Okonkwo sucks. I've decided that he is the equivalent of a stereotypical basic teenage girl (exactly like one from Mean Girls). At times, he shows glimmers of love, but in the end he only really cares what others think. Also, he does the opposite of what other people tell him. After awhile, Okonkwo begins to cherish Ikemefuna. It's like he is his son. But then Ezeudu tells him they will kill him and that Okonkwo shouldn't be a part of it. Of course, Okonkwo doesn't listen to what he says. He ends up being the one to kill Ikemefuna because he doesn't want to be seen as 'weak'. ALL HE CARES ABOUT IS WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINKS OF HIM. It's honestly like he is a teenage girl. When he cared about Ezinma, that showed his love. But then of course, he goes to kill Ezeudu's son at the end of Part 1. He must be incredibly stupid or just extremely oblivious to his surroundings. Like I said in my last post, I was rooting for him to turn into a better character, but that clearly isn't happening and I have lost all hope.
Other than me hating Okonkwo, I liked this part of the book a lot better than the first section we read. It picked up and got to be more interesting. I believe that 'things fell apart' when Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna because everything seemed to turn bad from that point on. People are dying and getting sick and it seems terrible. One uplifting part of the story that I like is the fables they tell the children. They seem to have a story that explains everything, from mosquitoes and ears to tortoise shells. That helps keep the story upbeat and shows the culture. Also seems that everyones names begin with vowels, is this a culture thing? Do any other cultures believe in "ogbanje"?
I'm glad that Okonkwo has to leave the tribe for 7 years. Amen. Maybe he can turn his life around.
(P.S. does anyone else think that he could be an alcoholic? I see some signs...)
I also think that the story has finally gotten interesting. In the beginning it was mostly made up of boring narration, but now Achebe has added in more cultural facts about the people and their society. Adding some more background to the story makes it seem more personal, which I really like. You also mentioned Okonkwo in your post and I'm happy to see that someone else thinks he is very immature! I thought at first that his anger issues would be a talking point in the story, but now I'm seeing that it's really just an annoying characteristic that won't go away. In my opinion, his efforts to be different than his father are what caused him to be this way. He focused so much energy towards not being idle that he forgot about all the other important attributes.
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ReplyDelete^She doesn't even go here (Mean Girls reference, sorry Dr. Spiegel if you do not understand). I, too, absolutely hate Okonkwo. He is SO annoying, much like teenage girls(not like me though, of course). In the second half of the reading, things really did start "falling" apart. It was like a series of unfortunate events. I was devastated by Ikemefuna's death. He seemed like the only genuine person in this book so far who actually cared about the children! He taught them valuable lessons, unlike Okonkwo who continued to show no affection for anyone. I was hoping that Okonkwo's attitude would take a turn(like Morgan said) but I have just completely lost all hope for him. He continues to anger me, and I find him to be such a weenie. He thinks that just because he is seen as a successful member of the clan, that he rules the place. When, quite-frankly, he has no power. He is so afraid of vulnerability that it's pathetic. IT IS OKAY TO SHOW AFFECTION. I don't know why he thinks that makes him weak? Maybe if he actually cared about anyone but himself while also continuing to work hard then I would actually find a reason to respect him.
ReplyDeleteI'll have you know that I am familiar with Mean Girls; indeed, I spent a good 45 minutes watching the sequel this weekend. Did you know there was a sequel, Valarie?
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