The Significance of Religion in Things Fall Apart

The personal history of an author can have a significant influence on the way meaning is constructed in his/her writing. Comment on specific instances of such influence in Things Fall Apart.


Thesis statement: 
Chinua Achebe's personal religious subjectivity is significant within the context of his novel/ By understanding the personal history of the author, a greater appreciation of cultural, religious and social context is brought to the reader.

Topic sentence 1: The character of Mr. Brown is intended for Achebe to show the audience that the best values which he associated with his Christian upbringing were compatible with the values of traditional Igbo society.

Topic sentence 2: The event of Enoch unmasking a masked Egwugwu has an  important significance withing the religious understanding which Achebe is trying to convey, namely the religious symbolic of this shows the impact of Christianity on one's attitude towards the Igbo culture.

Topic sentence 3: The parallels between the manichian of both Mr. Smith and Okonkwo, as well as the title itself conveys the audience how neither religions is superior, each having its own limitations and weaknesses.

The significance of Gender in Things Fall Apart

With reference to Things Fall Apart, discuss how an understanding of gender influences how the text may be understood.

Thesis statement: 

With reference to the novel Things Fall Apart, an good understanding of gender within the Igbo society influences one's appreciation of the text as well as enhance the understanding of different character's thoughts and actions. By having a better understanding of gender within the novel the reader will have a better appreciation of overarching themes, tradition and customs, beliefs and conflict.

Topic sentence 1: The use of gender within Things Fall Apart gives a better understanding of the overarching theme of fear of feminity and failure. It emphasizes the symbolic of feminity and how it influences the internal and external conflict within the novel.

Topic sentence 2: Achebe's representation of gender within his novel reveals the customs and tradition of the Igbo society, thus giving the reader a better understanding and appreciation of the cultural context of the Igbo.

Topic sentence 3: Beliefs within the novel have an important significance within the novel. With the Igbo beliefs comes the understanding of gender, and how different gender representations within their belief system influences the ethic and thinking of the Igbo people.

Tragic Hero Archetype in Things Fall Apart

A Hero is a person who faces adversity, or demonstrates courage in the face of danger. A tragic hero on the other hand is a hero who is confronted with his or her downfall as a consequence of their decision making and/or fate. Citing from the Greek philosopher Aristotle: "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall".Within Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe uses Okonkwo, the antagonist of the story as a Typical Hero. He does this for distinct purposes.

By using Harmatia: Okonkwo's fear of being like his father, Unoka, a character who was kind but showed weakness and emotion, highlights the values of the Igbo through this character. It highlights how much emphasis was put on pride, hyper masculinity, reputation,and achievements within the Igbo society, thus making it easier for the reader to resonate with the behavior of the Igbos. However, Okonkwo is characterised as putting in too much effort into these values to substantiate his irrational decisions, he does this for example by not presenting sympathy and respect towards others, even the spirituals. HI fears going down the same path of his father, full of shame and regret uncover the fear of failure of Okonkwo, suggesting the significant role that achievements played in the Igbo culture.

By using Peripeteia: the killing of Ikemefuna, contradicting the advice of the elders, thus going against his own emotional nature are used to show how Okonkwo's faith to fail the Igbo are being realized.

      Achebe uses these characteristics therefore also to show that the Igbo social and political structures were flawed as well, even before the colonization of the British. Therefore Achebe creates a much more honest exhibit on the life before and during colonization, both were flawed. Hereby Achebe creates a more honest and cultural authentic view on these historical events as it shows the story from different points of  view without aggravating or ameliorating either sides of the story.

Igbo Background Assignment

Guidebook for visiting diplomats in Igboland, Nigeria

As I have now returned to my homeland, Great Britain, I am delighted to share my experience and knowledge which I have gained during my travels to Igboland. This guidebook may provide practical prior knowledge for visiting diplomats in the land of Igbo.

To my surprise and delight, I have come to the conclusion that my prior bias towards the Igbo society and their culture and beliefs was very far from what it is in reality. As I arrived on the 22nd of January this year in Igboland, the ideas and expectations that I had of the Igbo culture and society was quite negative. Frankly, I discovered very quickly that these ideas which not only I, but many other British diplomats had, were far of how it really is.

As I arrived in Igboland, one thing thing soon became very clear: the ideas which the British (media and other politicians) published about the Igbo people were far out of context, with presumably the intention to portray the Igbo people as 'helpless' and 'in need of a Westernized political and social structure'.

Unlike the cultural practices being depicted as barbaric, it is much more complex and fascinating than I previously thought. As a visiting politician, I had the preconception that the Igbo religion was far from useful, and that it would be much more benifitial for them to repent themselves towards Christianity. The Igbo people are strong believers of life after death and in the Supreme Being, which is most often referred to as the Chukwu. They believe that the Chukwu lives in the sky, looking down upon his people. His people would carry out all tasks directed by him, all obstacles such as illness or no harvest was directed by the Chukwu and thus the will of the Chukwu.

