“He bent and scooped up the rags in his arms and piled them on top of the shoes.
He stood there holding himself. Dont do this, man.
You didnt mind doing it to us.
I'm begging you.
Papa, the boy said.
Come on. Listen to the kid.
You tried to kill us.
I'm starving, man. You'd have done the same.
You took everything.
Come on, man. I'll die.
I'm going to leave you the way you left us.
Come on. I'm begging you.
He pulled the cart back and swung it around and put the pistol on top and looked
at the boy. Let's go, he said. And they set out along the road south, with the boy
crying and looking back at the nude and slatlike creature standing there in the road shivering and hugging himself. Oh Papa, he sobbed” (135).
While continuing on their journey the father and son attempts to find their belongings, which had been stolen. They finally stumble upon the thief who stole their supplies and clothes, so the father points a gun to the thief who was wielding a butcher’s knife; though he misses it still scares the thief. The father tells the thief to strip and give them his clothes – this is to exact revenge on the thief because he wanted to leave the thief in a state that the thief had left them in. Now this action angers the boy because all he ever wants to do is help people and make sure that no one dies, so later on his father returns to the spot they left the thief at and leaves his clothes on the road.
The father actions show inequality because the thief who was cleverer and was able to steal their barrow was finally ousted. As a result, the father shows who were more superior and better by making the thief take off his clothes and leaving him to die. This shows that humans don’t show sympathy to those that had done wrong to them. They claim why they should help someone who put them in a horrible situation and instead resort to revenge. Revenge is a leading factor in someone attempting to oust their opponents who they could not beat beforehand, but now they have the power to do so. People create disturbances to others because they believe their victims to be inferior; thus they can do whatever they want – stealing, speaking their mind, etc. Since the father thought he was now superior (pistol wins over a knife) he was able to beat the thief and demeanor him. Human nature is to group people into superior and inferior groups – people hate others because of color, race, religion, etc. No matter how much is done to stop this from occurring it can never be fully stopped.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
The Road Blog 11
“They walked into the little clearing, the boy clutching his hand. They'd taken
everything with them except whatever black thing was skewered over the coals. He
was standing there checking the perimeter when the boy turned and buried his face
against him. He looked quickly to see what had happened. What is it? he said. What
is it? The boy shook his head. Oh Papa, he said. He turned and looked again. What
the boy had seen was a charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on
the spit. He bent and picked the boy up and started for the road with him, holding
him close. I'm sorry, he whispered. I'm sorry” (103).
The man and the son continue on with their journey when they notice a smoke coming from the woods. Though, the son once again believes that they should not follow because he believes it’s a trap, but yet his father insists that they continue onwards because they’re running out of food and water. The people run as they reach the campsite since the father was holding a pistol, when they reached the campsite they noticed what the people were cooking – a headless infant baby who was all charred up from being cooked. The boy then claims that he’s sorry for not showing any signs of fear or remorse when they previously saw dead bodies – clearly seeing a dead infant being cooked had struck fear within him.
Everyone in this novel is attempting to survive in anyways that they can. They will even resort to eating an infant who can’t even fight back since that’s the easiest decision they could ever make. Babies are the most susceptible to inequality because they’re not fully grown they can’t even defend themselves nor comprehend what’s going on. A few years ago a mother had placed her baby boy into a microwave and killed him for her own entertainment. How is a baby supposed to fight back? – They can’t because they don’t even have the power or the ability to do so. Why? Because they’re just growing – they depend on their parents for nurture, but clearly a baby who’s only a few months or a few years old won’t be able to do any harm. In present day people even murder their babies because they claim they can’t take care of them properly, however, there’s something wrong with that statement. First of all, they can just put their children up for adoption or have another relative take care of their child for the time-being. Compared to kids, teenagers, young adults, and elderly; babies are the most fragile. Being a society where some individuals accept abortion (not going to get into the debate of it) where the infant never sees light. Although, others will claim that since the fetus was never fully developed and not technically alive (some state that once a baby is conceived it’s alive); thus abortion is fully understandable and legal. A baby doesn’t have a say in whether or not they want to live or not – they can’t even talk, so they’re deemed as unequal to everyone else.
everything with them except whatever black thing was skewered over the coals. He
was standing there checking the perimeter when the boy turned and buried his face
against him. He looked quickly to see what had happened. What is it? he said. What
is it? The boy shook his head. Oh Papa, he said. He turned and looked again. What
the boy had seen was a charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on
the spit. He bent and picked the boy up and started for the road with him, holding
him close. I'm sorry, he whispered. I'm sorry” (103).
The man and the son continue on with their journey when they notice a smoke coming from the woods. Though, the son once again believes that they should not follow because he believes it’s a trap, but yet his father insists that they continue onwards because they’re running out of food and water. The people run as they reach the campsite since the father was holding a pistol, when they reached the campsite they noticed what the people were cooking – a headless infant baby who was all charred up from being cooked. The boy then claims that he’s sorry for not showing any signs of fear or remorse when they previously saw dead bodies – clearly seeing a dead infant being cooked had struck fear within him.
Everyone in this novel is attempting to survive in anyways that they can. They will even resort to eating an infant who can’t even fight back since that’s the easiest decision they could ever make. Babies are the most susceptible to inequality because they’re not fully grown they can’t even defend themselves nor comprehend what’s going on. A few years ago a mother had placed her baby boy into a microwave and killed him for her own entertainment. How is a baby supposed to fight back? – They can’t because they don’t even have the power or the ability to do so. Why? Because they’re just growing – they depend on their parents for nurture, but clearly a baby who’s only a few months or a few years old won’t be able to do any harm. In present day people even murder their babies because they claim they can’t take care of them properly, however, there’s something wrong with that statement. First of all, they can just put their children up for adoption or have another relative take care of their child for the time-being. Compared to kids, teenagers, young adults, and elderly; babies are the most fragile. Being a society where some individuals accept abortion (not going to get into the debate of it) where the infant never sees light. Although, others will claim that since the fetus was never fully developed and not technically alive (some state that once a baby is conceived it’s alive); thus abortion is fully understandable and legal. A baby doesn’t have a say in whether or not they want to live or not – they can’t even talk, so they’re deemed as unequal to everyone else.
