Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a book that transformed Nigeria’s literary movement in the 1900s. There was always a preconceived idea by the Western world that Africa was a place where people did not speak a language with complex words and grammar. We can see that Achebe wrote this novel partly to prove westerners that the image of Africa they had in their minds before is completely different to what Africa really is and has to offer. Although the novel strives to portray an opposite image of Africa, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Africa acquires only positive aspects in culture. Throughout the novel, there is struggle seen between family members due to various reasons but mainly the due to the expectations that a father sets for both himself and his family. In this blog I will choose to focus on the first part of the novel where Okonkwo is building up the social order of the tribe.

The novel is based in Nigeria and gives an insight to readers of the lifestyle of tribe men and women. A key aspect that is shown through Okonkwo is that of masculinity and manliness. Okonkwo is a well-respected and very popular warrior of the tribe. He feels the need to be better than his father who he saw as weak. It is as if he always has to have his guard up in order to be prepared for whatever situation. His idea of manliness, though, is through violence and anger and can be seen when he interacts with his eldest son Nwoye. As the eldest child, Okonkwo has high expectation of Nwoye but he was to be disappointed as his son had traits like his late father, whom he disapproved of. The social norm of the tribes in Nigeria then was your worth could only be created through your actions; hence Okonkwo’s want for Nwoye to not act lazy. From one perspective, this is understandable because one should not rely on other for their own wellbeing. However, from another, the strict cultural traditions and social norms create a barrier for those within the community to act a particular way. Nwoye naturally doesn’t apply to this ‘social norm’ that Okonkwo has set and so he finds it difficult to please his father. With the help of Ikemefuna, Nwoye begins to see that being disapproving towards women, makes his father more fond of him. Although he may be pleasing his father, Nwoye is actually deviating away from his true self.

Okonkwo’s worst fear is weakness. He would not allow his emotions to show through himself to others and cannot stand when he starts to feel affection to others even his family. For example, when he comes to realize his fondness of Ikemefuna. It is similar to the idea above of having to act a particular way. Okonkwo has set such harsh restrictions on his actions that even feeling affectionate towards someone else makes him feel weak. As I said earlier, Okonkwo saw his father as weak man who was not successful in life; therefore it is a trait that he despises. He feels as if, any form of weakness will lead his life to be like his fathers. As Okonkwo is a man who doesn’t share his emotions, pressure within him begins to build up due to the all the feelings he has trapped inside of him, whether they are positive or negative. These emotions suddenly get released in the form of anger and violence. A good example of this is when he decides to beat up one of his wives, Ekwefi, for no particular reason.

Masculinity is a theme that recurs throughout this novel and is portrayed clearly through Okonkwo’s character. We get to experience both, the feeling of being manly and also weakness through one main character. It is like there is self-conflict within Okonkwo to act a particular way even though at that moment, it may be going completely against what he is actually feeling. I think that this pressure comes from different things such as cultural tradition to be a certain way as well as that person’s own experiences. This novel gives a different perspective on the life of tribesmen living in rural Nigeria. It opens up Westerners ideas of Africans and shows the cultural differences of the various societies living around the world. What we see in Things Fall Apart, allows us to understand that in some cultures, the pressures of social norms or expectations for the elders is so strong that it will deviate you away from your own beliefs. 

The Communist Manifesto - Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels

The Communist Manifesto was written in 1848 when there were revolutions happening all over Europe. It was an effort to explain the idea of communism and the key reasons of the movement. In a way, it could be seen that they wanted to express their views as well as oppose all the negativity and misconceptions of the movement. Marx and Engels describes a materialists’ conception of history, by which all history is the history of class struggles. They discuss how society used to be organized into many different classes. Marx and Engel describes the different class antagonisms within this manifesto.

The first class antagonism they describe is between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The Bourgeoisie class rose from the inefficient feudal system that was run by aristocrats. With the increase in production and markets, the manufacturing class were driven to produce more and more goods. In turn, they slowly gained political power, which in turn helped them to over throw the feudal system. Their productive motivation would not allow them to fit in with the older system where it was difficult to move higher up on the social hierarchy. In this way, there were no restrictions for them. Now, the relationship between the workers and their boss has been severed and men would act on self-interest alone.

