I think Achebe uses contrasts more than any other literary device to bring his points home. He draws parallels between Christianity and the tribe's religion, and insodoing he makes their differences clear. He draws parallels between justices and government, and thereby emphasizes differences in leadership and ties in gender issues (by bringing up the queen in contrast to the tribe leaders.
In part 2, Achebe troubles the customs of the tribe by contrasting Okonkwo's father's tribe with his mother's. On page 165, during the feast hosted by Okonkwo at the end of his exile, the following prayer is delivered by Uchendu:
"We do not ask for wealth because he that has health and children will also have wealth. We do not pray to have more money but to have more kinsmen. We are better than animals because we have kinsmen. An animal rubs its itching flank against a tree, a man asks his kinsman to scratch him."
I was struck by this quote because immediately it did not seem to me like it was a prayer Okonkwo would endorse or agree with, but he had no objection. I considered why I thought this prayer was in contrast with Okonkwo's lifestyle, and I saw that I had previously thought of Okonkwo as someone who would never ask his kinsman for help. Upon considering this I realized that in fact Okonkwo had already asked for help several times in the novel by asking for donations of seed yam. Here is where I found the real contrast. Where I had initially interpreted this prayer as a means of contrasting Okonkwo's father's tribe with his mother's, I discovered that this prayer actually serves as a greater contrast between this native value scheme and the values of the colonizer. In America, immense emphasis is placed on independence. It could be said that manliness is defined by the ability to fend for oneself in all aspects of life. In Okonkwo's mind, success and strength is paramount, but despite this his sense of manliness does not demand that he never ask for help. I found that to be a really striking and different way of thinking.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
gender differences
In "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" the role of women and how they are treated can be compared to gender roles in "Things Fall Apart." With regards to the Vicario family in "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" the narrator states, "The brothers were brought up to be men. The girls had been reared to get married" (31). From this quote I can sense that women are brought up to be just wives and be under the rule of their husband. While males are to grow up into men. Women are dehumanized to live for their husbands. Men become the head and center of all life. In "Things Fall Apart," Okonkwo embodies that masculine, powerful man who has control and power over everyone else. He beats his wives and will not allow himself to be seen as weak or sensitive. He believes he could only be respectful by acting manly, aggressive and powerful. In "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" Bayardo San Roman is like the paradigm of the perfect man. He is rich, powerful, and handsome. All he has to do is pick any woman and that woman must become his wife. In both books the male gender is higher than the female and the female is clearly seen as subordinate. Both Okonkwo and Bayardo San Roman treat their wives violently as violence becomes the symbol of their masculinity and power.
Masculinity
I've been thinking a lot about Okonkwo's masculinity and how he was influenced by his father. One quote that stuck out to me was towards the beginning of the book. "No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man." I've heard this idea before in other books; men talking about the need to control women in order to feel powerful and strong and masculine. It's a terrifying idea, but it's very prominent. I just finished reading a book about the true story of an Austrian man who kept his daughter as a sex slave in a basement for 24 years and she bore seven of his children. I know it seems like a bit of a stretch to compare these books, but the men both has strong issues with masculinity. This Austrian man was also raised to see women as lower and to be overtly masculine. He always felt like he needed control over something, and women was the easiest way to get that. Men that are raised to be super masculine can definitely cause problems later in life because that often comes with a need for power. And the search for power can have dangerous results.
The Center Cannot Hold
"For war consisteth not in battle only, or the act of fighting, but in the known disposition thereto during all the time there is no assurance to the contrary." (Hobbes, The Leviathan)
In Hobbes' The Leviathan, the idea that men are inherently violent by nature is presented. Hobbes argues that men need a Commonwealth (or Leviathan) to keep people "in awe," and the nature of men at bay. A strong Commonwealth is needed to keep society thriving forward and in a state of peace. Because the nature of men is disorderly and violent, structure in society is needed to control people's natural dispositions.
