Monday, March 3, 2008
banana - Things Fall Apart - Crime
The most prominent instance of crime in part one of the book involves Okonkwo, whom inadvertently murders a young man. The village is informed of the death of Ezeudu, a respectable and successful man whom Okonwko was acquainted with. At the funeral, guns are fired in salute, then a cry of agony is heard followed by screams of terror. In the middle of the chaos, Ezeudu's sixteen-year-old son is dead in a pool of blood. During the gunfire, Okonwko's gun had exploded and a piece of iron pierced the boy's heart. Though his crime was unintentional, Okonkwo was forced to flee from his clan. Killing a clansman was a crime against the earth goddess. Crime was categorized into two separate groups; male and female. Female crimes were inadvertent, while male crimes were intentional. Since Okonkwo's crime was female, he would be allowed to return to his clan after seven years. Friends of Okonkwo's family helped them move their most important items out of their compound. After they had left, The villagers destroyed Okonkwo's compound and farmland, as a way to cleanse the area for the earth goddess. Though crime was not a repetitive theme in part one, it was an extremely important aspect of it, which led to part two. In part two, I believe Okonkwo's luck will continue to worsen as a result of his crime. The title of the book also foreshadows the misfortune that is yet to come for Okonkwo and his family.
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I agree in the fact that Okonkwo’s luck will continue to go down hill. The clansmen of his village strongly believe in the gods and goddesses and in this incidence Okonkwo greatly offended the earth goddess. Okonkwo had to leave his clan and start his life completely over from scratch, due to something that was not intentionally done. The title does foreshadow the misfortunes Okonkwo and his family will encounter. As the reader, we know Okonkwo has pretty much always had a high standard in his clan, and I believe this will change greatly. I think Okonkwo will turn into his father and still consider himself a man, which is ironically hypocritical.
In the beginning of the story, Okonkwo is seen to have a very good life."He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns of full yams, and had just married his third wife. To crown it all he had two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars"(Achebe 8). He is shown to be a good man, a man who is great and will do great in his lifetime. As the story progresses, his life seems to get worse. His daughter falls ill, and he upsets the gods by beating his wife during the Week of Peace, causing the gods to be angry. The worst part occurs when he accidentally kills the boy and is exiled for seven years. This point is just the beginning. Even though it does get worse, and Nwoye and Okonkwo no longer speak, it will get better. All of thses things will make Okonkwo search inside himself to find out what he's really here for, and in the end, he will eventually find the true meaning of life, and then everything will be as good as they can be.
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