Friday, August 11, 2006
Essay 1
Chelsea Taylor
Mrs. Bosch
Honors English 10
11 August 2006
“Pride in One’s Self”
Chinua Achebe, the amazingly gifted author of “Things Fall Apart,” demonstrated exceptionally well how it is possible to insert a captious and inviting plot complete with individual and strikingly unique characters, and at the same time ingeniously informing the audience of his riveting personal views. It is quite evident throughout the novel the fact that the author took a great amount of pride in his family, heritage, memory, language, and life. This novel was filled to the brim with evidence of how much he values his beliefs and therefore, it can only be concluded that Mr. Achebe was a very insightful and intriguing character, and consequently, morals and family are very important to him.
Walt Whitman once said, “An individual is as superb as a nation when he has the qualities which make a superb nation.” Chinua Achebe must have thought the same thing because in his main character Okonkwo, he has instilled these qualities. One of them being that he takes pride in his family and being together, and believes that “it is good for kinsmen to meet” (Achebe 166). Mr. Achebe created the character Okonkwo differently from the rest, and this shows that Okonkwo is much like Mr. Achebe, not literally, but figuratively. This fact helps to prove that Mr. Achebe does in fact take pride in his family.
Another idea that is illustrated nicely from the author’s perspective is a person’s heritage. It is stated in the novel by Okonkwo “a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father” (Achebe 8). Although this statement may sound as though Mr. Achebe does not respect heritage, it truly means that heritage is very important, and that people should take pride in their heritage as Mr. Achebe does. What helps to prove this point is that when Okonkwo was banished after committing a female crime, he returned back to “his mother land for a few years” (Achebe 134). This shows that he does in fact take pride in his mother’s heritage, and in turn, Mr. Achebe takes pride in his own heritage as well.
The third idea that is quite evident throughout the whole novel that Mr. Achebe takes pride in is his memory of the past. It is mentioned during the novel that there is “fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship” (Achebe 167). The elders of the clan in the novel respect their memory of the past and understand that because the youngsters of the clan do not have those past memories, they do not respect how important the customs and “the gods of his fathers and his ancestors” are to the clan (Achebe 167). This idea of memory being vital to the survival of the clan in turn helps prove that Mr. Achebe also believes memory of past wrongs is also very vital in the survival of the modern day society.
The one thing that is vital to human beings and helps them to communicate is their language. Mr. Achebe most likely believes this same idea. The nine villages in which the villagers lives spoke relatively the same language so they are able to communicate with each other. However, when the white men came, he spoke a different language that “they did not understand” (Achebe 139). These two races of people could not communicate with each other, and therefore, what started with a tragedy for the incoming white men ultimately led to the destruction of the Igbo culture and society. All of these tragedies in the novel that stemmed from the lack of communication or miscommunication are what lead the reader to believe that Mr. Achebe must believe the same thing, and that he takes pride in the languages he speaks.
The latter and final idea that Mr. Achebe takes pride in and is clearly represented throughout the novel is life. It is quite evident throughout the story that life, i.e. living and dieing, plays an important part of everyday life and the customs and traditions he Igbo people have. Because of the diminishing culture of the Igbo people, Okonkwo wanted to make a last and final statement and decided, partly because he had no more fight left in him, and partly because he needed to do something that would show his people that “they lost the power to fight” and needed to get it back (Achebe 175). This action that Okonkwo took is the deciding factor that helps prove that Mr. Achebe does in fact take a great amount of pride in his and other peoples’ lives. What better way to let your audience know that you care about their lives than to have the protagonist take his own life to show that we need to care?
Throughout the novel, Mr. Chinua Achebe makes it abundantly clear the fact that he takes pride in his family, heritage, memory, language, and life. Whether he was pulling from oral traditions, past experiences, or the past experiences of his family, it truly does not matter because he wrote an ingenious novel about strength and having your own voice, all the while letting the audience find out what he is proud of and what he believes matters most.
Work Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1959.