The Igbo performing a traditional welcome ritual
posterior to my arrival in Igboland

The Igbo people would offer their children in the name of the Chukwu, this is where the Western beliefs clashed with the Igbo people. I personally found it hard to believe that new-born twins were considered 'evil' and were abandoned to the Evil Forests and left to die. I believed--and still believe that this is a barbaric action from the Igbo people to please their Chukwu, and therefore the other pioneers and I decided to put an end to this by rescuing these children since the abondonment conflicted with our personal Christian beliefs. Aside from these barbaric offers, I have learned to appreciate the Igbo culture in the sense that they form a sort of imperturbability amongst the Igbo society since it introduces principles to their lives, similarly to Christianity. Thus, unlike my fellow pioneers I believe that the Igbo religion should be respected instead of being swept away.

Regarding cultural sensitivity in order to achieve a successful diplomatic relationships, there are a few things one needs to fully comprehend. For example, the Igbo land consists of an ideology called 'equalitarianism'. This refers to the ideology of equality, or near equality amongst groups and individuals. The Igbo society is divided up in groups by age. With the eldest taking on the most responsibility in the society, as they believe that respect is earned with age. The igbo people are very individualistic, where one can only receive recognition through achievements, yet no one can ever earn full authority over the obodo.

A photograph taken with the Igbo elders

Through their ideologies, the Igbo people are partly peopled by 'invisible forces', as they believe in reincarnation of the death and thus the dead still play a significant role in their culture today. Yet, all uno acting in their own best self-interest the Igbo try to acheive minimal conflict through the mutual Chukwu who is looking down upon them. This system is an obstacle towards the placement of central authority since their system is very individualistic with little to no authority. This may cause a serious threat on the imposition of Western political ideologies in Igboland, and thus I would suggest to include the 'voices' of the Chukwu and elders as much as possible when trying to impose our political and social ideologies and setting a central authority amongst Obodos.

Concluding from my diplomatic interaction with the Igbo people, I aspire for our Western ideologies and colonization of Igboland to successfully bring a better civilization and solidarity with the Igbo people. Thereby implimenting some of our political ideologies upon the society, yet paying great respect and account to the local people's beliefs and ideologies as well in order to preserve their authenticity by maintaining our cultural sensitivity as colonizers.

May 3nd, 1914
Written by pioneer colonist Sir Frederick Lugard

(Prompt 2- Guidebook)

My most meaningful takeaway from the Achebe Shared Inquiry Discussion

During the Achebe shared inquiry discussion, we had to discuss our inquiry questions about an interview with Chinua Achebe from The Atlantic in the August 2, 2000. The interview features the writer of Things Fall Apart, discussing the effects of African literature as well as how colonization influenced the messages which writers are expressing to the rest of the world. One of the inquiry questions I had was; What is Achebe's position about the moral obligation of a writer to write about his/her homeland in a certain way?

Throughout the discussion, one point that stood out for me the most was how Achebe shows that through the use of African literature, writers bring to light how people are more similar than different, despite what they like to believe.

"I really had no sense of that. Its meaning for my Igbo people was clear to me, but I didn't know how other people elsewhere would respond to it. Did it have any meaning or resonance for them? I realized that it did when, to give you just one example, the whole class of a girls' college in South Korea wrote to me, and each one expressed an opinion about the book. And then I learned something, which was that they had a history that was similar to the story of Things Fall Apart -- the history of colonization."

This specific section resonated with me the most throughout the interview. This is because within the cultural context, Achebe adresses that many people, non-Igbo people resonated strongly with his novel Things Fall Apart. Despite their different background they shared a mutual feeling of oppression thus showing that all around the world people from different backgrounds subconsiously share many mutualities. Thus this shows how depite our geographical location, people are more similar than they realize. This emphasises how African literature is a powerful tool to connect people together through ideas and feelings, instead of relying on one-sided literature (influenced by European notion). By giving different cultures a voice through literature, it can reach many more people all around the world and allowing them to see the complexity of the world much more clearly since often left-out spots in history and literature are covered. Achebe develops an argument on how literature, in particular African literature, gives a different experience  and -side of the story which often makes it more recognizable and realistic for others to interpret.

This inquiry discussion therefore expanded my appreciation of the cultural context of Achebe's writing since he displays the mutualities such as colonialism within cultures such as the Korean and Igbo people, and how through the use of his novels Achebe evoked resonance within people from very different backgrounds and cultures.

