Crime: Is It Male or Female

Crime. For this village, crimes are either male or female based on the severity of said crime. Okonkwo's equivalent of modern-day's involuntary manslaughter is considered a "female" crime since he did not mean to kill the young sixteen year old boy. The division of male/female gives great insight into the culture of the Ibo. Manly acts are forceful, brute, and aggressive, while womanly acts are weak, accidental, and childish. The penalty for Okonkwo's crime is all of his homes are destroyed, along with his livestock and crops. He also has to leave the village and not return for seven years. A harsh penalty for for womanly crime, eh? Notices this fleeing is similar to the old Jewish Mosaic Law where if a person killed another person by accident, he had to flee to a safe village where similar persons lived. That is an interesting parallel.

Is Okonkwo a Good Father?

Throughout the book, Okonkwo is shown as an uncaring and brutal man, and only brief flashes of concern and tenderness are shown. He considers these traits as weakness, and tries his hardest to put up a hard and uncaring, "manly" facade. Do you think this affects his ability to be a good father/husband? How so? if not, why?

The Tortoise

In the story "Things Fall Apart", we are given a brief look at a proverb told to Ezinma by Ekwefi. The proverb is the story of a cunning tortoise and of how he tricks the birds of the earth into giving him a feast. To do this, the tortoise convinces the birds to each lend him one feather each, and then tells them that it is customary to assume new names when they go out to feast. The tortoise tells the birds his name is "All of You" and they proceed to the meal. When the people of the sky present the food, tortoise asks for whom the food is made for, and they reply "For All of You". This on his side, the crafty tortoise proceeds to eat all of the good food and leaves little to nothing for the birds. Angered, the birds all begin to leave, but not before each taking back the feather's they had lent to the tortoise. Having no way of flying back home, the tortoise is only able to convince the Parrot to send a message on to his wife, which is to put all of the soft things around the compound so he can jump down safely. Out of sheer spite, the parrot tells the tortoise's wife to bring out all of his hard possessions, and the foolish tortoise drops down only to shatter his shell. According to the proverb, this is why a tortoise has an uneven shell. Do you believe in/agree with the message behind this proverb? And in your opinion, what is the overall message?

A Man, A Plan, Okonkwo

Okonkwo is man who shuns any sort of weakness. He calls anyone womanly if they dare act cowardly or lacks the same passion for battle he has. The pride of his affection is not his son, but his daughter, Enzinma, because she displays manly characteristics and Nwoye favors not his father's war stories, but the stories of his mother. Okonkwo does not question any descion handed down to him by the elders. He cold heartedly kills Ikemefuna, even though he cries out to his "father" to be saved. Yet, he does show some emotion after his death. At soon as he realizes he is showing emotion, he calls himself a shivering woman.

The main reason for Okonkwo's traits is the fact his father is weak and lazy. He, in turn, goes to the extreme and become everything his father is not. Where his father is powerless and weak, Okonkwo is a mighty fighter and wrestler. His father is lazy, while Okonkwo performs all needed farming tasks ahead of time.

Chielo??

The people in the story believe Chielo to be possessed by Agbala, and allow her to do random things at random times without retribution (like taking Enzima in the middle of the night). Someone with this type of power could easily overstep their bounds and get away with, among many other things, thievery, extortion, and even murder. She could be persuaded or bribed by others exact vengence (something like telling the others to burn a certain field), order a hit (Ikemefuna comes to mind), create a new national holiday (could say "Today Agbala has ordered us to rest," or something), etc. She could also demand food, wine, and money as "sacrifices" (Such as when Okonkwo was fined for beating his wife in the week of peace) in order to live a more lavish life. All in all, she basically has supreme power over all that follow the religion. Do you believe that Chielo is a power-hungry poser, a psycho, really possessed by the AGBALA!!, or something else?

Okonkwo as a Father

Throughout the novel 'Things Fall Apart', we see various aspects and facets of the man Okonkwo. Originally, we only see him as a kind of 'physical' man, who simply works towards the more tangible goals in life. However, at numerous points in the story, we are shown a side of Okonkwo which is much more caring and far for fatherly. For example, when Ezinma is collected by Chielo to be taken to the oracle, we are originally only aware of Ekwefi's worry when she leaves to follow them. At the end of the chapter (11), however, Okonkwo arrives at the Oracle's cave, having made an apparent four trips there in the single night, and was gravely worried for Ezinma's safety. Okonkwo and Ekwefi reminisce about when they ran off to get married, and we are given a view of the 'softer' side of Okonkwo. Overall, do you think that Okonkwo is a caring person?

Obierika as a friend

Obierika and Okonkwo share many of the same characteristics which is porbably draws them together. They are both warriors, and share the same titles in their village. They would often come together and speak about things that concerned them in their world spectrum. One example is when they spoke during the New Yam Fetival about how their title is held in much greater regard then in other villages. They spoke how they were grateful for this but also wished they were still allowed to climb tall palms to tap them for wine. Obierika, however, doesn't seem as self-concious as Okonkwo nor i he as loyal to village traditions. When asked by Okonkwo why he wasn't present at Ikemefuna's death he said that it didn't corcern him and he didn't think it was right, so he simply did not attend. Okonkwo was baffled by the fact that Obierika was not afraid of being seen as weak. Obierika simply said he knew he was strong and that was all that mattered.

My Favorite Fable (ish)

Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite writers had one of his characters, a rat say this in a graphic novel (slightly modified):

"Wish in one hand, fill the other with dirt.  See which one fills up first."

Long live the Sandman!