Through actions, words spoken, and decisions these are a few ways we live freely. These are controlled by the individual only until it is not. A collective could argue that “everything in the physical process is determined” prior to the individual taking any action (Elrington). Everything in the course of history can be predetermined but the actions taken to get there are not. An event could change the course of history being that, someone's decision changes
Fate is defined as something that simply just happens or “Falls upon your lap without any help or actions”. It’s a gesture that is not thought about because when it come it just come without your inner thought or “permission”. While freewill is the opposite, it’s defined as something you as a person caused upon yourself, the actions you did was the reason you are in the situation and you can’t blame anyone but yourself, it’s thought of as the inner consciousness of a person or the permission to give one’s self. Fate vs. Freewill is what causes this novel to be so powerful because as Oprah stated “ When you hear this story, it’s going to turn the way you think and free will and fate upside down.” I believe that Oprah Winfey made this claim
Fate is often described as the will or principle by which things in general are believed to come to be . The question of fate has been pondered over for ages , with the epic poem, Beowulf, raising questions on the concept of fate versus free will. The epic raises the question in the form of the complex,yet dynamic character Grendel. Although it seems at certain points that Grendel acts on free will ,he is in fact led entirely by fate. The idea of fate leading Grendel’s life is made entirely from the fact that he was born a monster and an unfortunate descendant of Cain.
In Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe reveals that individuals who are for themselves does not make up a good community . Okonkwo, the main character became a skeptical leader because even though fought for the community, he was beating his wife and being disrespectful. When he killed Ikemefuna, his son, Nwoye then soon started worshiping the missionaries because of his father’s austere ways. Tragic events and rigid conformity leads to a bad community. The clan’s rules led Okonkwo to being a inferior leader and the community halted supporting him.
China Achebe demonstrates the disrespect the Ibo men had for woman in Things Fall Apart by depicting verbal and physical abuse within the community. The men have control over a woman through power of authority. This physical and verbal abuse lets the men of the society feel empowerment over the woman. “ Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper” Achebe 12.
Clinging to tradition and religious faith comes to be nearly impossible for African clans. Throughout the novel, Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe the main character Okonkwo and his fatherland Umoufia strives to keep their clan as one. When Christian missionaries come to propose a takeover, the villagers of Umoufia dispute their capabilities to be able to stop the spread of Christianity. The villager 's actions begin to demonstrate that change is inevitable.
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is a book based up on pre-colonial Nigeria back in the 1890s and it focuses on on traditional society’s and colonialism. The author presents the book Things Fall Apart through the eyes of the main character Okonkwo who was a respected elder in the village. Women in the book were all housewives and they were shown as weak, and as second class citizens of the Umuofian society. The roles of women in the Umuofia society is presented through several events that happened in in the village of Umuofia.
The tripartite novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, published in 1958 focuses on the changes taking place in Nigeria, as a result of colonization during the 20th century. Chinua Achebe’s pragmatics when writing the novel focused on changing the perspective of Western readers with regard to African society. He mainly wanted to falsify the assertions in books such as “Heart of Darkness” which he claimed gave people of African descent a dull personality. Social status is one of the novels’ main themes. Chinua Achebe successfully incorporates the importance of social status, giving readers the impression that for the Ibo society, social structure consists mainly of a hierarchy of both skill and strength.
Everyone as a human being has experienced some form of change in our life, big or small, and it has a lasting effect on who they are and how they act. In Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’, change is a forward facing theme of the whole story, we see change in all forms occur throughout the book; the arrival of the white men and their changing of the igbo culture, the tearing apart of Okonkwo’s family by religion and traditions, and the change that occurs within Okonkwo himself when he realizes he cannot prevent change from happening in the community and culture he loved. Change is destructive in ‘Things Fall Apart’, especially to such a magnitude as we see in the story, it is destructive to communities, to families, and especially to individuals.
Throughout Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, the authors' claim of "balance" within the Igbo tribe is invalid. Although one may view that women and men existing in this society as balanced due to the fact that both the men and women have a particular part in the general public; The men hunt for dinner, while the ladies prepare the meals and care after the kids. However, through close reading, the society is actually imbalance. While the women are living oppressed, the men are holding positions of high power. The women in the tribe not only being socially oppressed by men of high authority, but also physically and emotionally abused by men in their home who likewise holds power.
Okonkwo and Ezinma, an unexpressed love. In his novel, ‘Things Fall Apart’, Achebe presents to the reader, a story based around the village of Umuofia. Through his narration which is close to an oral tradition, we discover the culture and commodities of that village as well as of some surrounding villages. Superstitions, festivals and traditions, everything is vividly described.
Human beings repress their freedom of choice, the right to determine one’s own action, by accepting restrictions over their free wills. However, the act of making a choice is the most important thing for a human being. Human beings can give meaning to their life through self-determination, the ability to make one’s own decision without the influence from outside. Most people believe that they have a freedom of choice but, in fact, their freedom is restricted by a myriad of factors. One of these factors is the restriction of people’s nature of freedom by cruel authorities through the idea of colonialism.
The theme of Fate vs. Free Will is dominant in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; however the theme of fate is more significant than free will. In the play both Romeo and Juliet meeting was contributed by fate as Shakespeare mentioned in the prologue that Romeo and Juliet were star-crossed lovers that were meant to meet, fall in love and their death would be the reason for the feud to end between the two families. Fate was the reason Capulet’s servant asked Romeo and Benvolio to help him read the invitation for him that contained all the names of the people that were invited to the ball Capulet hosted. “…If you be not of the house of Montagues, I pray come and crush a cup of wine.
When analyzing the first part of “The Grapes of Wrath”, written by John Steinbeck, one can visualize the struggle of the times that sharecroppers and farmers went through in the Midwest area. Steinbeck depicts the era of America’s Great Depression which lasted until sometime after World War II. Steinbeck utilizes the first part of “The Grapes of Wrath” and the infelicity that fell the Joad and Wilson family as an example to show how the terrible drought known as the Dust Bowel affected many families from the American Midwest which also included Oklahoma. Chapter one assuredly establishes the tone for the whole novel. Part one of the the novel which include chapters 1 through eleven provides a backdrop for the main events of the narrative, describing
Feminist Theory In Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, they recognize the life of the Igbos which are a tribe in the village of Umuofia during European colonization. There are many topics brought up in this book like the effects of colonization, culture and tradition, religion, race, etc. It is relatively easy to read “Things Fall Apart” as an anti-feminist text due to the face that the Igbo clan’s customs and traditions seem to side towards masculine features, such as power and strength. The novel is told through a male protagonist’s point of view in nineteenth century Nigeria, while women there do not have much rights, they do wield heavy influence over the leaders of the clan.
