Imagine living in a close-knit society. A cultural way of living that is so ever-present, that it’s really the only way known to carry out life. Imagine knowing everything that is needed for the future, how to prosper, how to lead a successful life within the community. Then, all of a sudden, before there’s time to process what’s happening; everything changes. In both Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and “from When the Emperor Was Divine” by Julie Otsuka, they tell a story of a certain character and how their normal lives and cultures are unwantedly changed. Okonkwo and the boy are slowly put under more and more stress due to the sudden changes in their lives, supporting how unwanted change is more negative than positive on a person.
People deal with stress in certain ways, some of them being positive outlets, however most are negative and sometimes hurtful to the person or the people around them. In Achebe’s book, Okonkwo would be viewed as a very intolerant person as he comes quick to anger and the slightest misdemeanor could lead to a harsh beating. Okonkwo showcases this when one of his wives shows up late to make his afternoon meal and “...when …show more content…
For Okonkwo, the changes affect him so negatively that it leads him to suicide as Obierika and a group of men “...came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling” (Achebe 207). It isn’t stated directly, but the suicide is obviously caused by the overwhelming changes and how Okonkwo didn’t know how to deal with them due to his intolerance. For the boy, all of his damage was mental. All he thinks about is his father and when he’d return, he even went as far as to imagine how he’ll come back, thinking “He could come back on a horse. On a Bike. In a train” (Otsuka 555). The sudden change of someone’s way of living can damage that one person, however, it may not stop
People deal with stress in certain ways, some of them being positive outlets, however most are negative and sometimes hurtful to the person or the people around them. In Achebe’s book, Okonkwo would be viewed as a very intolerant person as he comes quick to anger and the slightest misdemeanor could lead to a harsh beating. Okonkwo showcases this when one of his wives shows up late to make his afternoon meal and “...when …show more content…
For Okonkwo, the changes affect him so negatively that it leads him to suicide as Obierika and a group of men “...came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling” (Achebe 207). It isn’t stated directly, but the suicide is obviously caused by the overwhelming changes and how Okonkwo didn’t know how to deal with them due to his intolerance. For the boy, all of his damage was mental. All he thinks about is his father and when he’d return, he even went as far as to imagine how he’ll come back, thinking “He could come back on a horse. On a Bike. In a train” (Otsuka 555). The sudden change of someone’s way of living can damage that one person, however, it may not stop