In reading Achebes' Things Fall Apart, I found the the Ibo village's structure to act similarily to the same Commonwealth described. In the village, Okonkwo's character is the most pressing example of a man dominated by his violent nature and tendancy to act out of anger. Okonkwo has this fire within him, and "desire to conquer and subdue" that is constantly expressed throughout the novel. Okonkwo is known as the best fighter in the land, and can be seen threatening and beating his wifes until "his anger [is] satisfied." He is the prime example for what Hobbes describes, because of his violent nature that at times even disrupts the order of his village. Okonkwo disturbs the Week of Peace and crosses over societal boundaries/regulations by beating his wife harshly; he even commits violence upon himself towards the end of the novel. Though the Ibo village contains many rituals and rules that at times bringforth and create violence, the institution aims keeps the nature of men at bay most of the time. Okonkwo's character is seen as more violent than the majority of people in the village, even admidst the cultural violence present. It seems as if their culture is naturally violent, because perhaps they are less civilized in instuition and doctrine than what people in the Western culture experience. Hobbes believed the primitive and earliest humans were violent in nature and tamed only through a strong societal instituion such as that of a Commonwealth. Okonkwo is somewhat controlled only through his village's regulation.
In the short quote from "The Second Coming," W.B. Yeats (at beginning of Things Fall Apart) writes "Things fall apart, the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world." I interpreted this quote to reflect upon the idea of entropy- that things naturally move towards disorder, and perhaps towards a more violent state of nature. In reading Things Fall Apart, we see the culture and customs of the Ibo village fall apart admist violence in resistance to the British colonizers, bringing up the idea that we cannot escape disorder because it is the very center of everything. The inevitability of disorder in society parallels the violent state of nature present in humans.
In Hobbes' The Leviathan, the idea that men are inherently violent by nature is presented. Hobbes argues that men need a Commonwealth (or Leviathan) to keep people "in awe," and the nature of men at bay. A strong Commonwealth is needed to keep society thriving forward and in a state of peace. Because the nature of men is disorderly and violent, structure in society is needed to control people's natural dispositions.
In reading Achebes' Things Fall Apart, I found the the Ibo village's structure to act similarily to the same Commonwealth described. In the village, Okonkwo's character is the most pressing example of a man dominated by his violent nature and tendancy to act out of anger. Okonkwo has this fire within him, and "desire to conquer and subdue" that is constantly expressed throughout the novel. Okonkwo is known as the best fighter in the land, and can be seen threatening and beating his wifes until "his anger [is] satisfied." He is the prime example for what Hobbes describes, because of his violent nature that at times even disrupts the order of his village. Okonkwo disturbs the Week of Peace and crosses over societal boundaries/regulations by beating his wife harshly; he even commits violence upon himself towards the end of the novel. Though the Ibo village contains many rituals and rules that at times bringforth and create violence, the institution aims keeps the nature of men at bay most of the time. Okonkwo's character is seen as more violent than the majority of people in the village, even admidst the cultural violence present. It seems as if their culture is naturally violent, because perhaps they are less civilized in instuition and doctrine than what people in the Western culture experience. Hobbes believed the primitive and earliest humans were violent in nature and tamed only through a strong societal instituion such as that of a Commonwealth. Okonkwo is somewhat controlled only through his village's regulation.
In the short quote from "The Second Coming," W.B. Yeats (at beginning of Things Fall Apart) writes "Things fall apart, the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world." I interpreted this quote to reflect upon the idea of entropy- that things naturally move towards disorder, and perhaps towards a more violent state of nature. In reading Things Fall Apart, we see the culture and customs of the Ibo village fall apart admist violence in resistance to the British colonizers, bringing up the idea that we cannot escape disorder because it is the very center of everything. The inevitability of disorder in society parallels the violent state of nature present in humans.
In reading Chronicles of a Death Foretold, I noticed that the details and the circumstances of the murder were similar to the murder in The Stranger. Aside from the fact that both victims were Arabs, both murders seemed a bit inexplicable although there were possible motives behind each. In Garcia Marquez’s novella, the twins’ motives for killing Santiago Nasar were reasons of honor. In Camus’, one could say that Meursault’s underlying motive was to defend Raymond. In both instances, however, the victims did not really understand what was occurring. Neither the Arab nor Santiago Nasar did anything to warrant death. Although they both felt threatened, there was no clear reason for them to expect to be killed. Each death was a result of many “fatal coincidences.” Although there was a collective knowledge of Santiago Nasar’s imminent death but absolutely none of the Arab’s, both situations are comparable. The twins had announced their intent to the whole town, but as the narrator mentions numerous times, they were waiting for someone to intervene. They had no real intention of actually killing Santiago Nasar just as Meursault had no intentions of killing anyone when he went for that walk. Both acts of murders were messy and confusing. Meursaults began with a single gunshot followed by a few inexplicable gunshots; the twins’ attempts to kill Santiago Nasar included various slashes and stabs. Just as the subsequent gunshots were questioned in the Stranger, the messy butchering of Santiago Nasar seems ridiculously excessive. After committing the murders, though, neither the twins nor Meursault saw fault in their actions. In both cases, we see society piecing together an opinion of each of the convicted men. In the twins’ case, society declared them to be good people because they were acting on behalf of honor and whatnot. Meursault was viewed as despicable for his nonconforming / unacceptable behavior. Both murders were grotesque and horrid, but what differentiated them were society’s reactions and perspectives. Both instances represent the absurd nature of life and how man lacks any control. Both stories suggest that there is no fate or destiny or any higher power controlling mankind’s actions. There is only a series of fatal coincidences that shape the circumstances of our lives and actions.
