Friday, October 21, 2011
Things Fall Apart
Overall, in my opinion Things Fall Apart is a great book. I can see why ms. A chose it for AP. There are classic examples of cultural relevance, a 'fall from grace' and examples of the invasion of white people from a different point of view. The book always kept me wanting more, and I would say its a new classic. One of my favorite parts about this book is the storyline. It shows the once great people of the Umofia and Okonkwo, and how their civilization changes so so drastically. The use of foreshadowing the life of his father with Okonkwo really helped us see why he is the way he is. In the end, I would critique this as a great novel, because of its portrayal of how things can be great but fall apart. Its a great read for all
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This book is definitely a great representitive for a lot of fallen cultures. It definitely shows that no matter how wonderful things are now, they will always fall apart in the end. Nothing ever stays the same, nothing is perfect forever.
ReplyDeleteNice Detail on things fall apart. I guess there are lots of things that people can see in the story.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Dallas. I appriciated the beginning also when it talks about Okonkwo's father because it really helps you see that no matter how much Okonkwo tried to not be like his father, he still failed in the end. He was almost the opposite in some ways too though. His father did not care about status, yet Okonkwo only cared about status, he even tried to use his kids to raise his status.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you this is exactly why Ms. A had us read this. I liked the cultural examples and how they played a big role in the lives of the Ibo clan. When Okonkwo talks about how he wants to better than his father and succed, it makes you think about people in our society who are self-absorbed that they will do anything to keep a great reputation. The foreshadowing was easy to spot in the book that something terrible was going to happen to Okonkwo. I also really liked this book. Hope we read more books like Things Fall Apart.
ReplyDeleteThere a lot of great examples of literary themes and symbols. It's interesting how literature can span across times and cultures. I saw many comparisons and contrasts to Beowulf which enhanced the story in many ways. It is interesting to see the white people as the "bad guys", which I totally agree with this description in this context. We read and see so many description of how the missionaries are the heroes but they aren't really.
ReplyDeleteYeah, This deffinately shows the different views that are expressed by the indiginous people. Even though the white peoples views are more civil the indigenous Umofia already had a way of life that worked. I also liked the book.
ReplyDeleteI kind of disagree with part of your statement. I really dont think it was a fall from grace. Okonkwo wasn't really that graceful to begin with. That probably wasn't masculine enough in their society.
ReplyDelete