Lupita Nyong’os speech commentary

Passage:

I want to take this opportunity to talk about beauty, Black beauty, dark beauty. I received a letter from a girl and I’d like to share just a small part of it with you: "Dear Lupita," it reads, "I think you're really lucky to be this Black but yet this successful in Hollywood overnight. I was just about to buy Dencia's Whitenicious cream to lighten my skin when you appeared on the world map and saved me."

I remember a time when I too felt unbeautiful. I put on the TV and only saw pale skin, I got teased and taunted about my night-shaded skin. And my one prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up lighter skinned. The morning would come, and I would be so excited about seeing my new skin that I would refuse to look down at myself until I was in front of a mirror because I wanted to see my fair face first. And every day, I experienced the same disappointment of being just as dark as I was the day before. I tried to negotiate with God, I told him I would stop stealing sugar cubes at night if he gave me what I wanted, I would listen to my mother's every word and never lose my school sweater again if he just made me a little lighter. But I guess God was unimpressed with my bargaining chips because He never listened.

But a flower couldn't help but bloom inside of me, when I saw Alek [Wek], I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny. Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far-away gatekeepers of beauty. But around me the preference for my skin prevailed, to the courters that I thought mattered, I was still unbeautiful. And my mother again would say to me you can't eat beauty, it doesn't feed you, and these words plagued and bothered me; I didn't really understand them until finally I realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be.

Paper 1 | Commentary

Within this passage of Lupita Nyongo’s speech, she emphasizes through the use of rhetorical- and literary devices how stereotypical pressures are put upon black-skinned women by society. As a result of this passage, the effects of beauty ideals set by society upon dark-skinned women are shown through the perception of her own self-worth. She develops an overarching theme of inner conflict due to the perception of her own beauty, and the ideals set by society, where her changing perspective stresses the effect of this internal struggle which many young black girls are still facing.

Within the first section of the passage, Lupita Nyong’o develops the inner conflict which she faced as a young girl, as a result of a letter she received from a fan. Throughout this section, she emphasizes the absurdity of these stereotypical pressures put on young girls by society.

Lupita evokes an image of the black skin, “beauty, black beauty. Dark beauty” (line 1-2), using amplification to emphasize and evoke the movement of resistance against the stereotypical pressures of fitting in with the ‘white’ beauty ideal. The impression of black inferiority is aroused since ‘black’ seems to be negative. Reading from the letter she received, she re-enforces the staggering effect which these ideals have led to, highlighting the admiring fan who thinks she’s “lucky to be this black but yet this successful in Hollywood” (line 4), with this antithesis establishing the idea that black people cannot be successful (in the entertainment industry) due to their skin color. This highlights the social and political context in which black people are looked down upon for being unsuccessful in contrast to whites who are represented as more successful. Lupita appeals to pathos arousing the emotion of compassion and astonishment when reading that the girl was “about to buy … Whitenicious cream to lighten my skin (until) you appeared on the world map and saved me” (line 6). Stressing the effect that her success was a form of hope for acceptance of the young girl’s black identity, rather than conforming to fit in with society. Conveying the impression of nostalgia, Lupita recalls “a time when I too felt unbeautiful” (line 7), utilizing neologism to mimic the ugliness of not being beautiful. With the metaphor “teased and taunted about my nigh-shaded skin” (line 8) she implies the repulsion towards black skin from her peers. Creating a desperate-like mood, she recalls the memory of “disappointment of being just as dark as I was the day before” (line 14), establishing the idea that her skin color caused her to struggle with her own appearance led her into huge dissatisfaction with herself. She therefore evokes the mood of desperation through her childishly attempts to fit in by becoming white-skinned. Lupita transition the tone further into absurdity, mocking her attempts to “stop stealing sugar cubes” (line 15) and “listen to (her) mother’s every word” (line 16) if “he (god) just made me a little lighter” (line 17). She refers to God as having the ability to change her skin color, thus reinforcing God as the ruler of her faith, and disappointment of her own identity as a younger child. She therefore connotes the sense that her skin color led her into deep self-dissatisfaction with her skin color, thus her identity and appearance which was ruled by her faith of being black.

Following the sense of absurdity and mock towards Lupita’s inner struggle as a young black girl, she transitions the mood in the second section to rather optimistic. Using a few rhetorical devices and recalling previous experiences, Lupita develops the movement of hope.

