Dignity of the African People Conveyed in Things Fall Apart
In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, it is shown that the African people had their own complex culture before the Europeans decided to "pacify" them. The idea that the dignity of these people has been greatly compromised is acknowledged in the essay "The Role of the Writer," which is explanatory of Achebe's novels. A writer trying to capture the truth of a situation that his readers may know little or nothing about needs a sense of history in order to appropriately address the topic. It is not enough "to beat" another writer to the issue. Writers should make the attempt to express a deeper understanding. Without proper mental investment in a written work, the product will be a shallow representation of what it is meant to convey.
Achebe chose to write his novel realistically. He includes the beauty of the Ibo's culture, as well as the gruesome. He recorded that a man might help kill his own adopted son for fear that he would be "thought weak." He also revealed that newborn twins were thrown away. Along with the "great depth" comes tragedy, but all of the details were required to make an accurate presentation of the subject. The writer must understand that the truth is not selective to the pleasant facts. The District Commissioner believed that it was important that he "be firm in cutting out the details" and decreed that a paragraph would suffice for the explanation of Okonkwo. However, Achebe, in essence, wrote an entire novel about this character. It is arrogant to believe that the complete understanding of a human being can be accomplished so easily.
The character of the District Commissioner is a prime example of a biased ...
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...priciously without consideration to the public's attention to written news. Care must be taken and time set aside to allow for every needed aspect of a literary work to develop. Writing for expediency often excludes the "value and beauty" in the culture of the Africans. Fallacious arguments and insincere statements result from hastening a document.
Writers have the opportunity to "tell the people" the harsh realities of the past. Each one who writes about the colonial period has the choice to just write something or to write something substantial. The goal of a writer should be to influence the world for the better. With a proper attitude towards the material, knowledge of the history, and care taken for the preparation, the dignity and self-respect lost to the African people can be regained, and many can know "where the rain began to beat them."
William Shakespeare's Macbeth In the tragic play "Macbeth", by William Shakespeare, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth decide, to kill King Duncan. In the play, we see the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth transform in their personality after murdering the King. Macbeth begins the play as a noble soldier, gradually changing into an ambitious murdering man. Similarly, Lady Macbeth is ambitious but she begins as a rebellious woman who dominates her husband, gradually changing into a guilt ridden, and weak woman.
However, she may be old as she is determined to get her last chance of
Shakespeare pays much regard as to what it is to be a man and to
member, a subject to the king, a king, a friend and as a person. By
account I think the witches did play a big part in the murder of king
What would the world be like if no one felt guilt? If no one ever caught caught for their crimes? In Shakespeare's novel, Macbeth, the main characters commit crimes driven by their ambition. After committing the first crime Macbeth, the main antagonist is overwhelmed with guilt. His wife, Lady Macbeth plotted the first crime and was the main force pushing Macbeth to kill. In the end Macbeth is charged with the truth and Lady Macbeth kills herself both brought down equally from guilt. Guilt and fear of being found out causes anxiety and slow disintegration of the subconscious which leads to psychosis and therefore, because of insanity causes confession of crimes or suicidal thoughts.
In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth it is believed that the universe and king were connected. Therefore, if the two were connected, when the king was killed the universe would respond with unnatural events. In this play, the unnatural events foreshadow evil. The unnatural occurrences in Macbeth predict the downfall of the kingdom and death of Macbeth; since the universe is connected with the king.
going to smack you in the face, you have to search for it. And in
By utilizing an unbiased stance in his novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe promotes cultural relativity without forcibly steering his audience to a particular mindset. He presents the flaws of the Ibo tribe the same way he presents the assets—without either condescension or pride; he presents the cruelties of the colonizers the same way he presents their open mindedness—without either resentment or sympathy. Because of this balance, readers are able to view the characters as multifaceted human beings instead of simply heroes and victims. Achebe writes with such subtle impartiality that American audiences do not feel guilty for the cruel actions of the colonizers or disgusted by the shocking traditions of the tribesmen. The readers stop differentiating the characters as either “tribesmen” or “colonizers”. They see them simply as people, much like themselves. With this mindset, the audience starts to reflect upon their own cultural weaknesses. Conversely, the colonizers forcefully declare their religion onto the tribesmen instead of neutrally presenting their beliefs. Achebe prevails over his anger to present his opinion without forcefulness and with open-minded consideration. Yes, the colonizers succeed in converting many tribesmen into Christians; however, their success is subjective because they destroy African culture in the process. Ultimately, Achebe is successful in delivering his political views, but he does so by encouraging open-mindedness and cultural relativity instead of forcing his individual ideals upon his readers.
William Shakespeare's Macbeth Shakespeare first showed Macbeth in the court of a newly crowned King James the First. Some people would argue that in places this was written as a piece of flattery for James the first. James was meant to be a descendant of Banquos' and therefore Shakespeare shows Banquo to be a valiant and heroic character throughout the play. However, Shakespeare had to be careful what he said in the play, as he didn't want to upset the King. This play could be written as a piece of propaganda or a warning to anybody who went against the King.
The two scenes that the essay will be focusing on are Act 1 Scene 1
Achebe writes Things Fall Apart to revise the history that has been misplaced. He writes to the European and Western culture. This fact is evident because the book is written in English and it shows us the side of the African culture we wouldn’t normally see. Achebe is constantly ...
Before the arrival of the Europeans, Achebe did a excellent job portraying how the life of Igbo was before they were forced to oppose their own culture. To support this theme, Achebe included detailed descriptions of social rituals within each family, the justice system, religious practices and consequences, preparation and indulgence of food, the marriage process and the distributing of power within the men. Achebe shows how every man has an opportunity to prove himself worthy to achieve a title on the highest level, based merely on his own efforts. One may argue that the novel was written with the main focus on the study of Okonkwo’s character and how he deteriorates, but without the theme that define the Igbo culture itself, we would never know the universe qualities of the society that shaped Okonkwo’s life. The lives of the Igbo people was no different to the actual lives of the Ibos people back in the early days of Africa. Just like in Things Fall Apart, in actual African tribes there was never a ruler. “Very interesting thing about these villages is that there is no single ruler or king that controls the population. Decisions are made by including almost everyone in the village” (AfricaGuide). Using the theme, Achebe educated readers on by mirroring real African life in her
Throughout history, there have been many instances of people struggling to identify and cope with change and tradition, and this is no different in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
All throughout history, we see this dichotomy between tradition and modernity. On one hand, we have tradition, the force living perpetually in the past and refusing to change. On the other hand, modernity leaves tradition behind in favor of progress. These two concepts, much like oil and water, dare to divide but coexist as a debatable founding solution. Not only are the themes Western ideas, but they have been present and are found in literature all around the world, from China to Africa.