...Quote | Comment | “No Madonna and Child could touch Her tenderness for a son She would soon have to forget…” | Shows a mother (another way of saying portraying Mary & Jesus) this is a religious image of care, affection and tenderness. Mary also had to watch her son die on the cross, so there is a similarity there and it may also suggest that even prayer cannot help these refugees now. It is one sentence, foregrounding the mother’s love for her son & that she won’t give up on him despite the fact that he’s about to die soon - suggesting a lot of compassion from the mother. This short sentence indicates that there is very little hope or goodness in the lives of the refugees – most of their life is like the struggle depicted in the second sentence. | ‘The air was heavy with odours of diarrhoea Of unwashed children with washed-out ribs And dried-up bottoms struggling in laboured steps Behind blown empty bellies. Other mothers there’ | The sibilance in the description of the unhealthy children who are suffering, emphasizes the hardships they face in the refugee camp. Also intensifying the image of unpleasantness, the way they describe how the children are dirty and unwell.P | ‘long ceased to care’ | The other mothers in the refugee camp didn’t care about their sick child/children dying since they know that nothing can save them. It seems that other mothers don’t care about their child/children anymore – or given up/lost faith/hope, making the mother in this poem seem...
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...Things Fall Apart Important Quotations Explained Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. Explanation for Quotation 1 >> Achebe uses this opening stanza of William Butler Yeats’s poem “The Second Coming,” from which the title of the novel is taken, as an epigraph to the novel. In invoking these lines, Achebe hints at the chaos that arises when a system collapses. That “the center cannot hold” is an ironic reference to both the imminent collapse of the African tribal system, threatened by the rise of imperialist bureaucracies, and the imminent disintegration of the British Empire. Achebe, writing in 1959, had the benefit of retrospection in depicting Nigerian society and British colonialism in the 1890s. Yet Achebe’s allusion is not simply political, nor is it ironic on only one level. Yeats’s poem is about the Second Coming, a return and revelation of sorts. In Things Fall Apart, this revelation refers to the advent of the Christian missionaries (and the alleged revelation of their teachings), further satirizing their supposed benevolence in converting the Igbo. For an agricultural society accustomed to a series of cycles, including that of the locusts, the notion of return would be quite credible and familiar. The hyperbolic and even contradictory nature of the passage’s language suggests the inability of humankind to thwart...
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...Persephany Magdaleno Mr. Lopez July 23, 2014 AP Lit Things Fall Apart "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"(pg.176). Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, a historical fictional novel, was written to present a complex, dynamic society to a western audience who perceived African society as primitive, simple, and reversed. I strongly recommend this novel because of its differentiated perspectives of two intertwining stories for example: Okonkwo, a respected and powerful figure in the Ibo village, Umuofia, was also warrior whose major weakness in the novel is the inability to accept change. This ends up destroying him in the finale of the book. Chinua Achebe's other story described the influences of white missionaries on African tribes. Chinua Achebe also addresses the clash of cultures in the second part, especially within their religions, but implies that there is no right or wrong in their differences between their cultures. Fear is an emphasized theme throughout the novel because fear is what drives Okonkwo terror by the wrath of god's, guilt, and his community disapproval upon them. This theme is also looked as symbolization to Okonkwo's dedication to be a successful man because the fear was so fierce that it controlled...
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...Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” is a twentieth century work of art that serves the purpose of conveying the intricacies of African culture while at the same time giving voice to the underrepresented and exploited inhabitants of Nigeria. This work was written in response to Western writings on African culture, which treated Africa in a cultureless and subhuman light of view. “Things Fall Apart” portrays the conflict between the White colonial government and the indigenous Igbo people in Nigeria, illuminating the European and African perspectives on Colonial control, race, religion and culture. The Igbos believed that each man was responsible for his fate or destiny. They believed that a man has the ability to change his life and achieve status through economics and military accomplishments, the latter being through agriculture, and that all of this results solely from hard work. The Nigerian society, unlike European societies, was characterized by a Darwinian society in the way that people who achieved great feats were rewarded, rather than a caste-like system where there was no chance of improving one’s status. The ability to move up in rank in Nigerian culture is portrayed in the story of Onkonkwo. Born to an indebted and effeminate father, Okonkwo strives to rise through the social system and achieve everything his father could not. He is intolerant and biased towards women to the point where he describes weak men as women. Okonkwo views emotion as a weakness and thus...
