I just want to talk about the character Okonkwo because I found him very interesting. The first thing I found very interesting was his physical description. He was tall and large. He had busy eyebrows and a wide nose. This is of course in comparison to his dad, Okeye, who is tall thin and stooped over. Okonkwo did not want to end up like his father. This drove him throughout life. He ruled his house with a heavy hand and a fiery temper. All his three wives and children feared him, as he wanted them to. Okonkwo got all things in his life without luck. He tried and worked for everything he got. This man appeared to me as a heartless, like he was scared to let anyone get to close to him. His anger towards his father was taken out on the wrong people, his wives and children. This father problem drives a lot of actions it should not.
Chapters 5-7: A festival comes to town and the main event is a wrestling match. The winner of the young adults was a boy of Okonkwo’s friend. It was mentioned later that Nwoye still likes child stories and isn’t exactly the man his father wants him to be. I think Okonkwo expected him to follow in his father’s footsteps and be a great wrestler, winning the young adults wrestling match. Okonkwo has a daughter named Ezima. She is very smart and Okonkwo likes her a lot. Her mother actually fell in love with Okonkwo because he was a great wrestler. She had a hard life, giving birth to only Ezima. Okonkwo comments often on how he wishes she were a boy, probably because of Nwoye’s failure. This section ends with a re-enforcing of Okonkwo’s manliness. He kills a boy, given to the town in replacement for a murdered wife, who had been living with him. Not only did he murder this boy who called him father but also did it in an inhumane way, with a machete right through his neck. This action is again motivated by the fact he does not want to be viewed at as weak, like his father.
Chapters 8-10 This section gives us a look into the customs of this village that Okonkwo lives in. First we see his friend’s daughter is to be married. The suitor’s family is coming over and they shall determine the price of the woman. When reading this book I had to constantly remind myself it was only the customs because I hate that women are second-class. The next custom I found interesting was the explanation for natural things, like the mosquito’s buzzing. Okonkwo tells this story about how the bug is just informing the ear it is still alive. It is really interesting to realize before science people did have these types of explanations. Another interesting thing, Ezima’s mother had a hard bearing her. She had several miscarriages and the religious man gave her several ways to get herself pregnant. She miraculously had Ezima but as a child she was sick often. To cure this they thought they needed to find this symbol and followed her around looking for it. The whole journey and story is very interesting but I could make no literary sense of it.
Chapters 11-13: (If somebody else would like to describe the significance of the dampness of Okonkwo’s snuff it would be greatly appreciated.) I really enjoyed chapter eleven. When the priestess comes to take away Ezima, I thought it was very interesting her mother’s relationship to the priestess. This lady had been mentioned before and it appeared they were friends. I did not get how this priestess could have such polar opposites sides. The mother follows the priestess, Okonkwo followed later. They meet as the priestess takes the daughter into the cave. They have this really fireworks moments when they fall back in love with each other. I found it very heart warming, making it my favorite part. This chapter also had the very interesting tortoise story. This again was a very appealing look into the folkways of the African towns. I find it very interesting their love for animals and need for a deeper meaning in life. Also, in this section, a neighbor girl’s suitors come. We should do weddings the way of this town today. It was like a huge block party, full of of food and fun. There was also a suggestion of incest, which is not surprising from this time period.
Chapter’s 14-18: Okonkwo kills a man accidentally, gets kicked out of his village for years and where does he turn? His mother. I love this irony. The fact he mistreats women, by having multiple wives and beating them but yet when he’s in trouble he turns to his mother. It really makes up for all the inequalities earlier. It is made better by his uncle, Uchendu, who calls Okonkwo young because he does not realize a mother is supreme. This man appears very knowledgeable, just moving women up more socially. Word slowly comes that white man is ruining towns. At this instant I got a view of Pocahontas. I felt bad because I saw the end of their villages. They learn mainly the outcasts are attracted to the church. This has been a claim of the church, but I did not view it, as non-outcasts until this book. Nwoye, the failed son, loves this religion finding it as an explanation for all that went wrong in his life. This would make sense because his father has made him an outcast by not accepting him for who he is.
Chapters 19-21: At Okonkwo’s feast of thanks for his mother’s town, the elders talk of how they fear for the younger generation. This brought something to my attention. Every generation worries about the succeeding generation. They think all the things their kids do are wrong, but all that change has brought us to where we are today. I just found that interesting. I thought we were so different from these African tribes, but maybe we are more alike than we would like to admit. The white man takes over his hometown. Not exactly coming peacefully as promised. I think that is something Americans forget is that we took all our land from someone; it makes our history not so proud. This can be avoided though. Mr. Brown did a great job of slowly moving the people to better ways, like learning to read and write. They do lack explanation behind their rules and religion. This is wrong, only giving the people a one sided view.
Chapter’s 22-25: Reverend James Smith is a typical colonist. If you remember that is even the name of the man in Pocahontas. This typical white man is horrible to the natives. This causes them to burn the church in defense. Over time, Okonkwo goes to war by himself. He kills a messenger, making the white man look for him. The next day others show him Okonkwo had killed him. This is a grave sin and they cannot touch the body, another tradition I do not understand. I found his suicide interesting, but could not figure out the meaning. I love the ending, where the writer explains how Okonkwo would maybe earn a paragraph in his novel. This amazed me, especially since we just read a book about him. Looking deeper, I realized for the first time, that there is a lot more to the people in history books, some not even written, that was missed. This is sad and unfortunate proving history is really written by the winners.