Lupita evokes a tone of optimism, with figurative language used to denote the way “a flower couldn’t help but bloom inside of me” (line 24), meaning that hope and resilience sparked in her life, contrasting to the depressing tone which Lupita’s struggles created. Parallel to the young girl who wrote her, Lupita finds herself as a young girl looking up to “Alek [Wek]” (line 24). Using the allusion of Alek Wek, Lupita familiarizes the audience with the impact that Wek had made to Lupita’s perception of her own beauty. She implies that Wek had aroused “as spring in my (Lupita’s) step” (line 26), imagery for the emotion of revitalization of her own self-perception of beauty. Thus, stressing the effect of a successful icon who looked similar to her, namely she was dark skinned. As an effect of this change of perception, Lupita commenced to have “felt more seen, more appreciated by the far-away gatekeepers of beauty” (line 27). The metaphorical representation of gatekeepers of beauty refers to the stereotypical standards and ideals set by a white society, suggesting the idea that now black women were also being accepted more for their talents despite their skin color. This is a very contrasting scene to the first section of the passage, where Lupita seemed to create a rather pessimistic mood around her own self-perception of beauty, in contrast to her transitioning perception of her own beauty. Lupita uncovers using an anticlimax that she “was still unbeautiful” (line 29), the negative neologism still is used to describe her own Beauty, however Lupita coveys the impression that “unbeautiful” is not as negative as given the impression in the previous section. As a conclusion Lupita states she “finally realized beauty was not a thing that [she] could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be.” (line 31-3). This epiphany suggests the idea that ‘black’ can be beautiful if you perceive it to be so, and that one cannot use cosmetics or other products to conform to a beauty ideal, but that one has to change their perception of beauty in order to be satisfied with their (black) skin.

Concluding from this passage, Lupita Nyong’o highlights through the use of rhetorical- and literary devices how stereotypical pressures and beauty ideals affects black-skinned women. How the need to conform to a specific beauty (or racial) ideal is suppressed upon young women, implying how the social context of this passage reveals the mechanism of beauty expectations in the society we live in. And how through the experiences of her own adversity, Lupita came to reveal that one has to adapt her perception of beauty in order to find satisfaction with their own beauty. In conclusion Lupita stressed this overarching theme of beauty and self-appreciation to empower black women struggling with their self-perception due to the ideals and expectations set by society, and how to overcome this by maintaining their true selves and changing their perception of beauty instead of changing themselves.

Characterisation of Coriolanus

Analytical Response

Throughout the play, the characterisation of Caius Martius Coriolanus not only bring to light that he is the tragic hero in Shakespeare’s play, but also emphasizes the gap between the Patrician and the Plebeians. 

The play, written around 1605 by Shakespeare, is considered a political play. Therefore the play intertwines political motives, such as the tension between the Patricians and the Plebeians. In the first scene of the play, we encounter the plebeians revolting against the Patricians, since the grain isn’t distributed equally resulting in a famine amongst the Plebeians. Thus, they are blaming the Patricians for the famine. They agree to proceed especially against Coriolanus, as he is described as “a very dog to commonality” (Act I, Scene I). Thus Coriolanus is represented as the rigorous opponent, as he is a Patrician. 

Despite Menenius’ attempt to soothe the revolt of the Plebeians, Coriolanus shows a despising behavior towards the Plebeians, fueling their hatred towards Coriolanus and the Patricians even more “We have ever your good word” (Act I, Scene I). This not only highlights the hierarchy of classes during the Roman times, but also the effect that it has on the Roman society as a whole--dissatisfaction and revolt. Shakespeare therefore shows the audience how this class system impact the proceedings of the characters in the play.

The neglecting attitude of Coriolanus, a patrician, emphasizes the gap and conflicts between these two groups; the Plebeians and the Patricians. It is clear that the Patricians look down upon the Plebeians, based on Coriolanus’ attitude towards them “you dissentious rogues, That , rubbing the poor itch of your opinion, Make yourselves scabs?” (Act I, Scene I). As shown, Coriolanus, a Patricians, does not shows any respect towards the Plebeians’ opinion, as they are seen as the inferior class of Romans. “They are dissolved: hang ‘em!” (Act 1, Scene I). The Patricians, Coriolanus, seem to want to get rid of the Plebeians as they do not form any importance in the Roman society, and are according to Coriolanus unnecessary and should therefore vanish. 

In the play, Coriolanus is represented as a tragic hero; meaning that he is a “literary character who makes a judgment error that inevitably leads to his/her own destruction” (Bainbridge. 2008) In the play, Coriolanus is considered a classical hero in the full beginning scenes since he has been able to defeat the battles against the Volscians. “Misguide thy opposer’s swords! Bold gentleman, Prosperity be thy page!” (Act I, Scene 5) However, as soon as he returns back to Rome his arrogant and disrespectful attitude towards the Plebeians will lead him to his own destruction. Significant is that he is represented as a classical hero in the battle field, but in the capital of Rome he is rather rather a tragic hero since his arrogance towards the Plebeians arouses hatred towards Coriolanus. Coriolanus’ defeat against the Volsces arouse hate as well, which later on in the play will lead to his own destruction. “He’s the devil. Bolder, though not so subtle. My valour’s poison’d” (Act I, scene 10).