RR for Paper two

RELIGION

The traditional beliefs and practices of Okonkwo's village are disrupted by the arrival of Christian missionaries. Discuss what of value is lost and /or gained in this transition.

This topic is one of the many themes explored in the book "All things Fall Apart". The question of religion and how it has a major influence on the characters in the story, how it shapes them, their character, personality, and influences them in their everyday lives. The meaning of religion in this culture is the meaning of culture and respect, religion in this culture is like life it's self. Seeing how important this theme is I will be writing my second paper based on this theme of religious freedom in this culture and how it must have felt to have that changed after the arrival of the Christian Missionaries. Having strange western people of a strange western God define what "true" religion is and defile everything that the Ibo people have based their lives upon is like taking a way life itself from the Ibo people especially those who wanted nothing to do with the westerners and their God. People like Okonkwo.

Okonkwo represents the ideal fearless Ibo man but not the ideal Ibo man, he cares about his family and his friends however he will not show it through affection, he allows his bravery and muscle to do the talking for him. Religion to the Ibo people mean everything to them. The law of the land, decision making and practically every thing that is done in this society is not done with out the consultation of their God. For example if a woman bears twins in the village, regardless of how beautiful or healthy those children may be, they but be banished into the evil forest and killed of by what even monstrous wicked being or creature who lives in that forest. Why would they do such a thing to something that in the Christian culture is seen as an abundance of blessings, well it is the law that was pronounced by the God of their land; so you see regardless of how evil the deed is to the ear of the average human, it is the religious laws of the Ibo and it is executed. The submission Okonkwo has for the Gods of his land is revealed to us when the elders are told by the Oracle that Okonkwos step son, who he has grown to love must be killed off to undo the murder that was previously executed by a native man towards and Ibo woman. Okonkwo disregards his emotional ties with the boy and even participates in the killing just so the Gods and all ancients spirits in the land will be calm and satisfied. His determination and dedication for his Gods are very strong, so much that he killed of someone he loved just for the satisfaction of his land and Gods; so you can imagine how he must have felt with the arrival of the missionaries. They look different, sound different and worship a different God, now they want all the Ibo who have pledged their allegiance to their God for years now, to abandon that and take on their western ideals and values. For a strong willed man like Okonkwo, this will not be an easy task. The Ibo people may have adopted some positive things like a new language and the freedom of choice for the many women who had no voice when it came to giving up a child due to ancient religious practices, however they lost a sense of culture, many things that were seen as valuable like, the respect for their ancient Gods were lost, and when that is lost a man like Okonkwo who thrives off, of power and is motivated by his God will loose a sense of self because that strength and power is influenced by his God now he is being taught that all he know is wrong and western ways are right. He will no be able to take back all the things he did in the past like the killing of his step son, which honored his God but disgraced the God of the westerners. He is now at a battle with himself and will in fact struggle to find and understand who he is now, since everything he once knew is gone. 

R.R for Okonkwo

Okonkwo is one of the main characters in the book "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe and in this book Okonkwo is seen as a very hard working man who takes no nonsense from his family or anyone else. His fathers reputation was a horrible one, in this society they judge a man by the things he accomplishes in life, like marrying many wives, having many children, owning many crops and lives stock in other words having a flourishing farm. Okonkwo's father was known to be lazy, in debt, and died a shameful death in the evil forest, people did not even respect him as a man so they referred to him as a woman. Okonkwo was determined to detach the shameful legacy of his father from himself so he started at a very young age to developed his own yam crop. He is seen as a very brave and wealthy man and he represents that in the story. In this society a manly man tolerates no behavior he sees a s shameful, this is seen in the book when it states "Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wife, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children. (Achebe, 9). Also the text shows how respected and admired Okonkwo was in the community he lived in because he had  a "rags to riches" life, his father did not leave him any valuable inheritance so he had to make it in the world on his own, taking care of his fathers wife and his own family and it amazed people how well he was doing especially when they consider the life he had struggled to get out of. One man states in the book "Looking at a king's mouth,' said an old man, 'one would think he had never sucked his mothers breast.' He was talking about Okonkwo, who had risen so suddenly from great poverty and misfortune to be one of the lords of the clan. (Achebe, 19). However even though he may be a wealthy man, he has a lot to learn about what an ideal Ibo man is, yes an Ibo man is strong , brave, and wealthy, however the ideal Ibo man is all of that plus compassionate and patient, which is something Okonkwo knows nothing about.