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...period and it indicates something that happened after the end of formal colonization. Post-colonial has become useful because it raises large and important questions. Therefore, the widest definition of post colonial fiction easily includes Chinua Achebe’s novels. Postcolonial study delineates all aspects of the colonial process from the beginning to the end of colonial contact. Chinua Achebe’s novels contain the experiences of Nigerian people after the end of British Empire. Achebe’s novels are the replication of African history as well. Therefore, his novels describe an archetypal post colonial era African country. Chinua Achebe is one of the finest Nigerian novelists of the twentieth century, whose novels show various post colonial aspects in them. Achebe throws light on the changes in African society and politics, His four novels cover the entire colonial history of Africa from the early days of European advent to the post colonial aspects like retrieval of an identity and own past, language liberty, cultural change, disestablishment of Eurocentric norms and complexes of this period of perplexity. Achebe wrote novels chronologically one is attached to another as, pre-colonial, colonial, post colonial and commonwealth. Chinua Achebe has depicted traditional Igbo society and African history through writing his novels chronologically. His opening novel Things fall Apart has given trace on the conflict between Igbo and Western customs through the character of Okonkwo,...
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...Apart by Chinua Achebe, Published in 1958, Paper back. 2. After reading through Achebe’s novel, “Things Fall Apart,” and doing some extra research, one of Chinua’s main purposes in writing this novel (in my opinion) was in fact to prove to foreigners that Africa was different from what they would perceive it to be. Anybody who has read through “Things Fall Apart” would be able to notice that Chinua was trying to really unveil Africa’s culture. Chinua really projected the tribe’s cultural values, rituals, and common practices purposely to change the Westerners perception of Africa as a continent. Before this novel was written, most westerners would believe Africa was just a simple continent just as other ones. Chinua Ultimately wanted to change this view of Africa to something more realistic and conclusive. Chinua did this by writing his novel, “Things Fall Apart. “ 3. Chinua did an excellent job when attempting to achieve his purpose. Achebe wrote this novel with the intent to alter the perception of Africa to Westerners. “Unoka had gone to consult the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves to find out why he always had a miserable harvest.” ( Achebe, pgs. 16) This quote in the novel allows readers to assume most tribes in Africa believe in superstitions. Chinua made sure to put details into who the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves was, Chinua also gave detail on how and why people would seek into the dark hole and talk to this “spiritual” figure. This detail Chinua gives...
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...will glorify only the hunter.” Chinua Achebe, Home and Exile Literature is the expression of life in words of truth and beauty.It encompasses all genres of literature-poetry,prose,fiction,drama,philosophy,history etc.Among them,fiction is any narrative,whether in prose or verse,which is invented instead of being an account of events that actually happened. The voice of Africa in the world of letters tries to emancipate Africa from its literary stereotype.Africa is no longer a gloomy phenomenon,a dark continent.Chinua Achebe, the major exponent of the modern African novel,is greatly concerned with the two realities of social man –his individual and group identity,the legacy of colonialism, and the shift in the system of values of life leading to rampant corruption- moral and monetary. He is also concerned with the use of English as the medium of expression of African experience defining the relevance of colonial and post-colonial experience to the present .Achebe’s novels are dialectic tranformation of experience, a new way of looking at tradition to create a different order of reality through universalizing imagination.Though he has followed the established tradition of novel writing in English, Achebe has put few things ‘African’ and has successfully employed certain narrative techniques of narration to give authenticity and African flavour to his novels in order to attract the native audience and overseas readers as well. Chinua Achebe , the doyen of African writing...
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...Things fall apart 1) Discuss the role of fate, or “chi,” in the novel. How do you think Achebe feels about fate versus a person’s control over his or her own destiny? Through the novel “Things fall apart”, written by Chinua Achebe, the author demonstrate so many meaningful, African traditions and religion. Throughout the story, which took place in the Nigerian village of Umuofia, the concept of “Chi” personal god that determines fate/destiny was discussed and is important to our understanding of the main character, Okonkwo. Moreover, Okonkwo was a man who had plans for greatness but his chi said otherwise and one can explain Okonkwo’s dreadful fate as the result of a problematic chi. Further, by showing how fate overpowered Okonkwo’s destiny, Achebe portrays that fate is way more powerful than destiny and no matter how hard a person try to make their own destiny, fate takes control. As mentioned before, Achebe shows the significant of Chi through the main Character. Okonkwo worked so hard to changes his fate and become a leader in his clans but his fate changed his life. Although he was recognized for his many achievements and was respected by the village because at a young age he threw the legendary Amalinze the cat for the first time and was a wealthy farmer unlike his father, but his problematic chi changed his destiny. Okonkwo proved to be a good man and wanted a good destiny but his chi spoke louder. In chapter 12 he accidentally shot Ezeudu’s sixteen-year-old...