Chapter 2 we see the discussion of proletariat and communist. A communist is described as ‘avant gard’. They see themselves at the very front edge of proletariat politics. Their main aim is the abolishment of private property and the promotion of public property. Hence we see the class character gets changed so that personal property becomes property of everybody. They go on to discuss about labor and value. The margin of exploitation is high in society, as the superiors will not value the laborer. An example is that laborers work hard but they don’t ‘acquire’ the property at all. The owner of the property, who are most likely to be in the ‘bourgeoisie class’, are the ones who benefit from the laborer’s hard work. Laborers were seen as a commodity and only matter for their labor and they are not credited for their work. Proletariats were seen to be increasing in number and were associated with revolutions. When they begin a revolution, they will wipe out the whole idea of exploitation and private property.

            The main ideas that come across when reading The Communist Manifesto is the abolishment of private property so that everyone will have an equal amount of access to property. Due to the way that the manifesto was written, people were able to relate to the idea that laborers are exploited by their bosses and that they are not valued for their hard work. Also, the class struggle that was present in society had an underlying concept, which is economic. The economy and the market had a hidden indirect influence on society and the different social classes that are formed.  

London - William Blake

Blake’s poem of London clearly illustrates what the atmosphere in London was like in the late 1700s. It describes the surroundings as well as the people who live within the city. The tone of the whole poem is very pessimistic and negative as it focuses on all the bad consequences that came about the way that London was governed.

From the very first stanza, readers get a sense of the controlling environment that London is in by the government. Blake repeats the word ‘charter’d ‘ to remind us that even public property such as the streets and the Thames, is technically owned by someone. Here we see the beginning of the repetition of the word ‘every’. Blake describes how throughout this walk around the city of London, every person’s face has ‘marks of weakness, marks of woe’. It is as if everyone has misery and worries on their face. Perhaps from the fact that they don’t have freedom to do the things that they want to as there are always restrictions. This repetition emphasizes the fact that misery was present in everyone’s faces in London. It is not only affecting the adults in the city but also the ‘Infacts’ through their ‘cry of fear’. Blake cleverly uses the phrase ‘mind-forg’d manacles’ in order to portray an image that the government ‘ban[s]’ are acting as a mental restriction from their own personal freedom and joy.

I found the third stanza very interesting in the way that Blake links places with people in every other line. He begins by describing the cry of ‘Chimney-sweepers’ who are most likely to be children. It is a known fact this is a job not fit for young children, but yet this poem shows that it is a problem that was present during that time. The chimney sweepers are linked to the Church. As Blake describes, the church is blackened and darkened by its hypocrisy. The second link between people and place is made with soldiers and the palace. The soldiers are described as ‘hapless’, which portrays the discomfort they are feeling in their role. They are meant to be protecting the country but yet there is ‘blood [running] down Palace walls’. Both of these places are meant to be places that are clean and pure. They should be places of respect but they are portrayed here as the total opposite.

The last stanza reiterates the feeling of the narrator walking through London streets, similar to the first stanza. However, it reveals the disturbing truth that many are infected with STDs. The word ‘midnight’ tells the readers that even at a time of night when most people are meant to be asleep, ‘Harlots’ are roaming the streets. The hidden message behind this stanza is that husbands are having affairs with these ‘Harlots’ and then they go home to their wives; who in turn gets infected as well. It is like a vicious cycle as ‘Infants’ are born with the disease.

Although this poem may be very negative and miserable when reading, but it gives us insight into what life was really like during a time when London was at a low point. I studied abroad in London my freshman year and I can say that it is completely different now compared to then. London was a very uplifting experience for me and I definitely didn’t see the problems that Blake described in this poem. However, it made me realize how much has changed since the time that the poem was written. When I walked through public places, such as Hyde Park, there was no feeling of being ‘owned’ like described in this poem. There was always a sense of freedom and positivity when walking through the streets of London.

Reflections on the Revolution in France - Burke

Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France was written to convey an 'anti-enlightenment' view to the public. Burke was a royalist and monarchist and so supported the idea that social order is very important in a society. He was completely against the idea of the French Revolution but he was not anti-revolution as he supported the American Revolution. Burke believed that the French approached the revolution in a way that was going to cause total disruption to the society. I will discuss some of the ideas that comes across in Burke's book on social order and how tradition is a main aspect of maintaining a stable society free from enlightenment and individualistic ideas. 

