Rest of the Things Fall Apart Journals :D

Entry 7

“If you split another yam of this size, I shall break your jaw.” (P. 32)

Okonkwo seems like a very violent person, even to his loved ones. The fact that he said that he was going to break his own sons jaw was a bit of surprise.

When he shows violent acts against his wives, it came with a less surprise then with this comment he made to his kid. He compares himself from when he was young to his kids. He enjoys using himself as a model to teach his children how they should act and learn and behave.



Entry 8

“He pressed the trigger and there was a loud report accompanied by the wail of his wives and children.” (P. 39)

Okonkwo’s rage and anger issues are increasing as I read further into the book. He seems like the kind of person that is extremely proud, and would not take any negative attitude from the people around him.

Even though he did not actually shoot his wife, nor did he want the shot to actually hit, in his anger, he fired a gun towards her. That action could have easily lead to her death, however, in his rage, Okonkwo seemed to completely ignore that fact, and went at her with the appearance of a will to kill.



Entry 9

“No, that is a boy’s job.” (P. 44)

However stern, strict, and sometimes reckless Okonkwo may be, it has become apparent that he too can show signs of affection instead of his usual anger and sternness. It is a bit of a soft surprise, as well as a small piece of relief that a man as strict as Okonkwo has fragments of kindness in him.

This also leads me to believe that Okonkwo’s rage and meanness is just a ruse that he puts on so other people will come to realize that he is nothing like his father. He wants people to acknowledge the fact that he is a great man, so he is constantly acting tough and prestigious to earn the title.



Entry 10

“… whom she called ‘my daughter.’” (P. 49)

Even though Enzinma is not Chielo’s daughter, she calls her “my daughter” like she actually is, so it strikes me as sort of odd. I wondered why it was normal in that culture/society for people to call other people’s children their own.

I highly doubt that a person can love another person’s children so much that they will call them their own. I believe that, even if you do love another person’s children so much, if you do not actively raise them as your own, then you have no right of calling them your own.



Entry 11

“Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent…” (P. 53)

I am starting to wonder whether it is just Okonkwo, or if it is the entire society that is violent. Because it states that Nwoye knew it was right to be violent, I have come to the conclusion that not just Okonkwo has massive fits of rage or violently punishes offenders. In order for a person to have a particular view on something that they know is right, I believe more then one person was needed to influence that person to have that view, as is the case with Nwoye.

I believe that the society that they live in is normally violent, but Okonkwo himself acts as a representative of sorts of that violence for Nwoye to learn from and develop into his own views on the world.



Entry 12

“Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down.” (P. 61)

Again and again, throughout the book, Okonkwo is shown committing acts of violence and the tendency to do anything that would make him seem strong in the eyes of those around him. Of all those acts, this is the most gruesome and unbelievable. Although his other acts were had the same violent thought (i.e. death), he did not actually permanently hurt anybody. Even though he was not forced, compelled, or obligated to kill Ikemefuna (as a matter of fact, he was told not to take part in it at all), he did so anyways to show his pride and strength, and that shows he’s willing to risk anything or do whatever it takes to show that he is a man.



Entry 13

“A bowl of pounded yams can throw him in a wrestling match.” (P. 66)

This quote made me laugh because of the way he said it, and the high exaggeration in his comment. It was also a bit of a step away from the serious tone the story normally gives, but is a subtle one, and is quickly replaced with more serious matters (i.e. talking down on Nwoye).

However funny this quote may be, it is still significant towards the story and plot, since it shows that Okonkwo has little confidence in Nwoye, and doesn’t like him very well. He often talks about how he would enjoy it if Enzinma was a boy, and in a way, it seems as though he compares her to Nwoye, showing that he dislikes Nwoye.



Entry 14

“For the first time in three nights, Okonkwo slept.” (P. 75)

It is obvious that he has been losing sleep since the day he killed Ikemefuna. From this, it is apparent to see that he does hold remorse in his act, even though he willingly committed it. This can confirm the fact that, although he often makes other people suffer to show his strength and power, he is not afraid to make self-sacrifices to go towards that goal either. He would do anything that is necessary to show that he is not like his father, and is proud.

