Things Fall Apart part 1

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe follows the story of Okonkwo, a member of the Umuofia clan, which I believe is located in Africa. Okonkwo is the son of a man who was not well respected amongst the clan members. He was seen as lazy, and not very manly. Because of this Okwonko had to make his own name for himself, since he couldn't rely on anything being passed down to him from his father. As a husband and father himself, Okonkwo is obsessed with being seen as a strong man, and therefore tough with everyone. He refuses to show any emotion other than anger, and doesn't show his affection for people. The clan has strong traditions, which rely on a hierarchy of men, and respect for various gods. Manliness is highly valued, and anything done to go against being strong and tough is looked down upon.

Everything going well, or going wrong is due to the gods and one's own chi. One story that especially stood out was one of the women who had many children, but they all died very young. They believed this was because the children were "ogbanje." (77) This meant that a child who died would continue to come back just to die again. When she finally had a child who lived longer, they questioned her and made her bring them to a place where she buried her "Iyi-uwa" (80) which was supposed to be an object that helped the child go into her mother's womb again. This whole process seemed pretty far fetched, but I found it interesting that they did find a stone wrapped in cloth where the girl pointed to dig.

The closest thing our culture has to these traditions and way of life is religion. Some people believe that if something good or bad happens, it is part of God's plan, and everything is in his hands. People follow traditions, like going to church on sundays, or lighting a menorah on Hannukah, or even various things within our own families. With the Umuofia's, it is intertwined with every aspect of life, nothing is outside the strict tradition and rules.

Ong Part 1

The concept of a strictly oral culture is something that is very difficult for me to fully comprehend. I feel like written word is so vital to the world that I live in. In our culture, we often prefer to write something than have to speak it aloud. If my friends want to hang out, I will get a text message, as opposed to a phone call. If there are words present, we tend to automatically read them. I always complain if someone turns on the subtitles to a movie already in english. I get so distracted, that I read the movie instead of watching it. I can't imagine a life where I was unable to read the words around me. I've never been to another country, so I've never even experienced being surrounded by a foreign language. When I chose a language to study, I took American Sign Language, so even there, I never had to learn to read a new language. I don't really remember the process of learning to read, other than being confused on why the word city was not pronounced like kitty.

In the book, it talked about the way we describe things as a literate culture compared to the illiterate. I'm still a bit confused, and maybe because it's such a foreign concept, on why just our descriptions of something would be so different. I'm not sure how to describe something as difficult as a car to someone who has idea of what it is. The part that struck me as the most strange is on page 52. "Precious metals do not rust. Gold is a precious metal. Does it rust or not?" (Ong) To me, the obvious answer is no. It is a if, then, statement. If precious metals do not rust, and gold is a precious metal, then no, gold would not rust. The illiterate questioned, had more questions, basically repeating the original question asked. What is it that makes the answer to the question different through literacy? Maybe through this class, and the continued reading of this book, I can't get more of an answer to that question.