Chelsea Taylor
Mrs. Bosch
Honors English 10
11 August 2006
“Pride in One’s Self”
Chinua Achebe, the amazingly gifted author of “Things Fall Apart,” demonstrated exceptionally well how it is possible to insert a captious and inviting plot complete with individual and strikingly unique characters, and at the same time ingeniously informing the audience of his riveting personal views. It is quite evident throughout the novel the fact that the author took a great amount of pride in his family, heritage, memory, language, and life. This novel was filled to the brim with evidence of how much he values his beliefs and therefore, it can only be concluded that Mr. Achebe was a very insightful and intriguing character, and consequently, morals and family are very important to him.
Walt Whitman once said, “An individual is as superb as a nation when he has the qualities which make a superb nation.” Chinua Achebe must have thought the same thing because in his main character Okonkwo, he has instilled these qualities. One of them being that he takes pride in his family and being together, and believes that “it is good for kinsmen to meet” (Achebe 166). Mr. Achebe created the character Okonkwo differently from the rest, and this shows that Okonkwo is much like Mr. Achebe, not literally, but figuratively. This fact helps to prove that Mr. Achebe does in fact take pride in his family.
Another idea that is illustrated nicely from the author’s perspective is a person’s heritage. It is stated in the novel by Okonkwo “a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father” (Achebe 8). Although this statement may sound as though Mr. Achebe does not respect heritage, it truly means that heritage is very important, and that people should take pride in their heritage as Mr. Achebe does. What helps to prove this point is that when Okonkwo was banished after committing a female crime, he returned back to “his mother land for a few years” (Achebe 134). This shows that he does in fact take pride in his mother’s heritage, and in turn, Mr. Achebe takes pride in his own heritage as well.
The third idea that is quite evident throughout the whole novel that Mr. Achebe takes pride in is his memory of the past. It is mentioned during the novel that there is “fear for you young people because you do not understand how strong is the bond of kinship” (Achebe 167). The elders of the clan in the novel respect their memory of the past and understand that because the youngsters of the clan do not have those past memories, they do not respect how important the customs and “the gods of his fathers and his ancestors” are to the clan (Achebe 167). This idea of memory being vital to the survival of the clan in turn helps prove that Mr. Achebe also believes memory of past wrongs is also very vital in the survival of the modern day society.
The one thing that is vital to human beings and helps them to communicate is their language. Mr. Achebe most likely believes this same idea. The nine villages in which the villagers lives spoke relatively the same language so they are able to communicate with each other. However, when the white men came, he spoke a different language that “they did not understand” (Achebe 139). These two races of people could not communicate with each other, and therefore, what started with a tragedy for the incoming white men ultimately led to the destruction of the Igbo culture and society. All of these tragedies in the novel that stemmed from the lack of communication or miscommunication are what lead the reader to believe that Mr. Achebe must believe the same thing, and that he takes pride in the languages he speaks.
The latter and final idea that Mr. Achebe takes pride in and is clearly represented throughout the novel is life. It is quite evident throughout the story that life, i.e. living and dieing, plays an important part of everyday life and the customs and traditions he Igbo people have. Because of the diminishing culture of the Igbo people, Okonkwo wanted to make a last and final statement and decided, partly because he had no more fight left in him, and partly because he needed to do something that would show his people that “they lost the power to fight” and needed to get it back (Achebe 175). This action that Okonkwo took is the deciding factor that helps prove that Mr. Achebe does in fact take a great amount of pride in his and other peoples’ lives. What better way to let your audience know that you care about their lives than to have the protagonist take his own life to show that we need to care?
Throughout the novel, Mr. Chinua Achebe makes it abundantly clear the fact that he takes pride in his family, heritage, memory, language, and life. Whether he was pulling from oral traditions, past experiences, or the past experiences of his family, it truly does not matter because he wrote an ingenious novel about strength and having your own voice, all the while letting the audience find out what he is proud of and what he believes matters most.
Work Cited
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1959.
Read or Post a Comment
<< Home