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...London: Routledge, 1998. Print. Said, Edward W. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Knopf, 1993. Print. Zins, H. S. Joseph Conrad and British Critics of Colonialism. Vol. 12. N.p.: n.p., 1998. Print. BBC Company. Melvyn Bragg, n.d. Radio. Phillips, Caryl, and Renée Schatteman. Conversations with Caryl Phillips. Jackson: U of Mississippi, 2009. Print. Phillips, Caryl, and Chinua Achebe. "Was Joseph Conrad Really a Racist?"Philosophia Africana 10.1 (2007): 59-66. Web. Farn, Regelind. Colonial and Postcolonial Rewritings of "Heart of Darkness": A Century of Dialogue with Joseph Conrad. N.p.: n.p., 2005. Print Goonetilleke, D.C.R.A. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness: A Routledge Study Guide. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print Linfords, Bernth, ed. Conversations with Chinua Achebe (Literary Conversations). N.p.: n.p., 1997. Print. Achebe, Chinua. "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness'" Massachusetts Review. 18. 1977. Rpt. in Heart of Darkness, An Authoritative Text, background and Sources Criticism. 1961. 3rd ed. Ed. Robert Kimbrough, London: W. W Norton and Co., 1988, pp.251-261 Achebe, Chinua. Thing Fall Apart. N.p.: n.p., 1958. Print. Singh, Francis B. "The Colonialistic Bias Aspects of the Russian over Poland." (n.d.): n. pag. Print. "Racism and the Heart of Darkness | Sarvan | International Fiction Review." Racism and the Heart of Darkness | Sarvan | International Fiction Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Aug. 2015. Amstrong, Paul B. "Reading and Representig Others...
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...Bibliographic Citation: Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1996. Things fall apart is a book written by Chinua Achebe to serve the purpose of answering inaccurate stereotypes which colonial countries have about Africans. Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian born author who is widely known and recognized as the father of African literature. He was born on November 16, 1930, in Ogidi, a large village in Nigeria and recently passed away on March 21st 2013 at the age of 82 years old. He was the child of a protestant missionary and received early education in English. His upbringing was multicultural where he got to understand some of the cultural aspects of the inhabitants of Ogidi who still had some aspects of Igbo culture. Achebe was one of the founders of the Nigerian literary movement formed in the 1950’s which had a goal of identifying traditional oral culture of its indigenous people. In 1959 Chinua Achebe published the book things fall apart. The book was to serve as a response to Joseph’s Conrad book “heart of darkness” which portrayed Africa as a primordial and cultureless foil for Europe. Achebe sort out to set the record straight and clear the air from any misconceptions that Africans were a primitive, socially backward and language-less. He sorts to give room to the understanding of the African culture and give a voice to the underrepresented at a time when the continent was still suffering from colonialism. In the book Achebe also exploits the ever...
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...Deciphering Achebe’s essay The first time I read Chinua Achebe’s “An Image of Africa” I became infuriated with what he had to say about one of my favorite texts. This happened because by way of his approach by simply stating that Western Culture is wired to see certain aspects differently than that of African or Eastern culture. After reading Achebe’s academic essay for the first time my immediate reaction, in his own words, is that “western psychoanalysts must regard the kind of racism displayed by Conrad as absolutely normal” (Achebe 11). I did not want that to be my initial reaction, but why should I argue my side of it if Achebe only believes that I see things this way because of where I was born? According to Chinua Achebe, before I even picked up “An Image Of Africa,” we were never going to see eye to eye on any level of his dissection of the novella Heart of Darkness. My first thought was to not even touch what Achebe had spoke about. To leave it as it was, an unchangeable belief that I would never be able to argue because of his demeanor. A demeanor that shouts, “I’ve felt this way for some time now, and I am finally getting this off my chest.” Someone writing with such conviction is quite hard to argue against. Anyone with a history in debate would know this. I felt as if my conviction was not as high as his over this topic matter, and the only way to argue with someone such as himself is to match his demeanor. Although I felt he was dead wrong with every topic he...
