essay 2

Aisling D. Bradley

English 10H

Mrs. Bosch

August 2008
What shapes my life?
People are influenced everyday in their lives by the simplest things. Some people see them as insignificant, but I see each as a chance to learn and grow as a person. These influences help people to shape their lives and become who they are today. The things that have had the biggest impact and shaped me so far, and continue to shape me today are living in a small town, my family’s history, and my memories.
Living in a small town influenced me in more ways than one. I think one of the main things is how any where you go in town, you run into someone you know. These everyday occurrences create a friendly environment that teaches people how, like me, to be friendlier, more positive people. Growing up in a small town also made strive to achieve my goals no matter how far away they seemed. For instance I work my hardest to get into college so I can be a part of something bigger later in life. Being in a small town and growing up around many colorful people has given me a chance to observe others. To learn from their mistakes or to observe the way they handle tough situations, and to watch them grow as people to.
The biggest thing that has shaped my life is my family’s history. I have grown up hearing stories about relative’s achievements. I can’t help but try and live up to try and be as good a person as they all are. When I learn about the hardships they have had to face to make their life and my life good, it teaches me to be to endure through life obstacles with the positive thinking that it would all turn out right in the end. When I first learned that my great grandma had grown up with six brothers and sisters and barely any money to feed them all it made me both proud and humble. Proud to be related to such a strong person as her, and humble not to flaunt what I had because there are people much less fortunate than me and knowing that my family had been through that before made me realize that I have to be thankful for what I have. My family has given me an environment full of love and nurturing and I have great memories of them.
My memories are a big part of who I am. They are my past mistakes, pains, delights, and sorrows. Having them with me all the time is a constant reminder of the kind of person I try to be everyday. The mold and shape me everyday even when I don’t notice it. My mistakes are what I learn from. I try not to repeat them so that I can do better next time in the situation. From my pains I have gained the strength to endure pains to come. With the sorrow I learned that it may hurt at first but there will always be a brighter day. These memories are what keep what I have been shaped to become when I am in hard times I don’t think I can get through.
The smallest things can change who a person is, they shape and mold us to be better people. I have many things that influence me everyday. The most important of those are living in a small town, my family’s history, and my memories. They have taught me to be a god person and endure through tough times. They hold me together when I might when I want to do something I know I will regret later. This is truly what shapes my life and me. I am glad to be able to experience it.

essay 1

Aisling D. Bradley

English 10H

Mrs. Bosch

August 2008

Things Fall Apart

Everyone has things that they are proud of. However most do not have the means to share their

feelings with the world. The author of Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, illustrated his pride in

family, heritage, memory, language, and humanity by following the life of Okonkwo, a man who

took pride in all these things and tried to live his life accordingly.

Achebe’s pride in family is affirmed in many ways throughout Okonkwo’s life. His pride in family is showed early on when Unoka is introduced into the novel. Unoka, Okonkwo’s father is a low

life debtor with out a title, of whom Okonkwo is deeply ashamed. Unoka owed many people

money in his life and died without repaying most of it. Unoka when on his deathbed was taken to

the evil forest to die, having all the honor of a proper burial stripped from him and bringing

shame to his whole family. When he died Okonkwo was left with nothing, the shame from his

father’s shadow gave him the drive to make a life for himself and give his sons something to look

up to and try to become. Another instance where the pride Okonkwo had for his family was

apparent was when his son disgraced his family’s name by joining the Christians. He basically

just told his son either stop or get out. His son still wanted to be Christian so Okonkwo just

kicked him out held his head high through the shame of his eldest son. Okonkwo is most

definitely a proud man and these times in his life stung his pride but never the less he

persevered. In order for Okonkwo to take pride in his family he had to be proud of where he

came from.

Achebe used Okonkwo’s story more to portray his pride in heritage in many ways, the leading

example being Okonkwo’s respect for his culture’s rituals and methods. Okonkwo paid homage

regularly to his ancestors and gods. He also knew where he came from and used that to make

him who he was in life. He followed all of his village’s customs, even when sometimes he did not

fully agree. He followed the customs even when it meant bringing shame to his family by

bringing his father to the Evil Forest to die because he had no title, and therefore did not

deserve a proper burial. Okonkwo stuck with his heritage in order to honor the memory of his

ancestors.

Okonkwo achieved many things in his lifetime. His first great achievement was throwing

Amalize the Cat when he was a young man and becoming known as the greatest wrestler in all

the surrounding villages. Throughout Okonkwo’s life he achieved many things he could

remember and take pride in what he had done. “Age was respected among his people, but

achievement was revered.” (P.g.8) Okonkwo achieved great things in life. He had three wives,

many healthy children, and had taken on three titles. He was also a fierce warrior who had killed

many in battle, and was revered among his people for all his feats. Okonkwo took pride in the

memory of all he had and in knowing that he would be remembered as a great man when he

died.

