Chapters 1-4 In chapters 1-4 we are introduced to the novels main character, Okonkwo. Very quickly we see that Okonkwo is strong in both mind and body, and when he sets a goal for himself he does everything in his power to achieve it. This meant that because his main goal was to be the opposite man that his father was, Okonkwo wanted to be a warrior and a man of high class (his father was a lazy man who was always in debt). This also meant though that Okonkwo would be mean and cold hearted to the ones he loved because his father was a gentle hearted man. In the end I believe that Okonkwo’s goal to be everything that his father wasn’t, will end up hurting him and causing him anguish. Okonkwo will probably either learn that in order to have a happy life you need a little kindness in your heart or else the hatred and coldness in your heart will built up to a point that no man can handle.
Chapters 5-7 In chapters 5-7 it is clear that Okonkwo’s inability to show weakness or fear is causing him to act out in ways that are seen almost as crazy to others. In the previous chapter he had beaten one of his wives during the Week of Peace and shame was brought upon him by the whole village. In chapter 5 he seems to be taking it even a step farther as he attempts to shoot one of his wives, just for talking back to him under her breath. He felt that she had disrespected him and he would not tolerate that in his house. Later on in these chapters, Okonkwo is told that it was decided that Ikemefuna was to be killed. Even though Okonkwo had begun to view him as one of his sons, he did nothing to stop his death from happening because he feared it would be a sign of weakness. He even went to the point of killing Ikemefuna himself in order to show that he was not weak.
Chapters 8-10 In this section of the novel we see that Okonkwo is in a state of depression for taking a part in the killing of Ikemefuna. He stopped eating for two days and even began to accuse himself of being a woman because he was feeling bad about killing Ikemefuna. Because it was not harvest season and there was no work to be done, Okonkwo went to his friend Obierika’s house. There, instead of relaxing his mind that what he did was okay, he was told that what he did was evil and he should never have taken place in it. Also in this section we read about the relationship status that men and women had during this time period. It was clear that the men had the higher status over the women, but it was also shown that some of these men took this power to far. This was clearly shown when there was a trail held because Uzowulu’s wife had left him because he beat her so many times. Although he thought that this was acceptable during his time, he was told to apologize to his wife and that he would be punished if this happened again.
Chapters 11-13 In chapters 11-13 we begin to see that the characters in the novel are starting to question many of their beliefs. This is shown for the first time in Okonkwo as he shows concern for what might happen to his wife, Ekwefi, and daughter, Ezinma, after Chielo took her from his house and Ekwefi followed them. Earlier in the novel we would have never seen Okonkwo do this, for he would have seen this compassion as a weak trait. Now though, he begins to let go of a little of his pride as he follows behind his family to help defend them in the case that something would happen. Another example where their beliefs were questioned was after Okonkwo accidentally killed Ezeudu’s son and was forced to flee out of the village for seven years. Because of this, Obierika and a few others demolished Okonkwo’s home. After the destruction was over though, Obierika looked back and wondered why such a tragedy had to be placed upon Okonkwo when he only kid the young boy on accident.
Chapters 14-18 This section of the novel had a lot of things taking place that I found to be very interesting. First off, Okonkwo enters his motherland with his family and is greeted kindly by his relatives. They accept him without asking any questions and soon Uchendu, Okonkwo’s father in-law, begins to give Okonkwo advice. Okonkwo is told that although it may seem that he is suffering greatly, in all reality it isn’t that bad. He is in his motherland and he should be comforted by that just like a mother always comforts her child. The other very important part of this section was the introduction of the white men coming into the villages. The members of the villages are in awe of these men because they have only heard stories about them. After some time though, many of the villagers begin to start following the religious views that the white men brought with them. They see that even though the Christians had built their land in the Evil Forest, none of them had died. This caused many of them to believe that the Christian’s God was stronger so they converted to this religion. Among these people was Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son, causing Okonkwo to because very angry and insulted by his actions.
Chapters 19-21 In chapters 19-21 Okonkwo enters back into his village of Umuofia, hoping to have a triumphant and glorious return. Instead, when he returned he found that the people of his village did not even notice him, but everyone was talking about the Christians and the teachings that they brought with them. This angered Okonkwo and he feared that his plan to gain power in his village would fail because of the Christians. Because of this he went to Obierika to talk to him about gathering their clan together to get rid of the Christians, hoping that once they were gone he would be able to gain status and power. Okonkwo found that too many people had converted though so this would not be possible, and he wondered were the sense of pride and manhood had gone from his clan. It was interesting to me how Okonkwo’s life goal to become powerful and have a title among his people always came crashing down right before he reached his goal. It seems like no matter how hard he tries, there is always something in his way stopping him from accomplishing his only goal that he set for himself.
Chapters 22-25 The last section of the novel I found to be the most interesting of them all. A leader for the Christians had come to the village and he took a much different approach to dealing with the clansmen. Unlike the old leader, he did not give the villagers much room for their own beliefs. He even went to the point of locking up the six leaders of the clan and holding them for bail after they had burnt down the church. This caused much anger and humiliation for Ukonkwo and later at a town meeting he retaliated by beheading one of the Christian messengers. After he killed him though Okonkwo realized that he would be the only one in his clan who was man enough to fight. Because of this he ended up hanging himself. I saw this as his final acceptance that he was not going to achieve his goal and that his beliefs and those of his fathers was coming to an end. After boasting about being such a man I saw this as the most cowardly way to go. He gave up on life and it was a little disappointing to end the novel with him accepting his failure instead of fighting for it with all he had.
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.