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...Apart Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is about the heartbreaking fall of the novel’s protagonist Okonkwo as well as the Igbo Culture. The protagonist is a respected and prominent leader in the Igbo community of Umuofia in Eastern Nigeria. His personal distinction and fame comes when he successfully beats Amalinze the Cat, in a wrestling duel. This earns him much honor. This novel is a demonstrative explanation of the culture of the Ibo clan as narrated from an insider's point of view while focusing on the life of Okonkwo. The customs and religion of the Ibo village comes out with simplicity and sympathy. This creates a sense of reminiscence for a way of life that is, no doubt, completely unusual to Western sensibilities and practices. This influences the reader to experience the strength and sense of a traditional culture as seen from within. The book is a vivid description of how rich African culture was before the invasion of the missionaries and colonialists rather than a bad portrayal of supposedly barbaric practices as has been claimed by some critics. For instance, Achebe describes a marriage ceremony of the Ibo community which paints a clear picture of their social and cultural aspect. There is so much socialism that an event such as marriage is a reserve and responsibility of the whole community. Achebe writes, “Women and children began to gather at Obierika’s compound to the bride’s mother in her difficult but happy task of cooking for a whole village” (Achebe 78)...
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...Sayees Yogendran Professor Frank Runcie Postcolonial Literature: Africa 09 March 2015 In Chinua Achebe’s Death Men’s Path, the main focus was to share a narrative, which emphasize the conflict between world-views and value systems. This story is about Michael Obi, a modern and ambitious young man who is appointed headmaster of the un-progressive Ndume Central School. Obi hopes to clean up the educational mission field and speed up its Christianizing mission. Chinua Achebe’s The Education of a British-Protected Child and Colonialist Criticism leads the readers to thoroughly understand Dead Men's Path. In Colonist Criticism, the author criticizes the enduring colonialism in the criticism of African literature by non-Africans. The writer states, "If the text is judged from European perspective a text doesn't get right evaluation and the essence of the text is killed" which shows Achebe’s disagreement on the European colonial injustice, a habit of ruling and discriminating other and comparing African people their literature, art and culture. He argues that African literature should not be judged with the official literature since it has its own particularity. The mask of European civilization does not know the history of African people. So Achebe's claim is that colonized people should write their own history disregarding what has been already universalized. According to Achebe, there are two problems with Universalism; first every literature must speak of their own place...
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...Intro to Literature In Chinua Achebe’s short story “Dead Men’s Path” and Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use,” the reader explores the lives of two individuals whose misguided actions and noble intentions cause grief amongst those around them. While Achebe’s story focuses on modernization and moving forward, Walker’s story is about holding on to the past. Through the authors’ use of conflict, character analysis, and point of view, I was able to recognize the deeper meanings in both stories. The stories do more than just entertain; they reminded us that our heritage is with us everyday and that we shouldn’t change who we are in order to impress others. Achebe’s story is about Michael Obi, a “young and energetic man” who is appointed the headmaster of a village school. He hopes that his ideas and “passion for modern methods” will help turn the school into a place of beauty. After Obi finds a path running across the school compound he quickly works to block it, hoping to impress the inspector. Although Obi’s intentions appear good he ends up making matters worse as conflict arises between the school and the outside village. Another story dealing with noble intentions is Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”. When Mama’s oldest daughter Dee returns home for a visit, Mama is somewhat disheartened after finding out that Dee has changed her name. After the family eats dinner together the author’s use of conflict starts to emerge. As Dee comes across some old quilts she...
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...Ralph Ellison had once said “Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.” These powerful words can easily compare to the novel Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe. This book takes place in eastern Nigeria around the 19th century, and it explores the Ibo culture at an astonishing depth. The readers get placed into this world in order to learn what it's really like living in this time and place, while allowing them to also be educated on the social norms of this civilization. Throughout the entire book the protagonist, Okonkwo, and the Ibo culture both face major events and go through a whirlwind of obstacles that eventually lead up to the collapse of each other. To illustrate the story of Okonkwo and this culture, Chinua...
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