All Things Fall Apart And Fadwa Tuqans In The Aging City
Literature for centuries has looked as if it would evolve and change to become very object oriented, unreserved and optimistic. However, it has in fact become very profound, and based on a character's eternal quest for their own personal identity. Great authors authors such as, Mark Twain, Chinua Achebe, Clarice Lispector, Arthur Miller and Fadwa Tuqan contributed heavily to this growing and evolving theme. World literature has become fascinated with societal outcasts, the individual who goes against set tradition in order to attain some arcane knowledge or some personal identity And it is this pursuit for ones personal identity that leads the main characters in Chinua Achebes' All Things Fall Apart, Clarice Lispectors Preciousness and Fadwa Tuqans In The Aging City to develop either a cultural or gender identity.
In Achebes' All Things Fall Apart Okonkwo is a self-made and well respected member of the Umuofia clan. Though much of his life has been influenced by an internal fear of being like his father. Okonkwo considers most of his fathers' attributes to be feminine, thus resulting in Okonkwo's behavior stemming from a reactionary desire to be completely …show more content…
different from his father.This leads to Okonkwo attempting to work hard, provide for his family and be a man in every way possible. As a direct result, Okonkwo becomes successful in several ways. He becomes extremely wealthy, holds a high ranking position in the clan, and has three wives. However it is Okonkwo's relationship with his father who he views as weak, that shapes much of his future violent behaviour. He believes being a man is about showing aggression and feels that anger is the only emotion that he should display. And it is this belief that leads him to beat his wives, and in some occurrences threaten to kill them. Achaebe tells the reader that Okonkwo does not think things out, and we see him act extremely rash at times and Yet the fellow man from his clan do not act like Okonkwo in any way. Obierika one of Okonkwos fellow clansmen refuses to join the party that will hunt down and kill Ikemefuna, however Okonkwo not only personally volunteers to join the men that will kill his son, but also repeatedly cuts Ikemefuna with his machete in an effort to not appear weak before his fellow men. Achaebe uses theses scenes to show us that Okonkwos' attempt at being greater than his father has resulted in him actually becoming worse. Okonkwos attempt to find his own personal identity has resulted in him forming a damaged and dangerous persona to those around him and the people he claims to love. Achaebe shows the reader that a man must be extremely tough, but also loving and caring. Okonkwo thus develops a flawed cultural Identity based on his clans patriarchal society.
In Clarice Lispectors Preciousness the character begins the story with a damaged identity and outlook on the world.
She believes that she is ugly and irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. She thinks that if she stays to herself and avoids the happenings around her that the people and the world will in turn not see her. However she soon learns that no matter how hard you try to be invisible to the people around you. You can never escape the evils of the world we live in. After being groped by the two boys before school, she realizes that maybe the way she is going about life is not the most beneficial to her overall well being. She in turn decides to take better care of herself, but also accept her existence as an individual thus developing and starting to come into her own personal identity as a
woman.
In Fadwa Tuqans In The Aging City the protagonists' quest for individualism leads to her discovering a personal identity, both good and bad. Tuqan tells us that she lives in a world were people can be near each other physically but not emotionally. That because people live alone they will in turn die alone. And that much like here people living under Israeli occupation in Palestine, people can have a presence without being present. It is these beliefs that cause her to develop a personal identity where she simply lives and goes along with the flow of things. She even goes so far as to denounce a love interest because the absence of a cultural identity has left here feeling lonely due to sorrow.
In Achebes' All Things Fall Apart Okonkwo is a self-made and well respected member of the Umuofia clan. Though much of his life has been influenced by an internal fear of being like his father. Okonkwo considers most of his fathers' attributes to be feminine, thus resulting in Okonkwo's behavior stemming from a reactionary desire to be completely …show more content…
different from his father.This leads to Okonkwo attempting to work hard, provide for his family and be a man in every way possible. As a direct result, Okonkwo becomes successful in several ways. He becomes extremely wealthy, holds a high ranking position in the clan, and has three wives. However it is Okonkwo's relationship with his father who he views as weak, that shapes much of his future violent behaviour. He believes being a man is about showing aggression and feels that anger is the only emotion that he should display. And it is this belief that leads him to beat his wives, and in some occurrences threaten to kill them. Achaebe tells the reader that Okonkwo does not think things out, and we see him act extremely rash at times and Yet the fellow man from his clan do not act like Okonkwo in any way. Obierika one of Okonkwos fellow clansmen refuses to join the party that will hunt down and kill Ikemefuna, however Okonkwo not only personally volunteers to join the men that will kill his son, but also repeatedly cuts Ikemefuna with his machete in an effort to not appear weak before his fellow men. Achaebe uses theses scenes to show us that Okonkwos' attempt at being greater than his father has resulted in him actually becoming worse. Okonkwos attempt to find his own personal identity has resulted in him forming a damaged and dangerous persona to those around him and the people he claims to love. Achaebe shows the reader that a man must be extremely tough, but also loving and caring. Okonkwo thus develops a flawed cultural Identity based on his clans patriarchal society.
In Clarice Lispectors Preciousness the character begins the story with a damaged identity and outlook on the world.
She believes that she is ugly and irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. She thinks that if she stays to herself and avoids the happenings around her that the people and the world will in turn not see her. However she soon learns that no matter how hard you try to be invisible to the people around you. You can never escape the evils of the world we live in. After being groped by the two boys before school, she realizes that maybe the way she is going about life is not the most beneficial to her overall well being. She in turn decides to take better care of herself, but also accept her existence as an individual thus developing and starting to come into her own personal identity as a
woman.
In Fadwa Tuqans In The Aging City the protagonists' quest for individualism leads to her discovering a personal identity, both good and bad. Tuqan tells us that she lives in a world were people can be near each other physically but not emotionally. That because people live alone they will in turn die alone. And that much like here people living under Israeli occupation in Palestine, people can have a presence without being present. It is these beliefs that cause her to develop a personal identity where she simply lives and goes along with the flow of things. She even goes so far as to denounce a love interest because the absence of a cultural identity has left here feeling lonely due to sorrow.