Mr. Brown's Tactics

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in class, but we noted that Mr. Brown had large success converting natives to christianity by appealing to the beliefs of the Igbo people. He points out similarities between Christianity and the Igbo religion. He's able to liken the wooden gods to crucifixes by confirming that the Igbo share the belief that there is one true god (Chukwu and Jehovah are the same guy.) It turns out that these tactics of establishing similarities between christian belief and foreign belief prove not only effective in Africa, but in China with the Jesuits. In addition to stating similarities, the Jesuits also appealed directly to the Chinese' fondness for knowledge, something which they could target and use as a focal point with the introduction of new concepts like Western sciences, mathematics, and astronomy to the imperial court.

On the Non Confrontational Nature of the Igbo

Today, we established that the Igbo people are non-confrontational when we discussed how the man killed a python, the most revered animal in Igbo culture, in his house and how when a man sins in such confinements, the affair is between him and god and that anyone who gets in between might sustain blows intended for the offender. Therefore we established this non confrontational aspect of judging sin as another attribute we allocate to the Igbo people. I find it kind of interesting, however, that it's more of the opposite in christianity, at least in practice. I can remember a few times in history such as the Spanish Inquisition and the Protestant and Counter Reformations, where individuals were persecuted, sought out, and defamed by the church. The spanish inquisition in particular strikes me as a good example, seeing that people seemed to go out of their way to root out the "nonbelievers", who by their status and otherwise-like customs, were considered sinners against god. The other factor to all of this might be that the church also a political agenda and held great influence across Europe. As the church, they also manage the ideals of christianity and interpret the will of god subjectively through the pope. The concept of a sin may have been subjective as well, and could have been adapted as a rational to rid the church of any who might stand to impede their political agenda.

The Importance of Respect and Reputation in Things Fall Apart

One major theme in the novel is that of the importance of reputation. Ones title determines how important you are and who respected you are. Reputation is extremely important to the men in the novel. Personal reputation is publicly denoted by the ankle bracelets men wear, which signify the number of “titles” they have earned. Reputation is based on merit – men gain reputation through bravery in battle, skill at wrestling, and hard work as seen through the size of their yam harvest. Reputation earns men positions of power and influence in the community as well as numerous wives. Okonkwo is extremely concerned with reputation because he grew up with a father who was shameful and lazy. Okonkwo overcompensates by working tirelessly on his farm and taking every opportunity available to prove his bravery and strength. Okonkwo is a big believer in the system, and he even feels that people without titles are not real men, as he says numerous times.

Opportunism and the Igbo.

The part where the locusts came and the villagers collected them to cook and eat them made me think of how opportunistic and economic they are. In fact, they constantly worship the earth goddess for the things she gives them in their harvests. Similarly, in the chapter we read from "An Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, the author mentions many examples of how the Igbo people are in fact very economic as well. I remember in particular the palm wine and how they also harvested the same tree for nuts and oils.

Education in Ibo

While I have yet to finish Things Fall Apart, I have yet to hear mention of an ordered system of education within Ibo society.  Education in Ibo society seems to focus on learning through observation. Learning is done within the family- Okonkwo teaches Ikemefuna how to act as a patriarch. Ekwefi teaches Enzimna how to act like a typical Ibo women- how to carry food to her father, and Okonkwo in turn chastises Enzimna for unladylike behavior. There is no need for the children to be "literate" because as far as I can tell there is not much use for the written language in Ibo society. It fascinates me that imperialism completely restructured almost every facet of some cultures, including education in the Ibo culture. By the time Achebe went to school in Nigeria, a formal education system was brought about that allowed him to become the successful person in the Western world that he is today, however, his education does not seem to be the old fashioned typical Ibo education found in his book. This is a wonderful example of how Achebe bridges Western and African culture.

Women in Ibo Society

The topic of women's role in society is very pertinent to this week, as was International Women's Day was this week. Ibo women are portrayed as extremely hard working in Achebe's novel. They cook, clean, bring water to their Obis, farm, take care of children, and soothe Okonkwo's desires (not only sexual-for example his desire for food) all while tiptoeing around Okonkwo's wrath. While women do all of this work, they don't receive money, or titles. As a side note, a statistic was released by the UN on IW day-women provide roughly 2/3rds of the worlds labor in 2013, yet they claim only 10% of the world's income. Women's position in Ibo society seems to be beneath men on the surface, but it is much more complicated. The most influential person in Ibo society, in my eyes, is the oracle, who is a women. A women is the voice for gods. A women decides whether or not to go to war. A women is feared by men, and even the most aggressive man in Umoufia, Okonkwo, takes a machete with him when he follows Chielo.

Ikemefuna and Nwyoe

I'd like to compare the two characters Ikemefuna and Nwyoe in their "manliness". I find it highly ironic that Okonkwo is critical of Nwyoe for his "femininity" when Ikemefuna seems to have similar feelings. Nwyoe enjoys hearing his mother's stories and helping her out with different tasks. Achebe gives us insight into Ikemefuna's feelings and emotions when he narrates how Ikemefuna thinks about his mother and sister a lot, back in his village. So in a way, I feel that Ikemefuna are quite similar, except for the fact that Ikemefuna does make it openly known that he thinks about his mother and sister. Okonkwo criticizes Nwyoe, but not Ikemefuna and sees Ikemefuna as a better son, even though he is not his real son. So I think it's wrong that Okonkwo criticizes Nwoye when Nwyoe will probably grow up to be a more well-rounded man than Okonkwo, as he does have a soft, caring side and big heart (as he mourns Ikemefuna's death). He will not try to show his masculinity with beating women and will probably have a loving, tightly family when he is older.