Things Fall Apart Part III

Okay, I too noticed the irony of Okonkwo's death in the sense that he dedicated his life to avoiding becoming his father but in the end he ends up dying a shameful death as well (207). What does this say about societal honor and prosperity? In a way this undermines the idea of hardwork and prestige because although Okonkwo was prosperous and honored he experienced a shameful demise.

As for Okonkwo's motives for suicide, I have two ideas. First, Okonkwo is a man who values power and control over everything so once it is lost he has nothing to live for. The white men have usurped the power and with it they have taken Okonkwo's hard-earned status. Gaining status was his purpose for life and without this goal he has nothing. Another motive was that the tradition was crumbling. In my previous posts I addressed how although Okonkwo was a man of power, he was also subject to tradition. This very tradition is what kept his world together. When the people of Umuofia became "soft", and when Nwoye converted, Okonkwo believed these were signs of effeminacy that broke tradition. These changes were out of his control and when he tried to take matters into his own hands by killing the head messenger, he is criticized by the onlookers from his own village. Overall he found himself in a lose-lose situation. His entire tribe no longer backed him. Okonkwo felt his situation was hopeless and therefore committed suicide.

Cynthia brought up an interesting point concerning the D.C.'s book. He describes Okonkwo's life story as an "interesting read" (208). This shows that the white men saw the lives of the villagers as mere sources of entertainment. From what we have all read we know that Okonkwo's life was rather tragic so it kind of disturbed me when I read this. Any thoughts?

Lastly, for some reason I found the advent of the missionaries somewhat acceptable and even beneficial for some of the villagers, like Nwoye for example. I didn't see the missionary work as a totally negative change for the village of Umuofia. On the other hand, when I read about the introduction of the government or "white man's law" (174) I felt that this encroached on the culture and negatively impacted the village. I felt as if the white men had overstepped their boundaries. Perhaps this is because the Christianity offered comfort to some villagers while the government offered nothing of the sort. Overall what I'm trying to say is that it was as if the white men were going too far and really pushing their own culture onto the Nigerian villagers when they introduced their government. How did you all feel about the government's presence in the village? Was it beneficial or detrimental?
July 15, 2008 9:49 PM