Paper one

Someone once said "The mind is a melodious instrument in an orchestra however, if one plays a wrong tune it will cause disastrous consequences, which will lead to the death of music." From psychoanalyzing "A Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" by Ernest Hemingway one could conclude that the mind can be a deceitful weapon, this theory can be applied to all or most of the characters in the story. However, it seems to play a dramatic role in one in particular characters life, that character's name is Mrs. Macomber, better known to the audience of the story as Margot. In the beginning of the story Margot seems to play the role of the "good wife" she is beautiful and supportive of her husband; even though he has a terrible experience with a lion, she perceives herself to be a concerned wife and she shows it by saying "Are you feeling better, Francis, my pearl?"(3). However, her whole demeanor changes throughout the story, and we can better understand her through psychoanalysis which proves that Margot's core issues in the story are fear of intimacy and fear of abandonment but she cleverly disguises these issues with one major defense which is projection. Margot at times can be compared to an infant who has yet to discover the world, meaning at times she does not know what she wants, but she acts as if she knows exactly what she is doing. On an endless quest to find true happiness she allows her thoughts to get the best of her, and she ends up killing the one thing that gave her a bit of joy, which brings us back to the mind being a deceitful weapon. Margot's fear of intimacy and abandonment issues lead to a division of powers in her marriage that only created insecurities in her mind about her husband which lead to her murderous behavior towards him in the end.

Margot's core issues are fear of intimacy and fear of abandonment, when it comes to intimacy she is not afraid of physical intimacy especially when it's not her husband Francis Macomber, her main fear is emotional intimacy and abandonment from her husband. In Lois Tyson's book "Learning For A Diverse World" Margot's core issues are defined as this, first there is fear of intimacy which is stated to be "...unshakable and over powering feeling that emotional closeness will seriously damage or destroy us and that we must, therefore, protect ourselves by remaining at an emotional distance from others."(27). This is a quality Margot has because even though her and Francis have been married for some time now she just doesn't portray the behavior of the typical loving adoring wife; especially one who is submissive, however, in her mind "she wears the pants" in their relationship so as the "alpha male" she shows no true sincere emotion because that might be misread as weakness. This is displayed very dramatically in the story especially after the incident with the lion, Francis bales out of killing the lion who is taken out by Wilson the "manly man" hunter; due to the fact that Wilson in a way took care of Francis job it makes Francis less of a man in his mind and especially in the mind of his wife. The story goes on to state "Once he had reached over and taken his wife's hand without looking at her and she had removed her hand from his...While they sat there his wife had reached forward and put her hand on Wilson's shoulder. He turned and she had leaned forward over the low seat and kissed him on the mouth" (Hemingway, 10). This scene shows two things first how Margot and her husband’s relationship is displayed before the public, a simple romantic gesture like the one displayed by Francis gets rejected by his wife, this is a clear sign of fear of intimacy; because that small gesture was brought on by Francis, and that could mean anything from his need for security after his traumatic ordeal with the lion, or just a small gesture to his wife to show how much he loves her, however she rejects it because of its emotional baggage. The second thing that this scene reveals to us is Margot's desperate attempt to destroy emotions with meaning less affection from another man only to prove to her husband who has the power. She kisses Wilson on the lips as if she was trapped somewhere dangerous and Wilson's mouth was the only exit, she not only killed the private and intimate moment her husband shared with her but she uses that mental abuse to prove to be dominate and try to keep her husband inferior. After the kiss her husband’s only reaction is "oh" which is all he says after that dramatic performance displayed by Margot. This shows she has mentally weakened him into believing that that sort of behavior is okay to display, when it comes to the mind it is clear to see that she is superior, because she hold the power.