The Opposite of Love Is Not Hate
Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel says, “The opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference.”
In Things Fall Apart, the Igbo tribe and culture dies when colonists enter Niger, bringing Christianity and European culture. Believing the missionaries to be humorously harmless, the Mbata tribe does not respond violently. When the white men first arrive in Mbata and challenge their religious beliefs, for example, the tribe “[breaks] into derisive laughter” (Achebe 146). Even Okonkwo, a violent man by nature, “shrugs his shoulders” at the presence of the missionaries, thinking them to be mad but unthreatening. The tribe even allots a plot of land for them, essentially granting them passage into their lives. Through the tribe’s pacification, the missionaries effectively penetrate the Igbo culture through religious conversions. These conversions, including Okonwo’s son’s conversion, undermine Igbo beliefs. The entrance of the missionaries can be blamed on the inaction of many, and the tribe’s subsequent demise can be called a collective suicide.
Conversely, violence is used to preserve culture in Igbo culture. For example, Okonkwo beats his wives and his children if they step out of traditional gender roles. Even Okonwo’s suicide, a violent reflection of the tribe’s own suicide, can be interpreted as a last ditch effort to protect Igbo culture from European culture.
Just as the Igbo tribe’s death is collectively caused, so is Santiago Nasar’s in Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Though Santiago Nasar is brutally killed by the Vicario brothers, his death can be interpreted as a result of his town’s communal inaction. Various members of the town ignore the potential crime, often dismissing the Vicario brother’s blatant death threats as drunken talk. In fact, “there had never been a death more foretold”(50) that could have been--on multiple occasions--prevented. Although some of the townspeople might feel fearful, the majority of the town acts indifferently by not warning Santiago Nasar. His death, therefore, is a collective murder.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Similarities between Greek Mythology and Things Fall Apart
I've noticed a lot of similarities between Things Fall Apart and the Greek Mythology including the return and the death of a king, dislike of twins, and the existence of oracles.
1. The return and the death of a king:
In The Oresteia by Aeschylus, Agamemnon returns from war and is welcomed by his wife, Clytaemnestra. However, Clytaemnestra welcomes him with a crimson red carpet which is too much of a God-like or womanly welcome. Like Okonkwo, Agamemnon has been gone for so long that their home has changed. Umuofia has become soft in allowing the white people to establish their church, religion, and government in their land, and Clytaemnestra has become a strong, manly ruler of Agamemnon's throne. Both Agamemnon and Okonkwo seek a warm welcome, but each marked their impending deaths. Agamemnon subdued to Clytaemnestra's overly grand welcome that could be punishable by the Gods and walked on the crimson red carpet into his home and killed him. Okonkwo fails achieve his goals (to initiate his sons into the ozo and build his rank when he returned) and also fails to lead his people into war against the whites. I think since Okonkwo could not take such failures- the ultimate failure of his his great "to become one of the lords of the clan (131), he hung himself.
2. Twins:
Similar to Greek culture, twins are thrown away in the Umuofia tribe. Traditionally, in Greek culture, the twins (both sons) would compete for their father's throne and inheritance, thus only leading to bloodshed. This is probably why Umuofia and the Greeks are similar because they have traditions and the Western culture branched from Britain and Europeans. They weren't exactly around when violence was a part of their culture.
3. Oracles:
Even though the oracles demand a sacrifice of an innocent child, the people must obey or else the God's wrath will harm their soil. The oracles usually prophesize the killing of an innocent to appease the Gods, but Okonkwo slowly realizes that their prophecies aren't exactly justified. For instance, he had to murder Ikemefuna, an innocent boy who Okonkwon had taken in as a son and came to like. Also, the elders of the Abame tribe consulted their oracle and "it told them that the strange man would break their clan spread destruction among them" (138). So they decided to kill him and tie his iron horse to the sacred tree. Ironically, if they hadn't killed him, Abame probably wouldn't have been wiped out.
