Monday, March 21, 2011
TFA Threaded Discussion: Sara, Dakota, Kelly
Select and cite one criticial quotation or passage from Things Fall Apart. Next, respond to your peers (identify whose passage you are responding to) with insight regarding why each passage is critical. Once everyone has responded to your passage, you have the last word; add an additional comment stating why you chose the quotation you did. We'll review some in class.
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"He [Okonkwo] wanted him [Nwoye] to be a prosperous man ... And so he was always happy when he heard him grumbling about women. That showed that in time he would be able to control his women-folk. No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and children and especially his women) he was not really a man" (53).
ReplyDelete"Okonkwo was popularly called the "Roaring Flame." As he looked into the log fire he recalled the name. He was a flaming fire. How then could he have begotten a son like Nwoye, degenerate and effeminate? Perhaps he was not his son. No! he could not be. His wife had played him false. He would teach her! But Nwoye resembled his grandfather, Unoka, who was Okonkwo's father. He pushed the thought out of his mind. He, Okonkwo, was called a flaming fire. How could he have begotten a woman for a son? At Nwoye's age Okonwo had already becoem famous throughout Umuofia for his wrestling and his fearlessness.
ReplyDeleteHe sighed heavily, and as if in sympathy the smoldering log also sighed. And immediately Okonkwo's eyes were opened and he saw the whole matter clearly. Living fire begets cold, impotant ash." (153)
In response to Dakota:
ReplyDeleteI believe this would be a critical passage because it's a perfect example of Okonkwo's continuing struggle with what is "masculine" and what is "feminine", and the consequential subjugation and degradation of anything he deems less than fully masculine, such as music and poetry.
It also, however, reveals and implies Okonkwo's parental feelings towards Nwoye--he wants his son to be successful and prosperous, and he wants him to be happy. These are wishes that any father would have for his child. Okonkwo immediately associates any feelings of protectiveness or love towards his children as feminine emotions, and thus rejects them, preferring the traditional indifference or even emotional rejection of his childred.
That he wants Nwoye to become a "masculine" figure only proves that he cares about his son's well-being and future. Despite his "femininity", in the eyes of Okonkwo, Okonkwo still believes that his son may become a strong and able adult male. By subjugating women and "feminine" ideas, Okonkwo puts a large emphasis on these male ideologies and aspects, which in the end backfires on him--Nwoye chooses to embrace his more "feminine" qualities and rebels against his father and, in the end, his tribe, as well, when he chooses to convert to Christianity and abandon the old, traditional ways of his forefathers.
In response to Sara:
ReplyDeleteOkonkwo’s description as the “Roaring Flame’ underscores both his anger issues but also that he embodies the spirit of his clan. With Okonkwo’s death, the flame or spirit of the clan is also killed. Few of the clan members are as zealous and staunchly traditional as he was, thus no one will be able to replace him and maintain clan traditions after his death. The clan has become “cold, impotent ash” because it is devoid of the courage, hard-work ethic, and traditionalism that Okonkwo possesses. The clan is “impotent” because by slowly abandoning its clan traditons and submitting to Christianity, the clan forsakes their traditional ancestor worship, thus ending the respect and devotion to the family. Okonkwo will not be remembered because the clan no longer is subserviently devout to keeping the legacy of his name alive and therefore “potent.” His life will not be preserved, making the District Commissioner’s reflection that Okonkwo’s life might merit only a paragraph at most true.
Moreover, Okonkwo is a raging flame because of his relationships to his son Nwoye and the rest of his family. Okonkwo is so angry-prone and controlling of his family that he “burns” or ruins them. Due to his father’s unrealistic and overbearing expectations, Nwoye is burned and fails to fulfill the male gender role. Okonkwo has deformed Nwoye into being a woman, but he has also changed his daughter Ezinma into a man. Okonkwo’s arrogance is shown through his inability to accept his own faults for his children’s defects by blaming his wife: “His wife had played him false. He would teach her!” Okonkwo does not realize that he is the source of his family’s ruin/charred nature, so he will continue to try and correct them by beating them but to no avail. Okonkwo will never realize his own faults and try to improve them, thus his raging flame/fearful and dominating nature will only lead to his death.
By the way: I'm wondering that since this paragraph talks about the Unoka/Okonkwo relationship, is Okonkwo only continuing the cycle of irresponsible fathers? In other words, does Okonkwo, no matter how ambitious he was in comparison to Unoka's laziness, cause the same neglect and mistreatment of his son Nwoye? Since Nwoye breaks Igbo tradition by becoming a Christian, which Okonkwo believes will cause his name to be lost to history as ancestor worship will no longer be practiced, does Nwoye break the cycle by no longer adhering to his father? Does Christianity save Nwoye?
“Does the white man understand our custom about land?” “How can he when he does not even speak our tongue? But he says that our customs are bad; and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.”
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kelly:
ReplyDeleteThis quote reveals the polarized struggle between Igbo culture and Christianity. Both sides believe that the other is "bad," but while the Christians use their image, persuasion, and cunning to gain members, the Igbo people try to maintain their culture in a more violent manner. The Igbo people ostracize their osus, kill their twins, and beat their women to maintain their culture, thus reinforcing their zealous and staunch beliefs. No wonder that those who question the flaws of Igbo society so easily flock to Christianity.