This also leads me to think of Okonkwo as a bit reckless with his decisions, and often thinks of completing a single goal and little of the consequences or the after-math after he completes it.



Entry 15

“He brought out a sharp razor from the goatskin bag slung from his left shoulder and began to mutilate the child.” (P. 78)

Mutilation is a scary thought, even on a corpse that is already dead. I wonder if the medicine man has done this before, and if he has, how often he has done so. It is very perplexing why their superstition could lead to acts such as this, and I am not going to doubt that they have committed acts of even more morbid natures.

Their culture/society seems to be highly superstitious, and seems like they could easily be influenced by something or convinced of something.



Entry 16

“And so he killed her.” (P. 83)

It’s a bit odd that things such as death are incorporated into the stories that the people tell their children.

I would wonder exactly how gruesome the stories could get. It has been seen that Okonkwo told his sons stories of when he was fighting, and of acts such as beheading people, but I still don’t know whether or not all children are told stories of such a violent nature.

I think this society is very different from the one I live in, and they have less censoring, and less of an active fear of the world. They seem like they are used to things like this, and so they just treat it like an everyday thing.



Entry 17

“The women and children sent up a great shout and took to their heels.” (P. 89)

From the way they are reacting, it makes me assume that they believe that they are actually spirits, or gods of some sort.

However, I have noticed in the back of the book, the word egwugwu is described as a simple masquerader that simply pretends to be an ancestral spirit.

Whether or not their fear of them means they believe they actually are the spirit is unknown to me. I think it could’ve been equally possible that they simply think the masked men are representatives of the spirit they are acting as, and so they treat them with respect, or fear. I find that fact to be more likely, since it would not be too difficult to see through a masquerader’s disguise, but I could be wrong, seeing as how superstitious the people in this book are.



Entry 18

“It is not bravery when a man fights with a woman.” (P. 93)

I found it to be funny, as well as ironic, that the person would be telling him that fighting a woman is not brave, or otherwise manly. That means that Okonkwo’s anger and corporal punishment towards his wives are fruitless in giving him the pride and recognition that he is trying to achieve.

Also, a person known as the Evil Forest giving advice to people and for them to actually heed it is quite humorous, and in many ways, oxymoronic that he would be giving good advice to the people.



Entry 19

“’There is no song in the story,’ Enzinma pointed out.” (P. 99)

Although this statement/comment can be considered unimportant, it is useful knowledge for me since it gave me a hint that most of the stories that they tell to their children has a song in them. As seen in several places within this book, there are a multitude of situations in which they incorporate a song to represent it. This shows that they have a love for music, which could be useful knowledge later on.



Entry 20

“She had married Anene because Okonkwo was too poor then to marry.” (P. 109)

This statement makes it apparent that the women in that society often marry because of money, or the wealth of a person, rather then love.

This point has been seen before in a conversation between several men that was about how much money they would pay to marry a wife, and about how other villages’ methods for getting a wife were inferior compared to theirs.

This also leads me to hypothesize that love indeed plays a significant part in marriage, but money is another reason for marriage that has equal significance. That way, even though Ekwefi loved Okonkwo, if she also loved Anene, she could have just looked at how much money each had, and married the wealthier one.



Entry 21

“They sang the latest song in the village.” (P. 118)

This all but confirms the fact that music is deeply rooted in their culture. If they have a latest song, that means that they are constantly coming up with more and more as they go along. This leads me to wonder where the songs come from—whether a person in the village randomly gets the idea for a new song, or if musicians come up with new ones purposely. I also wonder how the songs spread from one person to another. In the book, it says that “they” sang the song, meaning more then one, or even all of them, sang the same song together. If they could do that, that would mean that they all knew the song beforehand, so how the song spreads from one person to another is a mystery. They could have spread from word-of-mouth, but then, it would seem too slow a method for them to have a “latest” song. It could have spread when some musicians went out and sang it for everyone to hear, in which case, everyone could have learned the song at the same time.



