Alyssa Kondash
Things fall apart
11/15/15
Things fall apart, is the story of an Ibo village called Umuofia, it takes place around the late 1800’s in Africa. The story was written with eastern views in mind, some of our western views are considered shameful to them. Okonkwo, the main character was one of the most well known and respected men in the village of Umuofia known for his strength and valor. Also being well known for having many titles, the more titles you have the more successful and powerful you are. Okonkwo’s dream was to be successful and better than his father Unoka who was unsuccessful in the ways of eastern culture. All of the events in the book shaped the characters. Okonkwo is the man he is today because of how he felt towards …show more content…
He did not hold any titles. Unoka owned almost all of his neighbors some money; he would always take but never return. He had more eastern views than western; he was a talented musician, which was considered feminine. Unoka was good at was at his flute, with which he wasted most of his time fiddling with. When Unoka died, he was heavily in debt and had taken no title at all. Okonkwo had to fend for himself as a child. Okonkwo was a man of great achievements, but such a childhood left quite some scars on Okonkwo’s life. ”perhaps down in his heart Oknkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, least he should be found to resemble his father” (pg13). Okonkwo was scared of failure, and to be considered …show more content…
Christian Missionaries tried to convert the people of the Ibo society to Christianity, and in their efforts of doing so, they brought a downfall in the social and cultural structure of the people in this society. In this novel, it was Okonkwo who was “caught” between the conflicts of the two cultures. It was between his culture and the culture that the Christian missionaries was trying to incorporate into the Ibo people. In the story, at a funeral the misfiring of Okonkwo’s gun, results in the death of a person from his clan. The punishment for such a crime is exile from the village for seven years. Okonkwo was forced to collect his family and to flee from his village. Okonkwo decided to move to his motherland, a small village called Mbanta. Life for Okonkwo in his motherland turned out to be difficult. He and his family had to work very hard to plant a new farm. ‘Work no longer had for him the pleasure it used to have, and when there was no work to do he sat in a silent half-asleep’ (pg.131) Okonkwo had lost his hope life. Although he knew that these seven years had affected all his ambitions to become one of the lords of the clan, he looked forward to returning to his village, to restart his life in his fatherland. Unfortunately that was not to be, the interference of the Christian missionaries brought a lot of change,
Things fall apart
11/15/15
Things fall apart, is the story of an Ibo village called Umuofia, it takes place around the late 1800’s in Africa. The story was written with eastern views in mind, some of our western views are considered shameful to them. Okonkwo, the main character was one of the most well known and respected men in the village of Umuofia known for his strength and valor. Also being well known for having many titles, the more titles you have the more successful and powerful you are. Okonkwo’s dream was to be successful and better than his father Unoka who was unsuccessful in the ways of eastern culture. All of the events in the book shaped the characters. Okonkwo is the man he is today because of how he felt towards …show more content…
He did not hold any titles. Unoka owned almost all of his neighbors some money; he would always take but never return. He had more eastern views than western; he was a talented musician, which was considered feminine. Unoka was good at was at his flute, with which he wasted most of his time fiddling with. When Unoka died, he was heavily in debt and had taken no title at all. Okonkwo had to fend for himself as a child. Okonkwo was a man of great achievements, but such a childhood left quite some scars on Okonkwo’s life. ”perhaps down in his heart Oknkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness. It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, least he should be found to resemble his father” (pg13). Okonkwo was scared of failure, and to be considered …show more content…
Christian Missionaries tried to convert the people of the Ibo society to Christianity, and in their efforts of doing so, they brought a downfall in the social and cultural structure of the people in this society. In this novel, it was Okonkwo who was “caught” between the conflicts of the two cultures. It was between his culture and the culture that the Christian missionaries was trying to incorporate into the Ibo people. In the story, at a funeral the misfiring of Okonkwo’s gun, results in the death of a person from his clan. The punishment for such a crime is exile from the village for seven years. Okonkwo was forced to collect his family and to flee from his village. Okonkwo decided to move to his motherland, a small village called Mbanta. Life for Okonkwo in his motherland turned out to be difficult. He and his family had to work very hard to plant a new farm. ‘Work no longer had for him the pleasure it used to have, and when there was no work to do he sat in a silent half-asleep’ (pg.131) Okonkwo had lost his hope life. Although he knew that these seven years had affected all his ambitions to become one of the lords of the clan, he looked forward to returning to his village, to restart his life in his fatherland. Unfortunately that was not to be, the interference of the Christian missionaries brought a lot of change,