equals success concept (which is a concept we find in American society and in Okonkwo), which proves to not always be true.
5-7
These chapters just further my first impression of the book. The people continuously prove to have the ideals that were similar to The American ideal mentioned in my first blog post; however a new aspect appears to have come into play. The basic idea is that the people of the villages, especially the one our story is set in, all seem to value wrestling as the most important event in a mans lifetime. The sheer excitement, enthusiasm, and almost ecstasy experienced by all the people at the feast and later the wrestling matches are simple awesome. This then brings up the point that what is more masculine than two people beating the hell out of each other and finally besting each other in a contest of strength, agility, and power. On top of this, we are constantly reminded about how important Okonkwo’s wrestling match was in his life; it was his first real personal success. The new aspect is how in chapter seven Okonkwo kills his “son” which he has been given to care after, Ikemefuna. He does this because he is told to by the gods. This shows that he is willing to sacrifice anything in order to remain successful, which reminds me of Andrew Carnegie, and Rockefeller who stepped on so many people in order to reach the top they eventually tried to atone for this by donating large parts of their wealth to different organizations.
1-4
As is evident this book opens with Okonkwo who is described as showing relatively no emotion, a self made man of many accomplishments, and driven to be better than his fathers before him. He grew up in the lowest levels of poverty and through hard work and dedication to his goal he grew up and took many titles and through his actions continuously proved his greatness. This description fits the qualities of the ideal man in America beginning early on in the industrial revolution and continuing up through the World War One and World War Two eras. Based on this information I am expecting this book to express Achebe’s views on the ideal American man, which Okonkwo embodies with exceptional perfection. To further this I would also venture to say that based on the title of the book being Things Fall Apart this book is going to try and point out the failures of this man and this ideal.
Whole book
Okay, I know that this is after the deadline and won’t count for a grade but I have more analysis I really want to share.
Over all I never really analyzed what the author’s intentions were for the book and it just came to me. From the very beginning I liked Okonkwo. He had many poor traits but over all I liked the guy. By the end of the book however, it became apparent that he was doomed to destroy or damage almost everything around him; including himself. This in my opinion is one of the many things that the author was really trying to say. That the ideal social Darwinist male of the authors time period was doomed to destroy the lives of all those around him, and likely his own due to his passion for making himself successful and rich.
The many other aspects of the author’s messages in this book I feel need more thought and a likely more intelligent reader to really do them justice so I won’t even attempt to explain them.
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