Another subject of Achebe’s pride was that in language. Based on the way he wrote Things Fall

Apart you can tell that the he uses words is sort of an art form. He takes pride in the way he

writes just as most authors do. Another example of his pride in language is the way he writes the

villagers to speak. “Among Ibo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are

like the palm oil with which words are eaten.” (p.g.7) Although Okonkwo himself was not a man

of many words many of his people were. A person in his village took pride in the fact that they

were good speakers because it was an achievement that was regarded very highly in their

village. The characters circumlocutory way of speaking was indeed not an easy feat. Achebe

strove to prove that people like Joseph Conrad were wrong, and that Africa was not a country

full of uneducated savages by emphasizing the way this culture used circumlocutory yet formal

speech.

The most important topic of Chinua Achebe’s pride shown through Okonkwo was his pride in

humanity. Achebe showed through Okonkwo’s life the way the world worked for these people.

By showing some of there customs he showed how much these people valued life and the life of

others. One of these customs was that if someone committed suicide that he could not be buried

regularly, because he was tainted. This shows how life was of the utmost importance to them

and that for one to take there own life was one of the greatest crimes to commit. Achebe mainly

wrote this novel to get rid of the stereo typical view people had of Africans, in doing so he

preserved humanity by not stereotyping the white settlers. He provided different kinds of

people like Mr. Brown and Reverend Smith. His pride in humanity showed in many instances of

the story. For instance when Okonkwo gets terribly worried about his daughter Enzima after

she had been taken by Cheilo, and so as not to seem womanly he had acted like he didn’t care

but when he could no longer take it he walked back and forth all night looking for his wife and

daughter. Another time humanity shines through in this story is when Okonkwo’s uncle

Uchendu let Okonkwo into his home when he was exiled, even though Okonkwo had never

visited or sought a relationship with his uncle before, out of the kindness of his heart. Achebe’s

pride in humanity is probably a part of the reason why he wrote this book. He wanted to show

the world that the Africans were good people, but not try to make them look like better people

than everyone else by not stereotyping the antagonists of the story.

Chinua Achebe was a proud man. He took pride in honorable things like family, heritage,

memory, language, and humanity. He used the story of Okonkwo and his family to illustrate the

many values in life that he took pride in. Okonkwo preserved through shame and tough times to

keep his family in good standing, and stuck by his customs and heritage even when new ideas

threatened to take the place of old ones. He kept so strong by the pride he got from the memory

of his achievements. Achebe used language of the natives such as Okonkwo to show that the

people of these villages were imaginative and smart. His pride in humanity shone through at

many instances in the book, such as Okonkwo’s fear for his daughter’s well being. These are

important things to be proud of and Achebe used Okonkwo’s story very well to illustrate his

pride.

entry 36

"Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo's body was dangling, and they stopped dead." p.g.207

I think the that the fact that Okonkwo hung himself really emphasizes the pain he was in. He took away all of his honor just to end the pain. This does not really fit Okonkwo's character. I would have expect him to go out fighting for something he though was right, like attacking the church compound or something. This is so unlike him it's like he was so desperate that he didn't know what else to do. I feel bad for his family because he just left them all alone in these hard times. He took the cowards way out.

entry 35

"Okonkwo was deeply grieved. And it was not just a personal grief. He mourned for the clan which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women." p.g. 183

Okonkwo's people are kind of stuck were they are, because losing friends and family to this new religion. Even though they would like to attack they can't, because if they attack they wouldn't stand a chance against the white people because. They also can't attack because they can't kill clansmen, which are all the converts. So when he says they had unaccountably become soft like women, he means because they can't do anything without causing more pain to their village.

entry 34

"That is not so. We make sacrifices to the little gods, but when they fail and there is no one else to turn to we go to Chukwu. It is right to do so. We approach a great man through his servants. But when his servants fail to help us, then we go to the last source of hope."p.g 180

This is when Mr. Brown and Akunna are trying to describe their religions to each other. I like the way Akunna explained his religion. He basically said that we have one supreme ruler but we do not bother him with our everyday problems and only go to him in times of great need. He says that the people that they go to for lesser problems are the servants of their supreme god, which if you think about it is a lot like religion. Christians see priests, saints, prophets, an Jesus as servants of God just the same as the villagers see the lesser gods as servants to the supreme god Chukwu. So even though they are debating about which is the true religion they are both saying the same thing.

entry 33

"They guarded the prison, which was full of men who offended against the white man's law. Some of these prisoners had thrown away their twins and some had molested the Christians. They were beaten in the prison by the kotma and made to work every morning clearing the government compound and fetching wood for the white commissioner and the court messengers." p.g. 175

This part was kind of annoying because the Christians just come in, take land, and the tribes let them stay there even though they don't want them there. Then on top of all that they decide to force the villagers under there laws. That is not fair because they have different customs so the villagers are being punished for following their own laws. There will definitely be blood in the end for this. You can't just treat people like dirt and expect them to except it quietly.

entry 32

"Let us give them a portion of evil forest. They boast about their victory over death. Let us give them a real battlefield in which to show their victory."p.g. 149

It's funny how based on their customs they think they are basically condeming the christians to death, but the christians just think they are being generous and kind. I bet that the christians are going to get a lot more converts when nothing happens to them, because it will make the natives think their gods can be overcome. I don't think this is going to end well. With all these people going to join the christians the tribe may get mad and there could be some dire consequences.