Looking Like A Fool In Things Fall Apart

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Things Fall Apart Essay Analysis

In George Orwell's short story "Shooting an Elephant" he writes: " I often wonder whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool." This quote fits in with why Okonkwo ,the main character in Things Fall Apart, makes the decisions he makes like killing his foster son, beating his wives, and attacking people. It is very clear in Things Fall Apart that Okonkwo is afraid of looking like a fool, just like the character in "Shooting an Elephant". This quote is very important to understand why Okonkwo is who he is. This is a specific message the authors are trying to get through to the readers about how culture, change, and authority influence us. …show more content…

Their culture is very religous based, strict, and contolled by the men in the area. They center their lives around symbols from their religon like yams, snakes, and locusts. in Okonkwos society they value masculenity and this is what shapes Okonkwo and makes him appear apathetic, unemotional, and cold as a person. Simalirly, in "Shooting an Elephant", the main character is a white man, and the society he lives in seems to thirst for amusement. In "Shooting an Elephant", there is an elephant on the loose and the people want the elephant killed, although the main character ,he is a minority, knows he does not want to kill the elephant. This character wants to prove himself so in "Shooting an Elephant" he goes against his own morals ,in order to please the crowd, and kills the elephant. In this story, the elephant symbolises morality and consiciousness ,while the crowd symbolises imperialism. This story proves how imperialism lives in culture and can corrupt anybody in subject to that

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