Entry 22

“A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo’s back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him.” (P. 121)

It is a new sight to see that Okonkwo is actually afraid of some thing as small as an old man that had once visited him and told him not to “bear a hand in his death”. If anything, I would have expected him to be only fearful of the act itself, and certainly not of the man that told him not to commit it. However, he could be scared because the person who told him not to kill has died, which could have provoked some painful memories for him. Or, perhaps, this could be another religious thing, or a belief that they have that I don’t know about.



Entry 23

“The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land.” (P. 124)

Even though it was an accidental killing, Okonkwo was driven out of the village (although no one physically drove him out of the village). It was surprising to learn that the punishment for accidental murder was 7 years of exile from the village, since it was indeed an accident.

However, that is not to say that I expect that no punishment should be given for an accidental crime, I just didn’t expect it to be something as grave as exile from the village. Also to see that it was against the earth goddess was a bit surprising as well. I wondered what killing a fellow clansman could have in common with the earth goddess.



Entry 24

“The saying of the elders was not true—that if a man said yea his chi also affirmed.” (P. 131)

It is obvious that Okonkwo has become a bit broken. His previous beliefs that everything would be ok if he worked for it have been warped to a certain extent due to his fateful incident as well as exile from the village. While he used to believe that men could control their own fate, he now thinks otherwise, and thinks that sometimes you have no control over what will happen. He has been through a revelation of sorts, and has changed his opinions from his old ones.



Entry 25

“He said something, only they did not understand him.” (P. 139)

Considering their setting, it is surprising to see that they are quite intelligent, since they easily acknowledge the fact that there are other completely foreign languages, and things such as albinism.

However, it is made very apparent that they are somewhat un-educated about the modern world around them, since they said that the white man rode on an “iron-horse” which is often a name given to modern technology such as bicycles and cars from people of their particular status. However, since they seem to have knowledge as to what guns are, as well as how they function and how to make one, they don’t seem completely oblivious to the world around them.



Entry 26

“They had built their church there, won a handful of coverts and were already sending evangelists to the surrounding towns and villages.” (P. 143)

I was right with my previous assumption that the people in this book were easy manipulated and influenced with new ideas. Already, the religious people that have come to their villages established a Church, and have no doubt already uprooted years of previous beliefs of the Umuofia people and replaced them with new ones. Although reading later on, it seems like most of the people are rejecting their ideas, and are calling them fools. However, since they have still managed to gain some converts, it would be easier to gain more.



Entry 27

“After the singing the interpreter spoke about the Son of God whose name was Jesu Kristi.” (P. 146)

Now it has been made apparent that these men were believes of God and Jesus Christ (with Jesu Kristi most likely being a translation error, or the native accent of the people who live there has been imbed whilst trying to say Jesus Christ aloud). This would mean that they were Christian. I remember learning before that people have went to places like Africa in order to “educate them” before, and this could be an account of the events that took place there.



Entry 28

“But he left hold of Nwoye, who walked away and never returned.” (P. 152)

The influences of the Christians and their churches are very persuasive and are having a big impact on the villages in which Okonkwo reside. They were persuasive and tempting enough to lure Nwoye into their beliefs, and make him leave home.

Although, it should be noted that Nwoye seemed like he did not like his home before the white men ever came at all. It was shown that he enjoyed his mother’s stories rather then Okonkwo’s stories of war, which is a sign that he was a bit weak when compared to Okonkwo in his beliefs. Also, he seems to dislike his parents, which can be assumed is because of Okonkwo’s harsh attitudes towards him and the people around him.



