Carter Pon
GS 2
8/23/2014
Things Fall Apart Summer Reading Assignment
1. How would you describe Okonkwo’s life and background as portrayed in the beginning of the novel? What role did his father play in this?
A. After reading the beginning of the book, I am confident to say that Okonkwo's life has been spent attempting to shy away from his father's legacy, and create his own, from his own ideals. From Okonkwo's perspective, his father Unoka was an unsuccessful man, lazy and improvident. There is a passage on the fifth page which says "his wife and children had barely enough to eat. Unoka's son, Okonkwo, was greatly embarrassed by his father's lifestyle. The book also states that Okonkwo was afraid of resembling his father and his lifestyle, …show more content…
In the village of Umuofia, families are ruled by the men. Men are not restricted to monogamous relationships; they can have as many wives as they want, if they have a high social class, and fathers are willing to marry off their daughters to the man. The husbands have the power in the Umuofian society, asserting control over the entire family. An example of this can be shown in Okonkwo's household, where his anger caused him to frequently lash out at his wives and children when they committed the slightest infraction. A disciplinary beating is not frowned upon in the society of Umuofia. The separate wives each have their own hut, while the husband sleeps in his own hut. Families work together in the field, reaping the spoils of the ground. Women and children plant corn, melons, and beans, while the yam is planted by everyone. The women and children also weed the earth. If a spectator observed my family, it would be hard to see a sense of superiority between my parents. A polygamous relationship is illegal in the United States. My parents are very loving, and they care about me just as Okonkwo cared for Ezinma. My parent love each other and I think our society is very different from the society in the Umuofian village. Beating is frowned upon in America, and there are laws in place to prevent child abuse, etc. Our society is not as superstitious as the society of Umuofia. Twins are not killed on birth, and people do not believe in ogbanje, rather attributing the bad luck …show more content…
The Europeans brought many changes to the lives and traditions of the people of Umuofia. These changes were gradually accepted by the people until they overruled the old traditions. Most people did not like the new changes, but once they began to protest against the occupation, the Europeans had already amassed a force of soldiers and followers to quell a potential rebellion. I think the Umuofians should have resisted against the Europeans when they first came. When they allowed the Christians to settle in the Evil Forest, they were doomed. I think that the Umuofians were doomed from the start when the village that killed the man on the iron horse alerted the white men, and caused them to call for more troops. Umuofians were slow to react, and they thought that the church, which was set in the Evil Forest, would be cursed, and that the followers would gradually dispel and come back to the Umuofian tradition. The church, however survived, and the Umuofians wasted valuable time during the formation of the church to force them off their village. Attempts to push the missionaries away would probably provoke a war, where the missionaries, with their much more superior fighting force, would triumph. The missionaries also collected a group of people who were still in the clan, and if people from the clan attacked and killed them, they would have to flee from the clan. In this case, the missionaries had much better technology, and they were better equipped to handle a war with
GS 2
8/23/2014
Things Fall Apart Summer Reading Assignment
1. How would you describe Okonkwo’s life and background as portrayed in the beginning of the novel? What role did his father play in this?
A. After reading the beginning of the book, I am confident to say that Okonkwo's life has been spent attempting to shy away from his father's legacy, and create his own, from his own ideals. From Okonkwo's perspective, his father Unoka was an unsuccessful man, lazy and improvident. There is a passage on the fifth page which says "his wife and children had barely enough to eat. Unoka's son, Okonkwo, was greatly embarrassed by his father's lifestyle. The book also states that Okonkwo was afraid of resembling his father and his lifestyle, …show more content…
In the village of Umuofia, families are ruled by the men. Men are not restricted to monogamous relationships; they can have as many wives as they want, if they have a high social class, and fathers are willing to marry off their daughters to the man. The husbands have the power in the Umuofian society, asserting control over the entire family. An example of this can be shown in Okonkwo's household, where his anger caused him to frequently lash out at his wives and children when they committed the slightest infraction. A disciplinary beating is not frowned upon in the society of Umuofia. The separate wives each have their own hut, while the husband sleeps in his own hut. Families work together in the field, reaping the spoils of the ground. Women and children plant corn, melons, and beans, while the yam is planted by everyone. The women and children also weed the earth. If a spectator observed my family, it would be hard to see a sense of superiority between my parents. A polygamous relationship is illegal in the United States. My parents are very loving, and they care about me just as Okonkwo cared for Ezinma. My parent love each other and I think our society is very different from the society in the Umuofian village. Beating is frowned upon in America, and there are laws in place to prevent child abuse, etc. Our society is not as superstitious as the society of Umuofia. Twins are not killed on birth, and people do not believe in ogbanje, rather attributing the bad luck …show more content…
The Europeans brought many changes to the lives and traditions of the people of Umuofia. These changes were gradually accepted by the people until they overruled the old traditions. Most people did not like the new changes, but once they began to protest against the occupation, the Europeans had already amassed a force of soldiers and followers to quell a potential rebellion. I think the Umuofians should have resisted against the Europeans when they first came. When they allowed the Christians to settle in the Evil Forest, they were doomed. I think that the Umuofians were doomed from the start when the village that killed the man on the iron horse alerted the white men, and caused them to call for more troops. Umuofians were slow to react, and they thought that the church, which was set in the Evil Forest, would be cursed, and that the followers would gradually dispel and come back to the Umuofian tradition. The church, however survived, and the Umuofians wasted valuable time during the formation of the church to force them off their village. Attempts to push the missionaries away would probably provoke a war, where the missionaries, with their much more superior fighting force, would triumph. The missionaries also collected a group of people who were still in the clan, and if people from the clan attacked and killed them, they would have to flee from the clan. In this case, the missionaries had much better technology, and they were better equipped to handle a war with