7 comments:
Chapters 1-4
In chapters 1-4 we are introduced to the novels main character, Okonkwo. Very quickly we see that Okonkwo is strong in both mind and body, and when he sets a goal for himself he does everything in his power to achieve it. This meant that because his main goal was to be the opposite man that his father was, Okonkwo wanted to be a warrior and a man of high class (his father was a lazy man who was always in debt). This also meant though that Okonkwo would be mean and cold hearted to the ones he loved because his father was a gentle hearted man. In the end I believe that Okonkwo’s goal to be everything that his father wasn’t, will end up hurting him and causing him anguish. Okonkwo will probably either learn that in order to have a happy life you need a little kindness in your heart or else the hatred and coldness in your heart will built up to a point that no man can handle.
Chapters 5-7
In chapters 5-7 it is clear that Okonkwo’s inability to show weakness or fear is causing him to act out in ways that are seen almost as crazy to others. In the previous chapter he had beaten one of his wives during the Week of Peace and shame was brought upon him by the whole village. In chapter 5 he seems to be taking it even a step farther as he attempts to shoot one of his wives, just for talking back to him under her breath. He felt that she had disrespected him and he would not tolerate that in his house. Later on in these chapters, Okonkwo is told that it was decided that Ikemefuna was to be killed. Even though Okonkwo had begun to view him as one of his sons, he did nothing to stop his death from happening because he feared it would be a sign of weakness. He even went to the point of killing Ikemefuna himself in order to show that he was not weak.
Chapters 8-10
In this section of the novel we see that Okonkwo is in a state of depression for taking a part in the killing of Ikemefuna. He stopped eating for two days and even began to accuse himself of being a woman because he was feeling bad about killing Ikemefuna. Because it was not harvest season and there was no work to be done, Okonkwo went to his friend Obierika’s house. There, instead of relaxing his mind that what he did was okay, he was told that what he did was evil and he should never have taken place in it.
Also in this section we read about the relationship status that men and women had during this time period. It was clear that the men had the higher status over the women, but it was also shown that some of these men took this power to far. This was clearly shown when there was a trail held because Uzowulu’s wife had left him because he beat her so many times. Although he thought that this was acceptable during his time, he was told to apologize to his wife and that he would be punished if this happened again.
Chapters 11-13
In chapters 11-13 we begin to see that the characters in the novel are starting to question many of their beliefs. This is shown for the first time in Okonkwo as he shows concern for what might happen to his wife, Ekwefi, and daughter, Ezinma, after Chielo took her from his house and Ekwefi followed them. Earlier in the novel we would have never seen Okonkwo do this, for he would have seen this compassion as a weak trait. Now though, he begins to let go of a little of his pride as he follows behind his family to help defend them in the case that something would happen. Another example where their beliefs were questioned was after Okonkwo accidentally killed Ezeudu’s son and was forced to flee out of the village for seven years. Because of this, Obierika and a few others demolished Okonkwo’s home. After the destruction was over though, Obierika looked back and wondered why such a tragedy had to be placed upon Okonkwo when he only kid the young boy on accident.
Chapters 14-18
This section of the novel had a lot of things taking place that I found to be very interesting. First off, Okonkwo enters his motherland with his family and is greeted kindly by his relatives. They accept him without asking any questions and soon Uchendu, Okonkwo’s father in-law, begins to give Okonkwo advice. Okonkwo is told that although it may seem that he is suffering greatly, in all reality it isn’t that bad. He is in his motherland and he should be comforted by that just like a mother always comforts her child.
The other very important part of this section was the introduction of the white men coming into the villages. The members of the villages are in awe of these men because they have only heard stories about them. After some time though, many of the villagers begin to start following the religious views that the white men brought with them. They see that even though the Christians had built their land in the Evil Forest, none of them had died. This caused many of them to believe that the Christian’s God was stronger so they converted to this religion. Among these people was Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son, causing Okonkwo to because very angry and insulted by his actions.
Chapters 19-21
In chapters 19-21 Okonkwo enters back into his village of Umuofia, hoping to have a triumphant and glorious return. Instead, when he returned he found that the people of his village did not even notice him, but everyone was talking about the Christians and the teachings that they brought with them. This angered Okonkwo and he feared that his plan to gain power in his village would fail because of the Christians. Because of this he went to Obierika to talk to him about gathering their clan together to get rid of the Christians, hoping that once they were gone he would be able to gain status and power. Okonkwo found that too many people had converted though so this would not be possible, and he wondered were the sense of pride and manhood had gone from his clan. It was interesting to me how Okonkwo’s life goal to become powerful and have a title among his people always came crashing down right before he reached his goal. It seems like no matter how hard he tries, there is always something in his way stopping him from accomplishing his only goal that he set for himself.
Chapters 22-25
The last section of the novel I found to be the most interesting of them all. A leader for the Christians had come to the village and he took a much different approach to dealing with the clansmen. Unlike the old leader, he did not give the villagers much room for their own beliefs. He even went to the point of locking up the six leaders of the clan and holding them for bail after they had burnt down the church. This caused much anger and humiliation for Ukonkwo and later at a town meeting he retaliated by beheading one of the Christian messengers. After he killed him though Okonkwo realized that he would be the only one in his clan who was man enough to fight. Because of this he ended up hanging himself. I saw this as his final acceptance that he was not going to achieve his goal and that his beliefs and those of his fathers was coming to an end. After boasting about being such a man I saw this as the most cowardly way to go. He gave up on life and it was a little disappointing to end the novel with him accepting his failure instead of fighting for it with all he had.
Post a Comment