TFA+Literary+Essay+Julia

//**__ Things Fall Apart: The complex of a strong and emotional man __**//

// When examining the blurb on the back cover of the novel //**//__ Things Fall Apart __//**// by Chinua Achebe, it “tells about two intertwining stories, both centering on Okonkwo, a “strong man” of an Ibo village in Nigeria. The first, a powerful fable of the immemorial conflict between the individual and society, traces Okonkwo’s fall from grace with the tribal world.” Okonkwo’s life is split up in two parts: first, he has to be a really good leader for his Ibo village in Nigeria; second, Okonkwo has to protect a whole family with three wives and several children. // Therefore, he has to combine two oppisites with each other and find the best solution for both situations. // The duality of a man to be strong as well as emotional is definitely a huge challenge. Okonkwo struggles to be a strong and self-confident leader, but on the other hand, he also has to be a respected husband and father. Every single position reflects a compact job with a lot decisions and love. Begining with the emotional part, “No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man” (53). This sentence clearly shows that a husband and/or father must also be able to control his whole family; take care of their safety and raise his children in a loving way. Obviously, this remembers a bit of a one-man power, but respect should play also an important rule in family lifes. //

// A leader like Okonkwo in his Ibo village, must be really strong and must have the power to make good and exactable decisions. Absolutely, he can’t show his emotional side to his family otherwise he wouldn’t get respect anymore. However, leaders have sometimes to contribute heavily and powerful to the outside, but they must be able to show their family always their softer side with lots of love. Leaders often think as Okonkwo did: “The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger” (67). This quote applies fully to Okonkwo’s attitude to life. Okonkwo makes decisions by saying that he is the chosen person for it. It doesn’t matter which decision or problem he is solving; he wants to find the answer and cannot be punished therefore from the earth. Many leaders think like this in order to push themselves even more // and to get more confidence and imagination for doing the right thing.

// Absolutely, all men and women make mistakes in their lives. Also Okonkwo made a lot of mistakes, whereupon he has to leave his fatherland: “he had been cast out of his clan like a fish onto a dry, sandy beach, panting” (131).Okonkwo’s world broke into small pieces without its order and system. It's clearly shown that the “Roaring Flame” was kind of extinct: “Living fire begets cold, impotent ash” (153). This proverb definitely shows Okonkwo's desperation; he tried to be the best, but he failed. Directly, Okonkwo showed how hard life is to be a strong leader and an emotional husband; a man is not a machine. A man as Okonkwo wanted to be different to his father; he wanted to be better and more intelligent; the total opposite of him. He wants to be a hero, a perfect man without any mistakes. But Okonkwo had a hard time follow it. To be a strong leader, but also an emotional husband and father is really difficult and is clearly shown in the book of Chinua Achebe. //