Entry 29

“He needs Christ more than you and I.” (P. 156)

Mr. Kiaga seems to have a very accepting attitude towards those that are secluded from normal society. He freely accepts people that are tabooed and hated among their people, and in doing so, he could lose a lot of coverts. He has surely already lost several coverts, but I am anxious to see how his act to do this will save his church/practice, as the book claims he will do.



Entry 30

“An abominable religion has settled among you.” (P. 167)

Even though Okonkwo has obvious expressed how he felt about the Christians going into their society countless times before, this statement shows how he feels firmly, once and for all. It is apparent that he bears a deep hate against the Christians—he repeatedly mocks them and talks down on them, as well as everyone who believes in them. However, it can be understood, as they all but took over his town, as well as his son. After he made this statement, I am curious to see if he would provoke a war or fight a battle against them. If he does, I would ponder whether he would win or fail in his attempt. If he should fail, I wonder how he would be punished, if at all. That statement alone was enough to provoke multiple questions.



Entry 31

“…Now he is no longer my son or your brother… If any one of you prefers to be a woman, let him follow Nwoye now while I am alive so that I can curse him.” (P. 172)

It could be understood that Okonkwo would dislike his son greatly for deserting him in favor of the new religion that is wrecking their way of life, however, I would never imagine he would take it that hard. It is odd to see that his anger goes towards not only his son, but also to any son who might follow him or even help him. He tells his sons that he is no longer their brother, which would mean that Okonkwo no longer wants to be any part of Nwoye. I wonder if they will meet up again, and whether or not Okonkwo will kill Nwoye in the case that they do meet up.



Entry 32

“But apart from the church, the white men had also brought a government.” (P. 174)

This story is becoming increasingly familiar. If memory serves, the “white men” should be trying to “educate” them through religion. Since they now have a government there, that means they can basically do whatever they want without much trouble. Assuming they now have armed forces there, also, they could easily completely take over Okonkwo and the other’s home.



Entry 33

“The court messengers did not like to be called Ashy-Buttocks, and they beat the men.” (P. 175)

If they court messengers can beat the men without being hit back, etc, then that means their power has definitely grown. They’re now at a point where Okonkwo and his people have little power compared to the men that came to spread their religion.

This fact is extremely significant, as it means that their culture and society will completely drift away from tradition and go towards what the “white men” want instead. The people that actually live there will have little, or maybe even no, power at all, and eventually they will just be completely dominated.



Entry 34

“The white man had indeed brought a lunatic religion, but he had also built a trading store and for the first time palm-oil and kernel became things of great price, and much money flowed into Umuofia.” (P. 178)

Not only are they completely taking over their society by force (and gradually changing into taking over by violence), they are able to win the hearts of some of the citizens. This is extremely dangerous, and could potentially lead to the ultimate downfall of their culture. If they are able to convince a majority of the people to join them, or except their presence, then they will be able to violently and forcefully “gain” the acceptance of the minorities, or just eliminate them altogether.

If this could be assumed to be true, I would like to know what would happen to Okonkwo in the end. It is very apparent that he will not accept the white men no matter what, so if they can’t win him over, their only choices left are to either eliminate him, or to make him join them by force.



Entry 35

“The six men were handcuffed and led into the guardroom.” (P. 194)

Well, my previous predictions about what would happen seem to be coming true. The people are capturing the last pieces of resistance they have against them and their religion. They say, however, that they won’t do them harm if they will pay them. Whether or not they will really get paid is really unknown. I wonder if there is anybody left that will free them (assuming that the person needs to have sufficient funds to free them in the first place). If the strongest warriors have been captured, then who would be brave enough to do anything about their capture? Also, what would happen if they were to not pay for them? They would probably be tortured, imprisoned, or in the worst scenario, killed.



Entry 36

“Perhaps your men can help us bring him down and bury him.” (P. 207)

Amazingly, Okonkwo lived with being captured, and was relatively “free” for a short period of time. However, shockingly, he still died in the end. Apparently, he had committed suicide because he killed a messenger. I would assume he killed himself because he could no longer take the stress, or if he was afraid of the consequences that would result from his killing of the messenger. Either way, he killed himself undoubtedly as a result of the white men’s intrusion into their culture. One of the people that took that event the hardest was Okonkwo. With his fear of becoming a coward like his father, and his set view on how everything must be regulated and trained to be like tradition, he was one of the people that hated the white men the most.