Also in the Euripidies' Bacchae, the idea of only the initiates can see the God, Dionysos. Only the initiates were allowed to know what goes on during the festival gatherings of the initiates and till this day we don't know their actions because they've been sworn to secrecy. We also see in Things Fall Apart, "one of the greates crimes a man could commit was to unmask an egwugwu in public, or to say or do anything which might reduce its immortal prestige in the eyes of the unitiated" (186). The glory, or kleos, of the Gods is represented in costumes and masks worn by mortals, but hidden from the unitiated, who don't believe in the God.
Again, the question of whether or not a man can overcome his destiny as fated by the Gods reappears in this text. At the beginning of the novel, we learn that if a man says yes, then his chi says yes also, portraying the idea that a man has his own will and makes his own destiny. However, Okonkwo discovers for himself that " a man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi" (131). This means that his destiny his predetermined and his actions nor will cannot change it. For example, Oedipus tried to avoid the prophecy's warnings against his murder of his father and sex with his mother. Then he becomes king of Thebes and exacts revenge on the previous king that was murdered... but the king was his father and he already went to bed with the queen who was his mother. Also, in my previous post, I mentioned in The Stranger, the idea of chance versus fate- again the will of the Gods.
1. The return and the death of a king:
In The Oresteia by Aeschylus, Agamemnon returns from war and is welcomed by his wife, Clytaemnestra. However, Clytaemnestra welcomes him with a crimson red carpet which is too much of a God-like or womanly welcome. Like Okonkwo, Agamemnon has been gone for so long that their home has changed. Umuofia has become soft in allowing the white people to establish their church, religion, and government in their land, and Clytaemnestra has become a strong, manly ruler of Agamemnon's throne. Both Agamemnon and Okonkwo seek a warm welcome, but each marked their impending deaths. Agamemnon subdued to Clytaemnestra's overly grand welcome that could be punishable by the Gods and walked on the crimson red carpet into his home and killed him. Okonkwo fails achieve his goals (to initiate his sons into the ozo and build his rank when he returned) and also fails to lead his people into war against the whites. I think since Okonkwo could not take such failures- the ultimate failure of his his great "to become one of the lords of the clan (131), he hung himself.
2. Twins:
Similar to Greek culture, twins are thrown away in the Umuofia tribe. Traditionally, in Greek culture, the twins (both sons) would compete for their father's throne and inheritance, thus only leading to bloodshed. This is probably why Umuofia and the Greeks are similar because they have traditions and the Western culture branched from Britain and Europeans. They weren't exactly around when violence was a part of their culture.
3. Oracles:
Even though the oracles demand a sacrifice of an innocent child, the people must obey or else the God's wrath will harm their soil. The oracles usually prophesize the killing of an innocent to appease the Gods, but Okonkwo slowly realizes that their prophecies aren't exactly justified. For instance, he had to murder Ikemefuna, an innocent boy who Okonkwon had taken in as a son and came to like. Also, the elders of the Abame tribe consulted their oracle and "it told them that the strange man would break their clan spread destruction among them" (138). So they decided to kill him and tie his iron horse to the sacred tree. Ironically, if they hadn't killed him, Abame probably wouldn't have been wiped out.
Also in the Euripidies' Bacchae, the idea of only the initiates can see the God, Dionysos. Only the initiates were allowed to know what goes on during the festival gatherings of the initiates and till this day we don't know their actions because they've been sworn to secrecy. We also see in Things Fall Apart, "one of the greates crimes a man could commit was to unmask an egwugwu in public, or to say or do anything which might reduce its immortal prestige in the eyes of the unitiated" (186). The glory, or kleos, of the Gods is represented in costumes and masks worn by mortals, but hidden from the unitiated, who don't believe in the God.
Again, the question of whether or not a man can overcome his destiny as fated by the Gods reappears in this text. At the beginning of the novel, we learn that if a man says yes, then his chi says yes also, portraying the idea that a man has his own will and makes his own destiny. However, Okonkwo discovers for himself that " a man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi" (131). This means that his destiny his predetermined and his actions nor will cannot change it. For example, Oedipus tried to avoid the prophecy's warnings against his murder of his father and sex with his mother. Then he becomes king of Thebes and exacts revenge on the previous king that was murdered... but the king was his father and he already went to bed with the queen who was his mother. Also, in my previous post, I mentioned in The Stranger, the idea of chance versus fate- again the will of the Gods.
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