<p>I agree the book does have a very spirally structure. I sometimes had trouble keeping track of characters too, nice to have an explanation for why. (Though the unfamiliar names don’t help either.)</p>
<p>Yes, thanks for the explanation of circular literature, ignatius. </p>
<p>I also had trouble keeping up with some of the unfamiliar names. Some seemed too similar and the lack a familiarity had me going backwards to check.</p>
<p>^^^ Whoa … I’m not an English major. I did pick up on this:
I think No Longer at Ease makes a clearer case for circular narrative (than does Things Fall Apart) as the end matches the beginning. Things Fall Apart relies on the various threads circling back on themselves before returning the reader to the “larger-frame narrative” - the return to the beginning is less defined. I would think that a linear time line would be so much easier for a writer to handle.</p>
<p>^ ignatius, we are bestowing an honorary degree on you. That was a very helpful definition, especially the part you bolded. So Things Fall Apart is both structurally circular and thematically circular (c.f. psychmom’s post #76).</p>
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<p>I would say that Okonkwo believes in personal control over fate: </p>
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<p>Even though Okonkwo’s success turned to failure, I think in the end he still felt that he was the one in control. After he kills the messenger and realizes what that means for him, he doesn’t curse the gods or claim to be a victim of evil-fortune. Instead, his movements are deliberate and self-aware: “He wiped his machete on the sand and went away” (p. 205).</p>
<p>I think that Okonkwo’s belief that he “cracked his own palm-kernels” is further evidence of his arrogance. Many people—in Umuofia culture as well as in our own—often credit their good fortune to a Higher Power rather than themselves. It’s a form of humility, with an element of superstition thrown in. Okonkwo lacks that humility, and his suicide, although rooted in despair, is also a final act of defiance. He chooses to follow through with what he knows is "an offense against the Earth.”</p>
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Thanks, Mary. This is a good definition of Okonkwo’s suicide and helps me put it in perspective.</p>
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^^This behavior is not contradictory for Okonkwo’s personality, but is very contradictory behavior for someone who is angry because of the loss tribal customs and beliefs.</p>
<p>Yes, his inability to see his contradictions ultimately does him in. By contrast, Okonkwo’s friend, Obierika, is more of an observer and goes along with the flow.</p>
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<p>I did not see the significance of the following till I looked through the book again: </p>
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<li><p>the tribal elder warns Okonkwo not to play a part in the death of Ikemefuna</p></li>
<li><p>Okonkwo unfortunately does not heed this advice</p></li>
<li><p>the tribal elder passes away</p></li>
<li><p>at the funeral, Okonkwo accidentally kills a boy Ikemefuna’s age</p></li>
<li><p>Okonkwo is banished for seven years for the “feminine” crime</p></li>
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<p>It does indeed seem that the tribal gods punish Okonkwo.</p>
<p>(Hopefully the above is correct. I caught it last night but don’t have time this a.m. to recheck. Off to run much-needed errands.)</p>
<p>Do you think Achebe himself believed that the tribal gods punished people? I mean, it seems clear that the people he wrote about may have believed that, but…</p>
<p>Sorry if I am splitting hairs again or getting caught up in semantics.</p>
<p>NJTM - I don’t really know what Achebe believed. I’m not sure how much it matters, at least to me. Things Fall Apart is historical fiction. The way it is written certainly makes it feel real and of course we know similar events did happen with colonization, but it is ficiton. Achebe can write whatever he wants. Perhaps he just wanted us to think about religion, tribal beliefs, and the unexplained. I will admit my comment “angry spirits showing Okonkwo who is in charge”, was a bit tongue in cheek. I suppose the sassy voice I was hearing in my head as I wrote it, didn’t show up in print. :)</p>
<p>I think Achebe believed that Okonkwo made his own bed, but I think he put in enough alternate interpretations for us to feel that another point of view was a perfectly valid way of looking at the world. I think Achebe understands that we all need ways to interpret the world and that the idea of fate is very compelling.</p>
<p>Achebe has a very interesting voice as narrator. You feel aware of him as an educated person who understands tribal ways yet no longer shares their beliefs. When he presents a portrait of the culture he is writing about, he walks a delicate line between respect and criticism.</p>
<p>When Nwoye first begins to be uncomfortable about certain practices, you get the feeling that Achebe was the same way as a child.</p>
<p>I don’t think Achebe would write a story that has the tribal gods literally punishing people. The people he writes about feel that the gods punish errant individuals, and I think Achebe implies that these beliefs result in unfortunate things happening to people who transgress. </p>
