Things fall apart
I always judge a book starting from its cover. And I could find nothing fancy to say about this one. When I was informed that I should read four boring novels in one month, I joked around, “Yeah, I’m falling apart indeed.”
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Okonkwo was a wealthy and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan, a lower Nigerian tribe that is a part of a consortium of nine connected villages. He is haunted by his cowardly father who died in shame and left many debts for him to cover. However, Okonkwo did not narrow down his path for the horrible things his father had done, but instead took a important position in the collective community and was highly valued.
He had his own farm and grow his own yams, had separate little huts for his three wives, a son name Nwoye and a daughter named Ezinma. Until Umuofia earned a virgin and a fifteen year old boy from neighboring tribe, Okonkwo was in charge of keeping the lad. He treated the boy like a son, but never revealed motions like love for it was considered motions representing weakness, from his dead father.
Okonkwo worked all his life trying to get all four titles and a big family, as well as a son who could carry on with his career. But in vain, he constantly beats up his wives and kids. For lame reasons like ‘forgot to make dinner’ or ‘killed a leaf to wipe the table.’ Often there were no reason, or because he felt like it. He didn’t like to be thought weak, so he had to make that impression by showing his anger, his toughness. Which is always a mistake.
He isn’t a dreadful man or a hard-hearted villain. When the village elders decided they should have Ikemefuna, the lad from another tribe who Okonkwo treats as a son, killed, Okonkwo was shocked, disturbed but couldn’t stand being thought weak, so he killed Ikemefuna with his own hands, burying any dints of regret or solitude to himself.
Not long after, he accidently killed a member of the community and was sent away to live with his mother’s tribe for seven years as a cruel punishment. All his dreams broke down into fragments of glass, which hurts to step upon. However, he was not the kind to give up. Even after his only son betrayed him with the Christians, he didn’t fall apart. He held things tightly together and stubbornly waited the moment of his return.
And things were never the same again. The Europeans came, took over the entire system. They built schools, churches and forced their own culture upon these old traditional blacks. After attacking and resisting in vain, Okonkwo hangs himself. Things started to fall apart in the end. It takes more than courage and strength to be a living hero. As for the ones who didn’t know how to love can care, may only end up a tragic hero.
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