One theme of Achebe's Things Fall Apart is the importance of customs and traditions. Okonkwo, through much of the novel, is attempting to balance Igbo traditions of leadership and masculinity with the new influences that are making their way into his culture. The reader is shown a great many traditions and customs during this book. For example, the use and meaning of sharing kola nut between men is a favorite passage of mine about tradition and custom.
Another theme is masculinity. The novel does a nice job of presenting the faults of hypermasculinity. For example, Okonkwo wants to be a better man than his father, who Okonkwo saw as weak. In order for Okonkwo to not be weak and show weakness, he believes that he must be aggressive and violent to a fault. He beats his wives and even volunteers to violently kill his surrogate son in order to not appear weak. Okonkwo looks down on men that he considers have effeminate characteristics because he sees it as weakness.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
What are some themes of Things Fall Apart?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Summarize the major research findings of "Toward an experimental ecology of human development."
Based on findings of prior research, the author, Bronfenbrenner proposes that methods for natural observation research have been applied in ...
-
One way to support this thesis is to explain how these great men changed the world. Indeed, Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) was the quintes...
-
At the most basic level, thunderstorms and blizzards are specific weather phenomena that occur most frequently within particular seasonal cl...
-
x=4cost y=2sint First, take the derivative of x and y with respect to t. dx/dt=-4sint dy/dt=2cost Then, determine the first derivative dy/dx...
-
Ethno-nationalism is defined as "advocacy of or support for the political interests of a particular ethnic group, especially its nation...
-
Both boys are very charismatic and use their charisma to persuade others to follow them. The key difference of course is that Ralph uses his...
-
Find the indefinite integral $\displaystyle \int \sec^4 \left( \frac{x}{2} \right) dx$. Illustrate by graphing both the integrand and its an...
-
The most basic attitude difference between Mr. Otis and Lord Canterville is their attitude toward the ghost. The attitude difference start...
No comments:
Post a Comment