<p>Kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy…if you strongly believe a black cat crossing your path will bring bad luck, the anxiety this creates can have unfortunate results…</p>
<p>Exactly! It is their belief that makes it real.</p>
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<p>Another example, involving one of the outcasts - now a Christian: </p>
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<p>^ I agree, perfectly put.</p>
<p>Personally, I rather doubt that Achebe himself believed that tribal gods punished people, but he has such respect for his characters and their beliefs that it may come across as if he does. </p>
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<p>So true! I’ve read over sentences, trying to pinpoint the nuances of the voice.</p>
<p>The book is written in the 3rd person, but at times, it’s a 3rd person limited, where the point-of-view is coming from the characters and (presumably) not Achebe. For example, “Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife, who went to plait her hair at her friend’s house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal” (p. 29).</p>
<p>“Justifiable”? Remove that word and the sentence could be written by a 3rd person omniscient narrator. But with that word, the perspective must be from Okonkwo and/or his clan. At least that would be my supposition.</p>
<p>An interview with Achebe re religion - tribal beliefs and Christianity:</p>
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<p><a href=“http://www.conjunctions.com/archives/c17-ca.htm[/url]”>http://www.conjunctions.com/archives/c17-ca.htm</a></p>
<p>A passage from No Longer at Ease I liked and think probably represents Achebe’s upbringing - Obi (grandson) returns to the village and the old men want to break a kola nut in celebration. Isaac (called Okonkwo here, so don’t get confused) at first objects (as a Christian) but the men work it out:</p>
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<p>That’s a great passage from the interview, Ignatious! I do think that people who are on the cusp of two cultures, religions, regions often have a very interesting perspective. You can observe from the outside as well as with the knowledge of an insider.</p>
<p>I just wanted to say that I read Things Fall Apart the summer before my junior year of high school for my AP World class, and it was truly such a moving, eye-opening experience. It was probably one of the most useful and prominent little culture expansions in my educational life. </p>
<p>I grew up in a small town made up of primarily white, middle class families, so none of us really knew or paid much attention to how severe the tirade of The White Man really was. Sure we were told that it was awful and very tragic, but we never had any in-depth, non-white insight until we read this book. I think it was a moment of our diminishing youth where we all kind of just went “wow, our ancestors were cruel, and the world kinda sucks. That really is inexcusable.” </p>
<p>I’d recommend any of your children (AP World-bound or not) to read it as well since it really is both a good read and a culturally rich experience. </p>
<p>Also, I referenced it just last week for my college literature class and had used it a ton in AP Lit, so it can come in handy when included in your general literary matrix. </p>
<p>I hope everyone else liked it, too! :)</p>
<p>harvestmoon, thanks for posting! Amazingly, Things Fall Apart was not required reading for any of my children during high school. Now that I’ve read the book, I feel that was a sad gap in their education.</p>
<p>I’ll be on a road trip this week, and may be posting at odd times, depending on my internet chi. At the moment, though, I’m doing some last minute packing and thinking about these:</p>
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<p>^ I think #5 and #12 are closely related. Re the question—“What do you make of this culture where people can be both themselves and also assume other personas”—I can only ask: Doesn’t every culture do that?</p>
<p>For example, I may run into my priest in the grocery store, where we talk about the price of beans and his recent haircut. But 24 hours later, he can stand at an altar in front of me, dressed in vestments, and change bread and wine into body and blood, and I have no problem with that. I accept those dual personas. I think that’s how it was with Chielo and Enzinma.</p>
<p>By the same token, my neighbor might be a Supreme Court Justice, and over the back fence, we may happily discuss gardening or home repair. But once she dons that robe and enters the courtroom, I allow her far greater control over my city and my life than I would in her role as next-door neighbor.</p>
<p>I think we need to accept each other in multiple roles in order for the community to function properly. And part of the way we do that is with “indentifiers”–costumes and props, be they the wooden masks and tiny bells of the egwugwu or a judge’s black robe and gavel.</p>
<p>Regarding the egwugwu, it seems to me that the culture group in question lacks any kind of real government or designated authority figures, so they rely on the opinions of “ancestors” to pass judgements.</p>
<p>Chielo seems a little different to me. She goes into kind of a trance when she is in her priestess character. So (unlike the villagers in disguise who act as egwugwu), at those times she either taps into the spiritual force of a higher power, or believes she does.</p>