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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Chapters 1-4
I just want to talk about the character Okonkwo because I found him very interesting. The first thing I found very interesting was his physical description. He was tall and large. He had busy eyebrows and a wide nose. This is of course in comparison to his dad, Okeye, who is tall thin and stooped over. Okonkwo did not want to end up like his father. This drove him throughout life. He ruled his house with a heavy hand and a fiery temper. All his three wives and children feared him, as he wanted them to. Okonkwo got all things in his life without luck. He tried and worked for everything he got. This man appeared to me as a heartless, like he was scared to let anyone get to close to him. His anger towards his father was taken out on the wrong people, his wives and children. This father problem drives a lot of actions it should not.
Chapters 5-7:
A festival comes to town and the main event is a wrestling match. The winner of the young adults was a boy of Okonkwo’s friend. It was mentioned later that Nwoye still likes child stories and isn’t exactly the man his father wants him to be. I think Okonkwo expected him to follow in his father’s footsteps and be a great wrestler, winning the young adults wrestling match. Okonkwo has a daughter named Ezima. She is very smart and Okonkwo likes her a lot. Her mother actually fell in love with Okonkwo because he was a great wrestler. She had a hard life, giving birth to only Ezima. Okonkwo comments often on how he wishes she were a boy, probably because of Nwoye’s failure. This section ends with a re-enforcing of Okonkwo’s manliness. He kills a boy, given to the town in replacement for a murdered wife, who had been living with him. Not only did he murder this boy who called him father but also did it in an inhumane way, with a machete right through his neck. This action is again motivated by the fact he does not want to be viewed at as weak, like his father.
Chapters 8-10
This section gives us a look into the customs of this village that Okonkwo lives in. First we see his friend’s daughter is to be married. The suitor’s family is coming over and they shall determine the price of the woman. When reading this book I had to constantly remind myself it was only the customs because I hate that women are second-class. The next custom I found interesting was the explanation for natural things, like the mosquito’s buzzing. Okonkwo tells this story about how the bug is just informing the ear it is still alive. It is really interesting to realize before science people did have these types of explanations. Another interesting thing, Ezima’s mother had a hard bearing her. She had several miscarriages and the religious man gave her several ways to get herself pregnant. She miraculously had Ezima but as a child she was sick often. To cure this they thought they needed to find this symbol and followed her around looking for it. The whole journey and story is very interesting but I could make no literary sense of it.
Chapters 11-13:
(If somebody else would like to describe the significance of the dampness of Okonkwo’s snuff it would be greatly appreciated.) I really enjoyed chapter eleven. When the priestess comes to take away Ezima, I thought it was very interesting her mother’s relationship to the priestess. This lady had been mentioned before and it appeared they were friends. I did not get how this priestess could have such polar opposites sides. The mother follows the priestess, Okonkwo followed later. They meet as the priestess takes the daughter into the cave. They have this really fireworks moments when they fall back in love with each other. I found it very heart warming, making it my favorite part. This chapter also had the very interesting tortoise story. This again was a very appealing look into the folkways of the African towns. I find it very interesting their love for animals and need for a deeper meaning in life. Also, in this section, a neighbor girl’s suitors come. We should do weddings the way of this town today. It was like a huge block party, full of of food and fun. There was also a suggestion of incest, which is not surprising from this time period.
Chapter’s 14-18:
Okonkwo kills a man accidentally, gets kicked out of his village for years and where does he turn? His mother. I love this irony. The fact he mistreats women, by having multiple wives and beating them but yet when he’s in trouble he turns to his mother. It really makes up for all the inequalities earlier. It is made better by his uncle, Uchendu, who calls Okonkwo young because he does not realize a mother is supreme. This man appears very knowledgeable, just moving women up more socially. Word slowly comes that white man is ruining towns. At this instant I got a view of Pocahontas. I felt bad because I saw the end of their villages. They learn mainly the outcasts are attracted to the church. This has been a claim of the church, but I did not view it, as non-outcasts until this book. Nwoye, the failed son, loves this religion finding it as an explanation for all that went wrong in his life. This would make sense because his father has made him an outcast by not accepting him for who he is.
Chapters 19-21:
At Okonkwo’s feast of thanks for his mother’s town, the elders talk of how they fear for the younger generation. This brought something to my attention. Every generation worries about the succeeding generation. They think all the things their kids do are wrong, but all that change has brought us to where we are today. I just found that interesting. I thought we were so different from these African tribes, but maybe we are more alike than we would like to admit. The white man takes over his hometown. Not exactly coming peacefully as promised. I think that is something Americans forget is that we took all our land from someone; it makes our history not so proud. This can be avoided though. Mr. Brown did a great job of slowly moving the people to better ways, like learning to read and write. They do lack explanation behind their rules and religion. This is wrong, only giving the people a one sided view.
Chapter’s 22-25:
Reverend James Smith is a typical colonist. If you remember that is even the name of the man in Pocahontas. This typical white man is horrible to the natives. This causes them to burn the church in defense. Over time, Okonkwo goes to war by himself. He kills a messenger, making the white man look for him. The next day others show him Okonkwo had killed him. This is a grave sin and they cannot touch the body, another tradition I do not understand. I found his suicide interesting, but could not figure out the meaning. I love the ending, where the writer explains how Okonkwo would maybe earn a paragraph in his novel. This amazed me, especially since we just read a book about him. Looking deeper, I realized for the first time, that there is a lot more to the people in history books, some not even written, that was missed. This is sad and unfortunate proving history is really written by the winners.
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