Closer Observations
Since I've been taking notes on the Things Fall Apart, I found that I take notice to the smallest details. It's amazing! I also found that I had a lot of questions because of this. Most of them had to do with the Ibo culture. I always wanted to know how their sculptures or even how they looked like. Although Blogger won't allow me to upload this picture, you can see the a group of Ibo people clicking this link. You can also see the sculpture.
The other thing that I noticed is that after doing the essay on Father/Son relationships, I realized that there were father/son relationships. I know that sounds as if I had not read the book but I noticed that there are more evidence to the relationship's status.
In Things Fall Apart, it is evident that Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, has made a strong affect on Okonkwo. Most boys would look up to their father and hope to be like them one day but the same could not be said of Okonkwo. Being thought vain and lazy throughout the village, Unoka was hardly that of a role model and Okonkwo made it his goal to be nothing like his father that he had grown to despise. He put his goals at an all time high and set out to reach them by being the complete opposite of his father- strong and great.
In chapter 14, Achebe says “His life had been ruled by a great passion- to become…the lords of the clan… [it] had been his life-spring” What Okonkwo does instead of being the superior being that he wants above all, he is not true to himself and forces things against his chi’s destiny. Achebe continues to say “…he had all but achieved it.” Because of this, Okonkwo becomes heartless, bitter and cold. He fears nothing as seen in chapter four: “…when she [his wife] returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of the Peace…but Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess.”
Reading about Unoka going to Agbala made me think that Unoka desperately attempted to try to do what the other men did but failed miserably. Unoka’s words suddenly turn to wise proverbs at the end of his death and I think that it was not until Unoka was in his parting days that he noticed that all the mistakes he had made and the suffering he had laid on his son. Okonkwo’s moral being has greatly been influenced by his father because of his father’s “contemptible life and shamed death” and it has shaped him into the man that he is.
Maybe Okonkwo would've been a different man if his father had been a different man. But as they say, you cannot choose your parents.
The other thing that I noticed is that after doing the essay on Father/Son relationships, I realized that there were father/son relationships. I know that sounds as if I had not read the book but I noticed that there are more evidence to the relationship's status.
In Things Fall Apart, it is evident that Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, has made a strong affect on Okonkwo. Most boys would look up to their father and hope to be like them one day but the same could not be said of Okonkwo. Being thought vain and lazy throughout the village, Unoka was hardly that of a role model and Okonkwo made it his goal to be nothing like his father that he had grown to despise. He put his goals at an all time high and set out to reach them by being the complete opposite of his father- strong and great.
In chapter 14, Achebe says “His life had been ruled by a great passion- to become…the lords of the clan… [it] had been his life-spring” What Okonkwo does instead of being the superior being that he wants above all, he is not true to himself and forces things against his chi’s destiny. Achebe continues to say “…he had all but achieved it.” Because of this, Okonkwo becomes heartless, bitter and cold. He fears nothing as seen in chapter four: “…when she [his wife] returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of the Peace…but Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess.”
Reading about Unoka going to Agbala made me think that Unoka desperately attempted to try to do what the other men did but failed miserably. Unoka’s words suddenly turn to wise proverbs at the end of his death and I think that it was not until Unoka was in his parting days that he noticed that all the mistakes he had made and the suffering he had laid on his son. Okonkwo’s moral being has greatly been influenced by his father because of his father’s “contemptible life and shamed death” and it has shaped him into the man that he is.
Maybe Okonkwo would've been a different man if his father had been a different man. But as they say, you cannot choose your parents.
posted by Rebecca at 7:29 PM
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