Things Fall Apart: Part 2

Upon completion of the story, I found myself rather infuriated at the arrogance of the Christian missionaries. They took the Igbo people as primitive merely because their culture was different and they weren't literate. It's interesting to be able to compare and contrast the missionaries and the Igbo people. The missionaries were constantly plotting and planning, using their words to convert people and create problems. Whereas the Igbo people were honest, consistently trying to hold onto their culture and traditions without creating a war. They used few words to convey their positions. If we accredit these differences entirely to orality versus literacy, it's pretty clear that orality does have some advantages over literacy, and vice versa.

It becomes very clear, particularly in the last half of the book, that Okonkwo values violence above all else, because it is the very definition of a real man. It is evident in the lack of respect he has for his mother's village because they do not attack the missionaries. It is evident in the anger he feels towards his own village when they too, do not pursue the missionaries and kill them all after he slays one of them. And it is especially evident in his death. He violently hanged himself, committing suicide, rather than going to court and being hanged by the white men.

The biggest turning point in the story, where Okonkwo accidentally kills a clansman, is also one of the easiest parts to skip over: "Guns fired the last salute and the cannon rent the sky. And then from the centre of the delirious fury came a cry of agony and shouts of horror. It was as if a spell had been cast. All was silent. In the centre of the crowd a boy lay in a pool of blood. It was the dead man's sixteen-year-old son, who with his brothers and half-brothers had been dancing the traditional farewell to their father. Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart." It starts with the death and ends with Okonkwo's blame. Half a paragraph at most. I found it curious that such an important moment in the story was told with such brevity. Immediately after that, Okonkwo and his family leave the village and life is forever different. I nearly skimmed over it, because I was so enamored in the story. I had to read it twice before the idea really settled in. Okonkwo had to leave because he accidentally murdered a clansman, and lost everything, even though there was no intention behind it. I found that unfair, but I appreciated the understanding of everyone in the village, that everyone just knew that it had to happen that way, but that no one felt good about it. The complete understanding of this culture is mind boggling. There is no need for a king, because they all work together, they all understand the importance of obeying the gods and following the rules. No one quarrels with the rules. No one searches for loopholes, they just obey and are respected.