Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Part 3 of Questions

1) Achebe chooses to bring in the European colonial presence in the last third of the novel because it portrayed the drastic changes that the tribes were going through, and showed the power of influence. By bringing in this colonial presence, the reader now begins to understand how weak the tribe has become, and how the tribe has changed for the worse and not for the better. It also indicates where the beginning, middle, and end of the novel are; the beginning when the Igbo people and their way of life is unchanged, the middle where the white men have come into their lives and started to change them, and the end where the whole Igbo culture falls apart.

2) Over the long seven years that Okonkwo was away from Umuofia, the tribe has changed greatly. The white men came, and with them came the Christian church, which consequently brought an end to the once great tribes of Umuofia. The men who were once ready to fight at an instances notice now became afraid of what the church might do, and in their confusion, many converted to Christianity, thus weakening Umuofia even more. Consequently, the people of Umuofia were weakened by the attempts of the new church to change their ways of living.

3) The function that the kotma, or court messengers, serve in the new society is that they transfer information from the commissioner to the leaders of Umuofia. They also are the guards for the prison created by the incoming Europeans. There are many differences between the white man's laws and the Umuofian's laws. For instance, as a punishment, the white men take the violator to Umuru to be hung at the gallows. However, when someone does wrong under Umuofian law, they make sacrifices to the gods they wronged, and occasionally were exiled from the community.

4) Obierika believes that it is already too late for the remaining Umuofians to start a war with the resident Christians because they will be fighting against their family relatives who have already converted. They are also greatly outnumbered by the Christians, and if a war is started, their village will be destroyed just like the village of Abame was. The white men were very clever when they came into the village because they came in very quiet and discreet, not bothering anyone, and silently built up their group of followers so that they did not have to leave once they had enough followers to outnumber the remaining villagers. Obierika can be considered a transitional figure between the old and new Igbo societies because he knows how the old society was; very tight-knit and brotherhood was a bond you never broke, and he realizes how the new society is going to be; broken and split in two because of the new Christian religion coming in, and the villagers converting to it. Therefore, he has lost his hope for the village and can be considered knowledgeable in both the past and the future.

5) There were many differences between the missionaries Mr. Smith and Mr. Brown. For one, Mr. Smith was not nearly as friendly as Mr. Brown, did not understand the culture of Umuofia as well as Mr. Brown, and was not as brave and clever as Mr. Brown was. What the reader learns from Akunna and Mr. Brown's discussion of religion is all of the major differences between the two religions. However, it also proves that people who believe in different things can still be friends, or rather, close acquaintances. When Enoch unmasked the egwugwu, he killed a spirit of a god, and therefore, set off the great conflict between the church and the clan, and ultimately, Okonkwo's death. Because of his disastrous crime, he was to be greatly punished, but because of the two misunderstanding religions, it all erupted into something much more than just the punishment of a crime that Enoch committed. These two religions do not understand each other's customs, and the importance of certain ceremonies.

6) Many Umuofians' opinions differ from Okonkwo's because he believes that the opportunity for a good education and new trade stores, and things of that sort should not be important to the people of Umuofia when they have a much bigger problem to deal with, while the other people do believe that these things are important. Religion and education go hand in hand in parts of this novel because when Mr. Brown opened up his new school, many of the Umuofians wanted their children to learn there, and sent their children there, therefore converting to Christianity and further weakening the Umuofian culture and society.

7) The District Commissioner tricks the six leaders of Umuofia into jail by announcing that he wished to have a meeting with them to discuss why Enoch's home and the church were burnt, however during this meeting, the six leaders were unknowingly handcuffed and taken away. Okonkwo, being a very angry man, tries to keep his anger to himself and not let it show that he is extremely disgusted by the white men's actions. However this emotion is too much for him to keep to himself and out of anger, kills one of the messengers out of frustration that he can do no more for his people. Okonkwo knew that because he committed this horrible offence, that he would be hung. However, he knew that if he was simply hung for his actions, that the people of Umuofia would think nothing of it; just another offender being punished. He knew that he would have to do something drastic for the people to open their eyes and see what was actually happening to their culture and their people. This is why he committed suicide. Okonkwo was isolated in the tribe because no one else thought the same as his anymore; they had all moved on and accepted the fact that the new religion was here to stay and they might as well get used to it. To them, Okonkwo was a lost cause. Okonkwo can be considered a tragic hero on many levels; he attempted to speak for his ancestors to his people, tried to convince them that this new religion was ruining their already established culture, and yet nobody listened to him. He is a hero because he was the only one who was truly committed to his culture and tried to uphold the values and beliefs which were once so very well practiced among his people, and although he was the only one left in the end who still felt as though the Umuofian culture was far more superior and should still be followed, he still fought by himself and should in fact be considered a tragic hero.

8) The paragraph that would most likely be written about Okonkwo in the District Commissioner's novel, (because knowing how he felt about Okonkwo, a whole page would definitely not be wasted on him,) would portray Okonkwo in such a way that makes him look extremely foolish for resisting the conversion to Christianity. He would most likely be used as an example of what not to be in such a predicament. And although there was much more to Okonkwo than his tragic death and harsh actions, that is all that the reader will be allowed to see because of the fact that it will be the winner who writes history; thus, putting history in their favor, and it is the loser whose story is lost because they do not have the chance to have their story told. In contrast to this, Achebe decides to have Okonkwo's story the subject of the whole novel because Achebe understood his actions and feelings, and therefore, wanted his story told, because it has always been the European's side of the story told since it was them who 'won'.

9) Many things fell apart in this novel, but the one thing that was the most prominent in this novel is that the people of Umuofia lost their voice, and fell in to the power of influence. The people allowed themselves, although sometimes unknowingly, to be taken over, and they let fear cloud their sense of judgment. The message this novel sends is to never let yourself be under the influence of others, and to always stand up for yourself and never to judge.

10) This unique combination of Western literary forms and the Igbo/African creative expression produces a very strong sense in letting modern English readers relate and respond to the setting and tribes on a more intimate level. It also allows us to see how ironic it is that the white man and the European culture ruined the Igbo people, wherefore, nowadays, the white culture is considered the perfect culture so to speak. This cross of European and Igbo/African cultures was basically to allow us to read this novel with a familiar atmosphere in mind for those of us not used to the Igbo/African culture. This was so that this novel was not to be limited to a certain group of people.

Posted by ChelseaTaylor_Delgado @ 11:17 AM