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.