Bibliography

WORKS CITED

Achebe, Chinua. 1959. Things fall apart. New York: Fawcett Crest.

Bascom, Tim. 1988. The black African and the "white man's God" in Things fall apart. Cultural repression or liberation? Commonwealth Essays and Studies 11:1: 70-76.

Cobham, Rhonda. 1991. Making men and history: Achebe and the politics of revisionism. In Approaches to teaching "Things fall apart," ed. Bernth Lindfors. New York: Modern Language Association.

Gikandi, Simon. 1991. Reading Chinua Achebe: Language and ideology in fiction. Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Hawkins, Hunt. 1991. Things fall apart and the literature of empire. In Approaches to teaching "Things fall apart," ed. Bernth Lindfors. New York: Modern Language Association.

scholarly article response

In his article titled ''Principle and Practice: The Logic of Cultural Violence in Achebe's Things Fall Apart.'', David Hoegberg considers principle and practice among the characters in the novel  and how this  eventually leads to alienation and violence. I agree with him on that notion  because before the missionaries invaded the Igbo clan, to which their disunity is attributed, the people of Umofia were alredy engaged in cutural violence caused by themselves and that contribiuted to their fall. Obviosly they were disjoint in their practices that involved things such as human sacrifices and wars.They were not dynamic in their cultural believes, the very basis for a successful cultural strenght.All the other forms of chaos they encountered wer not fully pleasing to everybody.Like David said, ''If the Igbo, as depicted in the novel, fail to make changes in other areas where there are contradictions between principle and practice, then, it cannot be because such change is impossible.'' However since they had been born to accept those forms of violence acted upon them such as okonkwo's murder of  Ikemefuna they cannot claim to be unaware or unconsious of the cultural ''violence withing their culture''  on a geneneral scale.Concievably therefore, they had a part to play in their own downfall due to the presense of ''cutural violence'' and lack of ''change.''


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Quote analysis-The Igbo clan in shambles-[10]

''He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart."

The knife here is an imagery representing Christianity. It is in effect  cutting through the things that held the people together which was their practices such as worship of the gods,wars,ancestral sacrifices and all the things they deemed sacred. The people of Ummofia believed they were united in this sense hence anything that caused a division or disunity amongst them was a deadly tool just like a ''knife''.

                       

Quote analysis-Humility-[9]

"Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be
humble."
I Believe this statement was in regards to Okonkwo's arrogance. He was required to at least show some humility at the elders meeting because everything he had or possesed was not solely by his own doing .At least he had the help of his wives and children making him as prosperous as he was.

Quote analysis-Self Pride-[8]

-"The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise
himself if no one else did."

Okonkwo's pride was seen as this statement was made. Tt is an African proverb that in this sense meant  that, whether Okonkwo's family and neigbours gave him praise for his efforts and hard work or not, he was going to pat himself on the back anyways.

Quote analysis-Beliefs and customs abondoned-[7]

''An abominable religion has settled among you. A man can now leave his father and his brothers. He can curse gods of his fathers and his ancestors, like a hunter’s dog that suddenly goes mad and turns on his master''.
The introdution of christianity by the missionarries had caused an  increased disregard for  the customs of the igbo clan. This had resulted in many families falling apart due to disagreements as to whether to follow the white man's religion or stick to their own worship of the gods. The elder relating  it to a dog turning on his master can be explaind as a sign of rebellion on the part of most of the tribesmen.

Quote analysis-Loss of trust-[6]

''He called his son, Nwoye, to sit with him in his obi. But the boy was afraid of him and slipped out of the hut as soon as he noticed him dozing''

Nwoye was seen as the less favored son of Okonkwo's family. The death of his brother which was the doing of his fatther  scared him and caused him to loose trust in his father. His escape from the hut when his father fell asleep shows that he was afraid of being killed too at any point. I personally find it repulsive the fact that Okwonko was responsible for taking the life of Ikemefuna because blood relations were really considered sacred.

Igbo song

Quotes analysis- Personal accomplishments-[5]

"Do not despair. I know you will not despair. You have a manly and proud heart. A proud heart can survive a general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride. It is difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone."

They took great pride in personal achievements, hence the term ''A proud heart''. This is related to Okwonkwo's survival and hard work  when other farmers just lazied about and procrastinated. He was the only one who survive the drought through diligence. His pride rested in surviving alone rather than having the painful experience of failing alone.''since i survived that year, i shall survive anything'', he claimed.

quotes analysis- social expectations-[4]

''Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered. As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings."

Age was not the requirement in order to gain reverence but rather the accomplishments of a person. If a young person is able to do great things in connection to what the society expect of him, he gains the admiration of the tribesmen just like Okonkwo who's fame was known throughout the nine villages.

Igbo women

quotes analysis- Beliefs and traditions(Living in fear)-[3]

''Darkness held a vague terror for these people,even the bravest among them.Children were warned not to whistle at night for fear of evil spirits. Dangerous animals became even more sinister and uncanny in the dark. A ear knowing what the snake was never called by its name at night, because it would hear. It was called a string.''

This quote brings out a fact that the people of Ibo were very superstitious and therefore gave credit to certain beliefs and  notions based on what they presumed to occur .They lived in fear  knowing that certain events could be foretold by specific unrelated prior events such as the appearance of evil spirits should a person whistle at night. Accepting these these beliefs and abiding by the do's and donts had nothing to do with a person's physical strength or ability.Rebelling or acting in contrast to those notions resulted in inevitable 
consequences.

A figure representing the mami-wata water spirit of the Igbo believed to bring both wealth and loss of fertility to her lovers and followers.

 

quotes analysis-gender class-[2]

["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."

This quote focuses on the reality of male dominance in the social system. Obviously women in Ibo society were only capable of being married and ruled by their husbands. Failure of the man to carry out his rightful authority only depicted him as a weak person regardless of his wealth accumulation. To show his power, Ibo men were justified in carrying violence against their families and most specifically women.Its no wonder then that  Okwonkwo beat his children and wives, bossing them around to show his capability as a real man.

 A TYPICAL IBO FAMILY

Introduction-[1]

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achibe is an important African novel which  involves the class of cultures and belief systems, as colonization affects the people.The story  takes place in a Nigerian village of Umuofia in the late 1880s, before missionaries and other European colonisers arrived.The Ibo clan practiced common tribal traditions such as the worship of gods,''ancestoral feasts'' and sacrifices, communal living, war, and magic. They determined leadership  based on a man's personal worth and his contribution to the good of the tribe. Okonkwo, the man mentioned at the begining of the story ''had brought honor to his village'' and therfore stood  out as a great leader of the Ibo tribe.He was  respected  for his ''personal achievements.'' Eventhough Okonkwo was revered,he gets punished for his accidental shooting of a young tribesman. The Ibo ban Okonkwo from the clan for seven years. Upon his return to the village, Okonkwo finds a tribe divided by the influence of missionaries. Will there be a cultural clash? Will the people of Umuofia loose thier culture? The story addresses the personal hardships of Okonkwo in connection with the Ibo culture and its disintegration.