Guthrie 1 Language and Identity in Postcolonial African Literature: A Case Study of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart A Thesis Submitted to The Faculty of the School of Communication In Candidacy for the Degree of Master of Arts in English By Abigail K. Guthrie 1 April 2011 Guthrie 2 Liberty University School of Communication Master of Arts in English ____________________________________________________________ __________________ Dr. Jaeshil Kim‚ Thesis Chair Date ______
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Things Fall Apart (Chapters 1-4) Conflict between tradition and change “Okonkwo did not have the start in life in which many young men usually had. He did not inherit a barn from his father. There was no barn to inherit” (Achebe 16). Traditionally in Umuofia‚ when a man dies‚ his son inherits his assets. Okonkwo’s father‚ Unoka‚ was scared by the sight of blood‚ in an immense amount of debt and did not support his family. As a result of Okonkwo’s father having no title‚ Okonkwo was left
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“Tradition is the illusion of permanence”-Woody Allen. The quote by Allen is sometimes interpreted as that things change‚ and as humans we hate change‚ so we have tradition as a way to preserve it‚ even though eventually it will disappear eventually. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe‚ the main character Okonkwo faces a similar dilemma as foreigners bring new beliefs that entice his own clansmen and many of them abandon their old beliefs. Tradition has many benefits‚ such as having a cultural
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Things Fall Apart Essay In the book Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe has a lot of hidden stories and explanations to certain things. The allegory‚ The Tortoise and the Feast in the Sky helps decipher the direct meaning‚ the cultural meaning and the readers meaning. All three of these help relate to the novel’s meaning itself. Direct meaning can also mean the representation of the characters. When Okonkwo kills the white man‚ his tribe doesn’t do anything to help or back him up. An
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Eng12 2014-89168 Things Fall Apart Author Achebe was born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe in the Igbo village of Nneobi‚ on November 16‚ 1930. His parents stood at a crossroads of traditional culture and Christian influence; this made a significant impact on the children‚ especially Chinualumogu. After the youngest daughter was born‚ the family moved to Isaiah Achebe’s ancestral village of Ogidi‚ in what is now the Nigerian state of Anambra. In Achebe’s Things Fall Apart‚ he portrays the conflict
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Some may feel scared at first to go on their own and start something new‚ but in the end‚ we are just starting a legacy. In the novel‚ Things Fall Apart‚ by Chinua Achebe‚ Okonkwo who is the protagonist‚ is determined to gain high titles and become powerful in spite of his father’s weaknesses. Okonkwo wants his sons to inherit his power‚ but one of his son’s‚ Nwoye‚ wants to take a different route. Achebe uses Nwoye and the personal and cultural events that happen throughout the story to convey how
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himself that would set him apart from the path of his father and he would never have to be worried about being considered an agbala like his father. Thus Okonkwo’s main purpose in life became to be everything that his father was….weak. He could not show weakness in any sense. This in itself was his very weakness and played a role in his down fall. After his seven year exile was up Okonkwo was ready to return home and to resume things as they were when he left. The thing was the culture had changed
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When turmoil comes about‚ many have merely one attribute to rely on to help them overcome certain disasters: their faith. The characters of Things Fall Apart are no exception. The people of Umuofia call upon representatives of the spirit world as a means of hospitality. They rely on their religion to settle resolutions with other tribes and to answer questions. They depend on the spirit world also to take care of punishments and in addition play a significant role on new born babies. Unfortunately
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In the novel Things Fall Apart‚ the nearness of status and notoriety in Okonkwo’s reality is fundamentally the same as today’s reality. The status of a man relies on upon what they have that is needed by others. The status of a man in Okonkwo’s reality was chosen utilizing the quantity of spouses‚ their riches (Cowries)‚ and utilizing the harvests that they develop. The status of a man in this day and age is chosen utilizing their riches (cash)‚ the area they possess‚ and the organizations that they
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Things Fall Apart‚ by Chinua Achebe contains a great deal of information about Igbo society. From this novel we can learn much about how people in Igbo society lived. It details customs‚ traditions‚ religion‚ and the class structure of the society. Achebe strives to give people a look into Igbo society‚ especially for those who have never been introduced to this culture before. Achebe’s novel also gives us insight into the arrival of colonialism in Africa‚ as Achebe himself was born in Nigeria
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