Another example of when Margot displays her power over Francis is the scene when they are supposed to be sleeping together but he wakes up and realizes she is not next to him, but returns to the tent later and claims she was outside getting some air but he know exactly where she was and it seems as if this was not her first time. The story states ""Where have you been?"

"Out to get a breath of air."

"That's a new name for it. You are a bitch."

"Well, you're coward."

..."There wasn't going to be any of that. You promised there wouldn't be."

"well, there is now," she said sweetly." (12).This scene shows the mental submission Francis has for Margot, he is actually holding her on the promise she made to him that she will not cheat on him on the trip, but she shows no emotion and does what she wants because she does not think of him as a man; and her idea of a man can be seen in Wilson, he fears nothing and is willing to die doing what he enjoys in life, which is hunting.

The second core issue that Margot holds is the fear of abandonment, in Tyson's book it defines this core issue as so "...the nagging belief that our friends and loved ones are going to desert us (physical abandonment) or don't really care about us (emotional abandonment)..." (27). Even though Margot does not seek the emotional connection with Francis she seeks the financial security he provides her with, so if he is out of the picture that will probably mean the end of her luxurious life style, so she can’t let that happen. In a way Margot shill has that childlike behavior within her, like some infants when the mother is near them they cry and when she departs the cry, it's hard to understand what they want, this is like Margot's relationship with Francis, she does not want him but she needs him. Her fear of abandonment is ignited after Francis discovers his confidence when he finally kills an animal. The story states "By God, that was a chase," he said, I've never felt any such feeling. Wasn't it marvelous Margot?"

"I hated it."

"Why?"

"I hated it," she said bitterly. "I loathed it"(17). Over here in the story we can start to see and understand that Margot worked off of her husband’s inferiority, that is what gave her the power in the first place however now that he has found confidence she is now at a battle with herself about what she is supposed to do, she is becoming insecure about her position in the marriage now. Another scene that illustrates Margot's mental status at the moment would be when Margot stated "You've gotten awfully brave, awfully sudden," his wife said contemptuously, but her contempt was not secure. She was very afraid of something." (18). From this quote the conclusion that Margot's fear of intimacy and abandonment issues lead to a division of powers in her marriage that only created insecurities in her mind about her husband which lead to her murderous behavior towards him. After all the years of doing what she pleased and getting away with it once Francis became a bold hunter instead a frightened man she suddenly became afraid, not exactly of him, but of what he was capable of which is leaving her.

Margot has one main defense dealing with these core issues, that defense is projection. In Tyson's book it states this about projection "We project when we believe, without real cause, which someone else feels the same way we feel or that someone else has the problem we ourselves have but want to deny."(26). Margot had no real evidence that Francis was going to leave her, she is the one that told him she was going to leave him earlier in the story the next morning after Francis found out she had slept with Wilson. She states "If you make a scene I'll leave you, darling," Margot said quietly." (13). we can tell that Margot's decision to take Francis life was all built up fear and insecurity's. She is the one who cheated and it seemed as if she would be the one to leave the marriage first however, she was afraid of him leaving her even though he had stayed with her throughout her previous infidelities. She would use projection to keep him by her side, and the example is when she said she would leave him. She knows and the audience knows that she needs him around because he is her financial security so she would not dare ruin that, but Francis does not think much of it, he words alone create fear and intimidates him, this will continue until he finds the courage to kill an animal, which ignites bravery in him and creates fear in her because she now believe he fears nothing meaning she is now powerless. She had become insecure in her dominant power in her relationship, so much that she had to kill him in order to stay on top, to still have some power in the end.

Margot's character was a woman stuck between the real world and a cognitive world. She wanted power because she feared intimacy and abandonment but she wanted financial security, when she saw a weakness in her powerful world, which was when her husband got brave her mind, led her to believe that this was the end, he was leaving. When in reality no one really know if that was actually going to happen, she was deceived by her mind to kill the one man she was afraid of losing, the weapon of destruction was not the gun, no that came in second, that only killed Francis. What destroyed Margot's world was the one weapon that gave her the one thing she craved more than anything, which was power and the destructive weapon was her own mind.