The Crucible: What’s in a Name
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play diverse in its approach, themes, ideas and messages. Miller takes the play to form as a cornucopia of political, social and psychological topics. The Crucible is famously known as a play with political theme, at face value an attack against theocracy, but is commonly associated with the […] Continue reading →
Misogyny in Things Fall Apart is not too different from Conrad and Racism
It is difficult to read Things Fall Apart without being very disgusted with the gender roles and the attitudes towards women in Umuofia. Okwonko’s treatment of his wives as lesser, weaker, stupid beings is unacceptable. His behaviour is very reminiscent of Blanca’s abusive husband in Until the Dawn’s Light. Coming to terms with the misogyny […]
The Palm Oil
I was thinking about the richness of proverbs. “The palm oil with which words are eaten” certainly sounds delicious. There is something not very European or at least not very anglo about this notions. Should language be simple and direct, perhaps more efficient? Or should it be more decorated and fruitful. Certain people would prefer […]
Masculinity in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart
Wow, this book is hard to understand. I mean, it’s wonderful to read and imaginative like an old folk story, but when I look back on what I’ve read, it’s insanely complicated. One of the main things I wanted to explore in this blog post was the different representations of gender roles in the novel, […]
Things Fall Apart: Misfortune
Samantha Lee 17 March, 2015 I enjoyed reading the book “Things Fall Apart”. The book allows readers to have a deeper understanding towards the native african culture. The rituals and folk stories are very interesting to me. The book is filled with festive atmosphere yet there is also underlying fear from time to time. To […]
Continue reading →
Ibo Word of the Day: iyi-uwa
Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a novel in which the author writes about his own people to us. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Things Fall Apart and learning about the stories, customs and people of Nigeria. I found it interesting, as mentioned in lecture, that by the end of the novel the narrative voice suddenly transitions […]
Things Fall Apart and Masculinity
When reading this novel one of the first things that really stuck me was the blatant integration of gender roles into the Igbo culture. Whether it’s the crops specific to each gender (coco-yams, beans and cassava vs. yams), or even the characterization of varying crimes, essentially all aspects of daily life are gendered. Additionally, sexist […]
Essay Reflections Pt. 2
I’ve been pretty glad with how my essays have gone so far this term, especially with my average mark going up by about 5%. My essays are a lot less cluttered and with stronger overall themes. Usually now I write down a lot of quotes from the book …
Heart of Darkness
The first thing I noticed about Heart of Darkness is the unusual narrative. Although the story of Marlow is told through the lens of the narrator, it feels as though Marlow himself is the narrator. I then started to wonder the purpose of having Marlow narrating his own story in quotations; why not let the […]
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the AAAHH!!
Another depressing book, with no characters that are likeable and an ending that left me unsatisfied (just like Apocalypse Now!), leaving us with the sad image of a mourning widow being lied to. I’ve got to hope that Things Fall Apart is a light romant…