Introduction TFA

Introduction TFA


Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe is the story of Okonkwo, a proud Igbo man which represents the history of Achebe and his culture. Okonkwo represents the very extreme of values of the Igbo culture. Okonkwo’s struggle, both within his community, and with the colonial missionaries who arrive to “civilize” the people of Africa represents Achebe’s own struggle and desire to highlight and celebrate the complexities of Igbo culture but refrain readers from having a romantic nostalgia of life before colonization. 
The personal history of an author has significant influence on the way meaning in constructed in his/her writing as seen by Achebe. Achebe being both a devoted Christian and an Igbo. This has created internal conflict in Achebe as this is shown through his secondary characters such as Mr. Brown, Mr. Smith, Obierika, and Nwoye.


Religion in the book, Things fall apart, is an important aspect as it is the cause of all the conflicts in the book.


Achebe wrote the book in 1958, 2 years before Nigeria got its independence. (Social and historical context)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blog Entry 1

Image
Blog Entry 1- Introduction A little something about me: Hi, My name is Rainier and I’m from South Africa. I was born in Cape Town. I moved to the USA when I was 3 years old, and lived there until I was 11. I moved back to South Africa, stayed for a year, then moved yet again, to the UAE. I am studying in Raha International school for the past 6 years. I play rugby and enjoy sport and fitness. And food, lots and lots of food. I love learning new things, especially languages, even though I am really bad at them. I can speak Afrikaans (semi fluently), English (kinda) , and I’m learning French. I can get by with Dutch and Flemish. I basically can’t speak anything. Language as had a major role in my life in many different aspects of my life. It defines who I am as a person, I feel. Being bilingual I can communicate to a broader range of people, and being Afrikaans I can talk to people in South Africa and Nambia, and at least understand enough of the language in Holland a...
Read more

Martin Luther King Jr. - "I have a Dream" Short Commentary

Martin Luther King Jr – “I have a Dream” In Martin Luther King Jr.’s (MLK) speech, “I have a dream”, delivered on 28 th of August 1963, uses rhetoric language and literary devices like Logos and Pathos predominately, but also metaphors, anaphoras, amplification and others to create the mood of hope and believe for African Americans. MLK wrote this speech in a tone of importance to establish the idea of injustice for African Americans. Martin Luther King delivered “I had a dream” on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the Capital, Washington D.C, in front of two-hundred thousand people, both black and white. He delivered “I have a dream” in front of the symbolic and historic monument because Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, that abolished slavery for African Americans. This is significant because MLK uses the metaphor, “…But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still ...
Read more

Blog Post – David Foster Wallace and Zora Neale Hurston

David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech, “This is Water” relates to the novel “Their eyes were watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston because of the elements of being emotionally intelligent about oneself and other around you. The main thesis of being self-aware, having a choice, real freedom, and being independent are major elements of in both pieces of work. Both pieces of work, demonstrate and showcase the social construct of the world we live and make us question deeper questions of the mind and soul. Zora Neale Hurston’s feministic self-discovery novel, “Their eyes were watching God” is about Janie Crawford and her journey for true love, true freedom, and true independence. Throughout each of her 3 marriages, to Logan Killicks, then her 20 year marriage to Jody Starks that ended in his death due to kidney problems, and finally to the man that gave her true love, Tea Cake. Janie’s journey for true love makes her more independent and self-aware of her self and what loves means...
Read more