Social order is described like a tree; the main section and the branches are all connected to each other. Hence the idea that inheritance should only flow through a lineage. Similarly to how the throne is passed onto the eldest. The rights that are entailed from one generation will continue onto the next. For example, if someone's parents were not given the right to vote, then they won't be able to as well. This chain of inheritable lineage is unbreakable - which could be compared to a mortmain; where the ownership of land or real estate cannot be transferred or sold. Burke claims that the French government wants to build on the power of the bourgeoisie. It basically allowed the bourgeoisie to buy into aristocracy, which is completely against this idea of lineage and how it shouldn't be broken. Burke also reveals the truth about the aristocrats and how they get affection from those from the middle and lower class, simply because they 'supposedly' do good for others. 

In order for the social order to stay stabilized and structured, tradition plays an important role in the equation as well. If the tradition of passing the throne or possessions down to the eldest was not kept throughout the centuries of civilization, then there would be no monarchy or the social order would be completely messed up. Burke is acting against democracy because he feels that if people are given free reign to choose their governors and governments, the social order will become unstable. He saw this as an example of how people started to think more individualistically rather than having the mind set that the whole comes before and the small branches (or in this case the person).

The ideas that are conveyed in Burke's book has become an extremely popular text when discussing French society during the French Revolution. As Burke described, the social order is like a tree where everyone within the society is interconnected. A balance has been established through tradition for many years, but when individualistic ideas begin to penetrate the social order, it is not in equilibrium. Tradition is the keystone in this situation and should not be removed or altered in any way to cause disruption. Tradition leads to rights passing on through lineage, which Burke believes, then all contributes to a society that is structured and has complete order. 

Comparing Pope's Essay on Man and Voltaire's Candide

Voltaire and Pope portray two very different perspectives on life and evil that is present in the world. On one hand, Voltaire’s Candide focuses on the bad side of situations and the overall outlook on life is pessimistic. On the other, Pope writes with optimism and decides to not focus on the bad situations that will occur in life but rather on the good that will eventually come about. Pope’s Essay on Man is also written from a very religious perspective and therefore includes the idea that God is behind our plans in life. However, Voltaire’s Candide goes against this completely and suggests that reason is not in the universe but is created by humans. It could also be seen that Candide was written as a direct response to Pope’s Essay on Man.

Voltaire uses extremes in his writing in order to support his argument that suggests there is always a different side to a story – especially a more sinister one. This idea could be seen as individualism because Voltaire is suggesting we are in control of our own lives, there is no mastermind in the universe guiding us through life. In Candide, it is obvious that Voltaire is writing a secular novel that criticizes the religious order and world view, hence going against what Pope wrote in The Essay on Man. A good example is the one of ‘cultivating the garden’. A garden will only flourish if one puts in effort to cultivate it: an active role is taken to look after this garden. Similarly to human beings; we will only go so far without the drive that will encourage us to make the most out of the life we are living. It is as if he is suggesting that humans need to solely rely on themselves and not wonder whether there is a force in the universe that has an impact on one’s life.

The Essay on Man was written at a time where religion was a very important component in people’s lives. Therefore, it was seen as a guide of how to lead a life of happiness. Pope writes that man has a specific position in the social order and it shouldn’t be questioned as there is an ‘omniscient’ being somewhere out there who has already planned for our lives to be a particular way. Therefore suggesting that we should adapt the outlook that everything happens for a reason – God has laid a path for us to follow already. It is a very passive view on life as it could be seen that humans won’t need to try for anything because our path laid out by God cannot be altered. They could simply just sit there and live their lives as it has been set out for them. Pope also points out that all things evil will eventually lead to something good. If there was no evil, then how can good come about? It is simply a part of life that just has to be taken as the way it is. Also, evil is something that human beings perceive it as being bad. There is a limit to what us humans can know and therefore this idea of evil could simply be a fraction of the whole truth. As humans are prone to seeing imperfection, we simply dwell on the problems too much and forget about the goodness that can arise from this problem.

These two examples show us the two total opposite perspectives that some people may have had during the Enlightenment. There’s the secular view portrayed through Candide where Voltaire believes that human beings should take control of their own lives and make it the best of their ability, and the religious view in The Essay on Man where humans should take a more relaxed approach to evil as their life has been set up by God who’s reasoning is beyond a human being’s knowledge.