Things Fall Apart Written Task
Ruiqi Wang
Written Task Assignment
Things Fall Apart
Dear Father,
I know I have failed you. While you are the “raging fire” of our people, I grew up as a pebble in the circle of rocks that surround your bright flame. You burn bright with courage and leadership, while I am just an average tribesman following your command. Being your oldest son, I have always known your expectations of me, but it has proven too much for me to live up to.
Ever since I was younger, you have been tough on me. I understand why you did it. You were hoping I could be the man you are, to carry on your legacy. But I was not fit to be a great man. When you told me war stories, I cringed inside at the gore and brutality of it all, but in front of you, I had to pretend I enjoyed it. But what I really enjoyed were the folk tales that my mother told to me. The sweet, funny ones that taught me how to become an honorable and good person. But I guess they did not make me who you wanted me to be.
Dear father, when I was still a teenage boy, I am sure you remember who joined our family. A fifteen-year-old boy was chosen as sacrifice for a crime that someone else in his village did. This was completely unfair, as this boy was innocent but he had to leave his family and hometown to a new foreign village. But for a time, I was thankful he was chosen. Ikemefuna was like a brother to me, and he taught me how to be a man. We worked on the farm together in the day and discussed our future ambitions in the night, about the stories of our past and the families and land we hoped to have.
Ikemefuna made me more like a man, more like the man you wanted me to be. I could tell that you liked him too, that you almost considered him as the son you always wanted, the son that I could not be until Ikemefuna had come. You might have even loved Ikemefuna more than you ever loved me, but I was fine with it, because I loved him too. In a way, Ikemefuna was family to us both.
But dear father, our “gods”
Written Task Assignment
Things Fall Apart
Dear Father,
I know I have failed you. While you are the “raging fire” of our people, I grew up as a pebble in the circle of rocks that surround your bright flame. You burn bright with courage and leadership, while I am just an average tribesman following your command. Being your oldest son, I have always known your expectations of me, but it has proven too much for me to live up to.
Ever since I was younger, you have been tough on me. I understand why you did it. You were hoping I could be the man you are, to carry on your legacy. But I was not fit to be a great man. When you told me war stories, I cringed inside at the gore and brutality of it all, but in front of you, I had to pretend I enjoyed it. But what I really enjoyed were the folk tales that my mother told to me. The sweet, funny ones that taught me how to become an honorable and good person. But I guess they did not make me who you wanted me to be.
Dear father, when I was still a teenage boy, I am sure you remember who joined our family. A fifteen-year-old boy was chosen as sacrifice for a crime that someone else in his village did. This was completely unfair, as this boy was innocent but he had to leave his family and hometown to a new foreign village. But for a time, I was thankful he was chosen. Ikemefuna was like a brother to me, and he taught me how to be a man. We worked on the farm together in the day and discussed our future ambitions in the night, about the stories of our past and the families and land we hoped to have.
Ikemefuna made me more like a man, more like the man you wanted me to be. I could tell that you liked him too, that you almost considered him as the son you always wanted, the son that I could not be until Ikemefuna had come. You might have even loved Ikemefuna more than you ever loved me, but I was fine with it, because I loved him too. In a way, Ikemefuna was family to us both.
But dear father, our “gods”