Things Fall Apart Journals - 21 June 2008 (Week 2)

Entry 4

"Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had. He did not inherit a barn from his father." (p. 16)

It says more then once tin the story that Okonkwo was revered for his achievements, and is very popular among his people. Even though he started out with nothing, since his father was a wreck, he was able to create something from nothing and become someone great in his village. This shows that Okonkwo is a very hardworking person, and can easily become very successful in his life. The fact that he has even exceeded other men of his age is even more surprising, since he started out with less then all of them. However, in a way, I can understand why he would have the drive to succeed, since he has a deep fear of becoming like his father, and would probably work extremely hard to prevent that from happening.



Entry 5

"Some farmers had not planted their yams yet. They were the lazy easy-going ones who always put off clearing their farms as long as they could." (p. 23)

I was a bit mad at how the lazy ones end up being the ones to win in the end. I felt that Okonkwo deserved to get the crops, since he did the most work out of all of them, but even though he did, he still ended up losing all of his crops. Also, this shows me that this book doesn't portray the usual story-tale morals, with this incident being a complete opposite of the Ant and the Grasshopper story. In this scenario, the hard-working character loses when he is compared to that of the lazy characters. Also, I am curious as to what Nwakibie would think of Okonkwo, seeing as he put his trust in Okonkwo's ability, and he's one of the only people to lose all his yams.



Entry 6

"And when she returned he beat her very heavily" (p. 29)

I was a bit surprised to read that Okonkwo beat his wife, not just because it was in a time where there was supposed to be peace, but even more so because beating your wives aren't accepted in western cultures. It is interesting to me how two different societies can have such different views on subjects such as this. Also, it perplexes me why Okonkwo would get married to her in the first place if he would be angry enough to beat her. Okonkwo hitting her in the Week of Peace shows that he probably doesn't like to follow the rules very often, and is not very fearful of consequences.

Things Fall Apart Journals - 14 June 2008 (Week 1)

Entry 1

"He breathed heavily, and it was said that, when he slept, his wives and children in their houses could hear him breathe." (Page. 4)

This sentence invoked a feeling of curiosity in me of the culture of Okonkwo. I was surprised to read that he had multiple wives, a concept that western societies have all but eradicated in their culture. I was also surprised to read that Okonkwo had multiple houses for his wives and children, which caused me to inquire whether everybody in his society had multiple houses, or was it just the wealthy who could afford added luxury. I was also curious as to whether each wife had her own house, or if Okonkwo just had several and spread his spouses evenly among them.



Entry 2

"Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him? Fortunately, among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father." (Page. 8)

Reading this made me realize that, in this culture, if someone does something shameful, it would be normal to be ashamed of that person, even if it was someone as close to you as your father. Also, it said that people were judged according to their own skills other then that of their father, so I believe that their culture wants little to do with their roots or ancestral past. In the book, Okonkwo's father is described to be very shameful, and it is apparent that Okonkwo dislikes his father and doesn't want to live a life like he did.



Entry 3

"Umuofia was feared by all its neighbors. It was powerful in war and in magic, and its priests and medicine men were feared in all the surrounding country." (Page. 11)

It is obvious that the society described in this book are very superstitious, saying that surrounding tribes were scared of Umuofia's magic. It is also very apparent that the people in this book don't have technology and the setting is either in the past, or in some hidden villages away from modern society. It seems that their rule is decided mainly by power and potential in war, and has little to do with intelligence. Although their society seems to be a bit crude in modern society's eyes, I have noticed that a person in the village, as an insult, called the his enemies "sons of wild animals", showing that they still have somewhat of a code of how to behave and rules as to how one should act.