I am not afraid to admit that I am not a fan of Heart of Darkness. I respect that it is a well-written work that was quite pivotal in its time, but it is just not the style of literature that I enjoy reading and/or analyzing. In my high school English class we read Heart of Darkness and watched Apocalypse Now, but we never got around to reading Things Fall Apart, even though my teacher would have liked to. I’m glad I’m getting the chance to study all three together in Arts One.
I thought Jon brought up some very interesting points about HOD and TFA that I did not pick up on during my first reading. I enjoyed that he talked about some very broad topics such as history and identity; it can be easy to focus on minute details when comparing two texts, but I think in this instance that’s nearly impossible because the stories are definitely not the same.
Despite the broad questions discussed in lecture, I’d like to bring up some more specific details that I wonder about:
- Fire – It seemed that fire/burning accompanied Okonkwo in many parts of the novel…it could be because he is so obsessed with his masculinity that he only wants to display angry, virile emotion. Thinking back to lecture, it could also have something to do with destruction.
- The folk tales – I think the folk tales that are present throughout the novel must hold some sort of greater meaning for the story as a whole. It would be interesting to read back and see how they all fit together.
- The locusts – This is very obviously an allegory for the white settlers…but it’s interesting that the Igbo eat them. I may have to do some deeper digging to figure out what this means.
- Yams – I don’t actually think there’s any meaning behind this, but…SO.MANY.YAMS.
I have a few good questions thought up for my presentation this week, and I think that Achebe (like Conrad) has put so much into this novel that there will be many things for us to talk about in seminar.
I still don’t like Heart of Darkness though.
One reply on “Things Fall Apart”
No worries–you don’t have to like Conrad’s novel! Your questions here are really interesting. I also thought that the folk tales must have some greater significance, but so far I’m struggling to come up with how they fit with what else is going on in the novel. This is definitely something I want to think about more, but won’t have time to before tomorrow’s seminar!
I also noticed the locusts, who are directly connected to the missionaries, but who also show up right before Okonkwo is told that Ikemefuna must be killed. It’s like this joyous influx of things they like (everyone is happy about the locusts) juxtaposed to one of the more questionable actions of Okonkwo (joining in with Ikemefuna’s killing). And why would there be a link between the missionaries and Ikemefuna’s killing in some way? AT least there seems to be with the locusts.
I hadn’t noticed the fire…I’m going to have to go back and look at that!
Yams…I think you’re right… they may just be because they are such a staple of work and food in that culture at that time rather than having a larger meaning. I’m not sure, but that’s what I think at the moment!