Things Fall Apart Critical Lens Essay - 829 Words

The essence of a literature, in most cases, parallels life’s mysteries. As Ernest Hemingway put it, â€Å"To be truly memorable, a book must have at its core one of life’s great quests: the quest for love, truth, or power.† In other words, the very heart of a text must show its readers the pursuit of self-fulfillment. Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, reveals through the customs and traditions of Ibo culture, as well as the choices and consequences made by each character that a body of work is only worthwhile if there is a search for love, truth, or power. First, the customs and traditions of Ibo culture illustrate that a novel is only memorable if it sets forth a quest for truth. For example, Obierika sought truth after burning down†¦show more content†¦Uchendu humbles him with the truth that when a woman dies it is good for no one. Moreover, the idea that â€Å"Mother is Supreme† is a fundamental part of the customs and traditions of Ibo culture. In essence, the customs and traditions of each character in Things Fall Apart further the search for truth, love, and power. Secondly, the choices and consequences made by the characters demonstrate that a book is meaningful when there is a journey of love, truth, or power. For example, the men from Abame chose to kill the white man on the horse who arrived in their village. This proved foolish as a few weeks later the village was decimated by whoever the white man had been associated with. Uchendu reflects on this by saying, â€Å"Never kill a man who says nothing.† He also emphasizes his point with the story of Mother Kite. The choices and consequences made by the men from Abame progresses the plot. In effect, it also progresses the quest for truth and power because the deaths of these men made the impending threat of European settlement real. Another example is when Okonkwo killed one of the court messengers. In doing this, he strove to regain power that the tribe had lost. Okonkwo desired to root out Christianity for the betterment of the tribe, but already so many tribesmen had been converted. Prior to this occurrence the speaker at the meeting explicated, â€Å"Men shoot without missing their mark and I have learned to flyShow MoreRelatedThe Poisonwood Bible : The Flaws Of Fundamentalist Christianity1520 Words   |  7 Pageschristianity. Looking at the Poisonwood Bible through a new critics lens and examining the biblical allusions allowed me to explore how this issue was implemented through Nathan Price, as Nathan stands for fundamentalism. A New Criticism lens allows me to look at the text for itself without taking in any of the outside influences of the author s life or cultural influences. â€Å"New Criticism, post-World War I school of Anglo-American literary critical theory that insisted on the intrinsic value of a work of artRead MoreIago’s Alter Ego: Essay615 Words   |  3 PagesA Look at Janet Adelman†™s Critical Essay, â€Å"Iago’s Alter Ego: Race as projection in Othello† In Janet Adelman’s critical reading of Othello, she tries to identify racial issues in the sub-text, specifically explaining the actions of the title character through the psychoanalytic theory. She believes that Othello is a victim of the racist society in which he was emerged once he married Desdemona. With no other review of himself available, it begins to define his actually personality, leading to aRead MoreShould We Use More Environmentally Friendly Ways For Produce Energy?1338 Words   |  6 Pagestraditional means to make energy. Recently, many parties, including environmentalist parties, have said that we should use more environmentally friendly ways to produce energy. Which solution is right is debatable, but one thing is certain: Finding a solution to the problem is critical. There are many arguments and points to each side of this debate. Some argue that alternative power sources, or green energy, like windmills and solar panels are the best method to use. Others would say that the infrastructureRead MoreThings Fall Apart Essay2440 Words   |  10 PagesThings Fall Apart: A Critical Analysis Things Fall Apart (1958) is a fictional novel by Chinua Achebe that examines the life the Igbo tribe living in a rural village called Umuofia in Nigeria during the early 19th century. The central values of the novel revolve around status, virtues, power, and traditions that often determine the futures and present of the characters in the Achebe story. The novel shows the life of the protagonist Okonkwo and his family, village, and Igbo culture and theRead MoreSecuring Military Gear Essay5060 Words   |  21 Pages Operational security can be compromised through the loss of sensitive items due to loss of equipment used for operational planning, or items used for support missions. Also depending on the type of sensitive item that is being classified it could fall under a different level of security as it is deemed so by the U.S. Government. The levels included in the term classified are restricted (public disclosure could have undesirable effects or do some harm), confidential (unauth orized disclosure couldRead MoreOrganizational Analysis4673 Words   |  19 PagesHow an organization is structured has enormous consequences not only for the success of its business but, also, for the success of its employees. Though it is obvious why understanding organizations is critical to business success, nevertheless it is worthwhile to review these reasons. The structure of a firm either enhances or hinders efficiency and productivity. In other words, how information flows and to whom, whether and how many parts of the work process is redundant, how clear and preciseRead MoreFeminism, By Cheryl Butler1815 Words   |  8 Pagesa view of feminism that does not cut across racial and class lines, and ignores the societal impact of the normalization of sex work. Liberal feminism is, due to this, a fundamentally exclusionary philosophy. Cheryl Butler, in her essay applying critical race feminism to the question of the sex trade and sex trafficking in America, reveals the holes in liberal feminist theory. She specifically calls out how â€Å"liberal feminist perspectives on prostitution have focused on†¦ the need to protect the rightsRead MoreThe End Of Cold War2804 Words   |  12 Pagesof commun ism†, n.d.). One cannot deny the fact that the aggressive and extremist foreign policy adopted by the Soviet Union against nations like Afghanistan, eventually fueled the Cold War. Historical events point to the fact that several reasons, apart from the extremist and aggressive foreign policies of the Soviet Union, contributed thoroughly to the emergence of the Cold War, the name which came into being due to the fact that even being hardcore enemies of one another, the USSR and the U.S.,Read MoreAn Exploratory Research..2281 Words   |  10 Pagestowards a certain product which then leads to the intension to purchase and the actual behaviour. The importance of this research is to predict intention of the behaviour, which then leads to the actual behaviour. This report will be seen through the lens of the marketing theory ‘Theory of Planned Behaviour’ (TPB). Kim and Karpova, (2010) suggest the TPB explains how an individual’s attitude towards behaviour, sub jective norm, and perceived behavioural control predict intension which in turn leads toRead MoreCritical Discourse Analysis of the Movie Love Actually3536 Words   |  15 PagesCRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF THE MOVIE LOVE ACTUALLY Love Actually is All Around†¦ Leon Koshcheyev English 2010 Professor O. Pimentel Love Actually is the ultimate romantic comedy written and directed by Richard Curtis. This film consist of dozens of different love stories that like a quilt are weaved together to make one story about love. It is about love in its many forms: love between family members, love between husbands and wives, innocent love, undeclared love, and romantic love. The