Saturday, March 30, 2013

Community

Community among slaves and the Igbo was similar yet quite different at the same time. In both cases, community was revered, however in American slave society, none of the slaves would turn against their own. In "Things Fall Apart" we observed some natives siding with the whites that had arrived because it seemed as if it was the easier route to survival. We however, did not see this in the case of the American slaves who stuck together through everything given that they had all faced an incredible amount of struggle.
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2 comments:

Ian J said...

I feel like in both stories community was used as a way to stick together. We saw in Things Fall Apart that the tribes stayed loyal to each other and would stay by each others' side when they had a quarrel with another tribe. This can be seen when one of the women from Okonkwo's tribe is killed and the entire clan demands something to make up for it. In Beloved, community can be seen in the great feast held at 124 where food and drink is provided for all the African-Americans that attend. Community in Beloved is further seen in the fact that all the African-Americans attend church together and worship together.

April 6, 2013 at 4:29 PM
Unknown said...

When Ian mentioned the feast in Beloved it made me think about the differences in the ways people viewed success in slave society as compared to Igbo society. In Igbo society, success is highly honored and allows one to gain titles and notability within the village. Consequently people try to model themselves after other successful people. In slave society, people are envious of and scornful of people who have been successful. In Igbo society, success was based on merit whereas in slave society, it owed as much to luck as anything else. It therefore didn't seem fair that another person should be fortunate while they were not.

April 6, 2013 at 6:17 PM

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