Reading Response #1 Chapter 1-5 (Pages 3-45)

Delaney Patterson Things Fall Apart English 1 7/26/11 In these first five chapters I realized that the author will talk about then present day, then flash back to the past and tell a story about Okonkwo that supports him in the present day, then flash back to the present. It took me a few minutes or pages really to kind of get into it and realize what the author was actually meaning by what she wrote. It shocked me when I was reading about how much Okonkwo hated his father. To me Unoka is Okonkwo father and he should love him no madder what the circumstances are but Okonkwo just despises his father. I also realized that Okonkwo is a very strong and fearless man and very confident in his life. That to me is why Okonkwo never shows compassion, because he thinks it would make him weak, and fearless. This is his entire fathers fault that he is a rude, heartless warrior. But then again if his father wasnt such a bad father then he wouldnt be the strong skilled warrior that he is today. It made me sad when I read about how when someone had the swelling illness, they just took them to the evil forest because they thought that burying them in the earth would be an abomination to the Earths goodness so they took them there and left them there to die. It made me feel sorry for all those poor souls that were taken to that forest and left to die. When Okonkwo was given Ikemefuna to take care of and watch over and then he handed him right over to his first wife, it showed to me how much he didnt like to show compassion. It made me kind of mad when I read about him beating his wifes for no reason really. Okonkwo thinks of his family as servants he expects them to feed him and wait on him hand and foot. This to me is really rude and disrespectful. Works Cited Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart: Nigeria, 1959

Reading Response #2 Chapter 6-10(Pages 46-94)

Delaney Patterson Things Fall Apart English 1 7/26/11
After reading the 6th and 7th chapter I was kind of happy but sad at the same. The reason for this is Im happy about all thing winnings in the wrestling match but Im sad about them killing the poor young Ikemefuna. I felt mad really mad when I read about them killing Ikemefuna. Then when they lie to Okonkwo son Nwoye about taking him home when they really killed him that made me so mad to me people shouldnt tell people one thing and turn around and do another. After killing Ikemefuna I think it made Okonkwo feel weak because he knew that was his sons reason for coming alive (I guess thats what you could call it) and trying harder to do things to make his dad happy. I also feel that it made him sad because he was starting to think of Ikemefuna as his own son, and when he was told he had to kill him Okonkwo knew in his heart that he didnt want to but he did it anyways. I dont think Okonkwo should have participated in Ikemefunas death. After a while Okonkwo got kind of over it and helped his buddy Obierika name a bride-price for his daughter. That I think helped him get his mind off the whole killing Ikemefuna thing. But it will also haunt him for the rest of his life that he did participate in the killing. I thought it was weird that Okonkwo would go against all tribal religious rules and do things to save Ekwefis child. They loved that child so much they went against all beliefs to save it. Even now after the child has grown up Okonkwo still prefers Ezinma over all of his sons. Okonkwo even says he wishes that Ezinma was a male instead of a female. Okonkwo doesnt like to show affection but to me it seems like he shows more affection to Ezinma than any other one of his children or wives. Works Cited Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart: Nigeria, 1959

Reading Response #3 Chapter 11-15(Pages 95-143)

Delaney Patterson Things Fall Apart English 1 7/29/11
In these chapters Okonkwos feelings toward his wife and child are not hidden. He follows his wife Ekwefi who is following Chielo and their daughter Ezinma. He is worried about them so he follows them with a machete so he can protect them. Okonkwo never shows how much he cares for his wives and children but Chielos actions force Okonkwo to acknowledge how important his wife and child really are to him. After reading the part of Okonkwos gun exploded and killed Ezeudus son I think it was more than just a coincident. The one handed sprit had just said if your death was the death of nature, go in peace. But if a man caused it, do not allow him a moments rest. (Page 123) To me that was Ezeudus sprit paying Okonkwo back for taking part in killing Ikemefuna. I think that the seven years away from a community he has been in his whole life will be good for him. Maybe he will learn to show a little more compassion to his wives and children. When Okonkwo was kicked out of his village he sought refuge in his mothers homeland. He is not happy there because he feels as if it is a womanly place. To me he is just afraid to come in touch with his feminine side of his personality. Unchendu reminds Okonkwo that he does not suffer alone. Unchendu tells Okonkwo stories of how he lost his five wives and about his remaining wife. He also tells Okonkwo that youth, beauty, and sexual attractiveness are not things he should want in a wife and there are more important things is life than that. Unchendu also tells him that all the deaths have caused him great pain, and even though Okonkwo does not show it every time a child dies he grieves just as much as the mother does. Works Cited Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart: Nigeria, 1959

Reading Response #4 Chapter 16-20(Pages 144-177)

Delaney Patterson Things Fall Apart English 1 8/1/11
I got kind of a mixture of emotions in these few chapters. When it first started out it was talking about how the white men just came in and was telling them there Gods where false. If that was me I would be aggravated because if someone just came into my home and told me that something I have believed in my whole life is wrong or false, it would make me kind of mad and I would have to defend what I believe in not just sit there like they did. Then when I read about Nwoye and Okonkwo where fighting and how Okonkwo drove Nwoye away it made me sad. If I was Okonkwo and I drove my son away to the point where he joined another religion and never came home I would feel terrible. The white men or missioners have set up churches in all the neighboring villages, and it keeps getting stronger dew to the fact that they kept getting more and more converts. They kept doing things that went against the Igbo peoples religion and beliefs, which they should because they believe different. But if that was me in this situation I would be very aggravated that they kept going against the laws and doing this that they shouldnt in my village. I just think that because they just barged into the villages that they should at least show some respect or obey some of the laws. When Okonkwo returned to his home village after seven years it had changed dramatically. Okonkwo described their title system (I guess you could call it) the system they use to tell which men had the highest title and the men that had no title, as a lizard when something changed something else came along to fulfill its place. Men who were very high in the title rankings had converted and left it all behind, so men who normally had no titles had at least one, hence the lizard like system. Works Cited Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart: Nigeria, 1959

Reading Response #5 Chapter 21-25(Pages 178-209)

Delaney Patterson Things Fall Apart English 1 8/1/11
When Okonkwo returned to his village he expected things to be the same and he expected to be able to just push his way back in and back to the top of the title rankings. What came as a shock to him is that things where very different and he could push his was back to the top. As a madder of fact things had changed so dramatically that the white men were telling them that they needed to send people to school and they needed to do as the white men do and act, and go by the white mens laws because if they dont then the English men will take over them. The white men said that they could still believe in their own things but they needed to learn to read and talk the same language as the white men. When the Commissioner came back and called the six men to a meeting, during the meeting. While locked up the men had their heads shaved and they were beat with a whip. By this point in the book you can tell the white men and their government is trying to take over or has almost taking over the Igbo people and their cultures. This would make me so mad and aggravated if I was part of the Igbo tribe, the ones that had not converted yet I would be going to war with the white men to defend my village and beliefs. When the village people where having that meeting and the messengers just came in and told them to stop, that to me was disrespectful and I would be mad. So I can kind of get why Okonkwo cut that messengers head off, to me he was mad and tired of them walking all over them. I get why Okonkwo hung himself to, he knew that he was going to be killed so he would rather save them the trouble and take care of it himself. To me it was a not so good way to end this book; I would have ended it what happens after his death but it was still a great book to read. Works Cited Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart: Nigeria, 1959