Sara's quote revealed that Okonkwo is unable to accept his own faults and weaknesses, but it also showcased how Okonkwo is an embodiment of Igbo culture. Kelly's quote furthers this idea but applies it to the clan as a whole. The clan can not accept their own weaknesses and violent customs, so Christianity is scapegoated just like Okonkwo scapegoats his wives for his problems.
The diction of "white man" and "our brothers" to refer to a group reinforces the superiority of men over women. Interestingly, Christianity is blamed and not women (Why do you think that is?)
Lastly, the quote "He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart" reinforces the theme of "things fall apart"/the loss of Igbo culture.
In response to Kelly:
ReplyDeleteDakota has already explained most of the things that came to mind for me when I read the quote, and I would feel rather redundant to repeat them. However, I do have a few things to add to the comments already made by Dakota.
The quote reveals not only that each culture and religion believe the other to be "bad", but foolish and, essentially, underdeveloped or completely wrong.
While many Westerners would look upon the Igbo culture as primitive and backwards, they may fail to realize that they view our own culture the same way. Yes, they beat their women, which is looked down upon in modern culture. But until the women's rights movement, wasn't that an accepted, though not encouraged, part of our own society? The Igbo do not beat their women for the sake of beating them--they must earn it. It was the same in Western culture for a long time.
On the point of the murder of twins, that was also a common practice among some European cultures, particularly the Celtics and other Western Europeans, who viewed twins as bad luck. They would often believe one of the twins was a "Changeling", and would rid themselves of both of them in order to escape the bad luck and misfortune that would come with the Changeling.
Dakota asked why Christianity was blamed instead of women, and I think this is rather easily explained: Okonkwo on many levels considers Christianity a "feminine" faith. He compares Nwoye to a woman as soon as he converts, and the lack of harsh rituals and behaviors, as well as the womanly kindness and love encouraged by Christianity, only serve to impress upon the reader that Christianity, from the point of view of Okonkwo (who is, as Dakota said, the embodiment of the Igbo culture), is a very feminine and therefore "weak" religion. All in all, it ties right back into the whole femininity vs. masuclinity issue that Okonkwo has throughout the entire novel.
Using the word "knife" when speaking of the discord wrought upon the clan foreshadows the violence that is to come in the book, when Okonkwo murders one of the Christian followers. Violence is spread through the entire novel, but we are never really faced with such a blatant murder as this one. Foreshadowing it only makes sense, since it was the main turning point for Okonkwo. As soon as none of his clansmen joined in the violence, Okonkwo became aware of the dead heartbeat belonging to the Igbo people and, consequentially, decided to take matters into his own hands and die before he was even more disappointed by the loss of his faith and culture by taking his own life (it could also be argued that Okonkwo was a "control freak", for want of a better term, and wanted to take his death according to his own actions in preference to being hanged as a common criminal).
In response to Dakota:
ReplyDeleteThis quote shows a rare glimpse at the more gentle side of Okonkwo, as it displays his wish for his son to prosper. It also portrays an instance of pride that Okonkwo has for his son. This is significant to the novel because it shows that Okonkwo values masculinity so much that for his son to deserve his pride he must be able to control his women like a real man.
Final opinion on my quote:
ReplyDeleteKelly is correct in that the quote shows Okonkwo's rare pride for his son. Both Sara and Kelly easily understood the gender roles and desire to be more masculine that the quote illustrated (which will probably come up again in today's discussion).
Sara expands on Nwoye's "feminity" when stating, "Nwoye chooses to embrace his more 'feminine' qualities and rebels against his father and, in the end, his tribe, as well, when he chooses to convert to Christianity and abandon the old, traditional ways of his forefathers." Despite his conversion, Nwoye finds a strength in this femininity. Those members of Nwoye's family who still adhere to Igbo traditions can not survive in an English-controlled Nigeria. Nwoye is more feminine, but because he is more cultured, passionate, and analytical. He experiences an array of emotions; therefore, he perhaps has more emotional depth and range than Okonkwo's one-dimensional fear/anger. Nwoye embodies the future of the Igbo people: embracing Christianity and English while still maintaining some aspects of Igbo traditions. Perhaps Okonkwo despises son not only because of his "femininity," but also because Okonkwo is a dying relic of Igbo society (his conservative traditionalism cannot surivive in the future, thus he dies) in contrast to Nwoye.
In response to Sara:
ReplyDeleteThis passage portrays the struggle Okonkwo has with his belief in masculinity as the primary trait for a successful life. He was distraught that Nwoye was effeminate and would never live up to the reputation he had built for his family. Okonkwo also recognizes that his fierce devotion to his work as a man might have caused Nwoye's woman-like behavior.
We will review your discussion in class tomorrow, as you have not only modeled what a successful discussion should look like, but you've each selected such meaningful power passages - focusing on culture, gender, character, theme...layering meaning. Thanks for your good work. And Kelly - what a pleasure to hear more from you!
ReplyDelete