The Road Blog 10
“They'd no way to answer the question. He wiped his nose with the back of his
wrist and stood waiting. He had no shoes at all and his feet were wrapped in rags
and cardboard tied with green twine and any number of layers of vile clothing
showed through the tears and holes in it. Of a sudden he seemed to wilt even further.
He leaned on his cane and lowered himself into the road where he sat among the
ashes with one hand over his head. He looked like a pile of rags fallen off a cart.
They came forward and stood looking down at him. Sir? the man said. Sir?” (83).
During this scene the father stalks an old man in order to determine whether or not he’s a decoy to ambush them. Once they catch the old man, the son tells his father to give the old man food which he eventually does. The old mean reveals his name (though not really his name) to be Ely. In order to protect himself from the cannibals he states that he tells people he’s 90 years old as a resort to avoid being hunted and eaten. Ely seems to neglect the idea of there being a God and that he doesn’t want to admit anything besides that the world is coming to an end. Since the father disagrees with Ely’s view and the way that he doesn’t agree with his son being a God, he firmly tells him to leave. However, it seems like the father is beginning to worsen as he continues coughing – it seems like his journey maybe coming to an end soon as he’s already old and he’s been ill from malnutrition.
Inequality is shown among the old in The Road, for example, Ely was easily overtaken by a weakened old man and a young boy. Also, the father is also beginning to lose his ground – he’s become ill and weakened to the point that he may not be able to survive any longer. In this world we usually see old people as weak and fragile – we create elderly home to throw them away. When individuals see old people working, they claim that they’re hogging up job opportunities for a younger generation; however, one doesn’t stop to think why they’re still working. As human beings we don’t treat the elderly with respect. People see them as old and immediately disregards whether or not they provided anything to society. In fact they have more knowledge than most people because of the events and experiences they’ve been through throughout their lives. However, since they’re old, people tend to see them as weak, useless, and eventually they’ll be dead. Compared to younger generations of people the elderly are weaker because they can sustain their strength like they could when they were younger; thus they lose to the younger generation who (most) see elderly people as useless. They’re ‘unequal’ to those who are healthier.
wrist and stood waiting. He had no shoes at all and his feet were wrapped in rags
and cardboard tied with green twine and any number of layers of vile clothing
showed through the tears and holes in it. Of a sudden he seemed to wilt even further.
He leaned on his cane and lowered himself into the road where he sat among the
ashes with one hand over his head. He looked like a pile of rags fallen off a cart.
They came forward and stood looking down at him. Sir? the man said. Sir?” (83).
During this scene the father stalks an old man in order to determine whether or not he’s a decoy to ambush them. Once they catch the old man, the son tells his father to give the old man food which he eventually does. The old mean reveals his name (though not really his name) to be Ely. In order to protect himself from the cannibals he states that he tells people he’s 90 years old as a resort to avoid being hunted and eaten. Ely seems to neglect the idea of there being a God and that he doesn’t want to admit anything besides that the world is coming to an end. Since the father disagrees with Ely’s view and the way that he doesn’t agree with his son being a God, he firmly tells him to leave. However, it seems like the father is beginning to worsen as he continues coughing – it seems like his journey maybe coming to an end soon as he’s already old and he’s been ill from malnutrition.
Inequality is shown among the old in The Road, for example, Ely was easily overtaken by a weakened old man and a young boy. Also, the father is also beginning to lose his ground – he’s become ill and weakened to the point that he may not be able to survive any longer. In this world we usually see old people as weak and fragile – we create elderly home to throw them away. When individuals see old people working, they claim that they’re hogging up job opportunities for a younger generation; however, one doesn’t stop to think why they’re still working. As human beings we don’t treat the elderly with respect. People see them as old and immediately disregards whether or not they provided anything to society. In fact they have more knowledge than most people because of the events and experiences they’ve been through throughout their lives. However, since they’re old, people tend to see them as weak, useless, and eventually they’ll be dead. Compared to younger generations of people the elderly are weaker because they can sustain their strength like they could when they were younger; thus they lose to the younger generation who (most) see elderly people as useless. They’re ‘unequal’ to those who are healthier.
The Road Blog 9
“They crawled slowly through the leaves toward what looked like lower ground. He lay listening, holding the boy. He could hear them in the road talking. Voice of a woman. Then he heard them in the dry leaves. He took the boy's hand and pushed
the revolver into it. Take it, he whispered. Take it. The boy was terrified. He put his arm around him and held him. His body so thin. Dont be afraid, he said. If they find you you are going to have to do it. Do you understand? Shh. No crying. Do you hear me? You know how to do it. You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it quick and hard. Do you understand? Stop crying. Do you understand?” (57-58).
During this scene, the man and his son went into a large house that was once lavish. After the father had insisted opening the latch, the son was afraid and kept on begging to leave. Despite the son’s resistance the father had finally broke in, but all he found was people all laying in the dark with amputated arms and legs. In fact, the house was basically a slaughter house – everyone in the locked room was naked and afraid. When a man called for help the father only ran and grabbed his son to quickly escape the house and it finally dawned on him that the box in front of the road is used to trap everyone inside the padlock. After hiding in behind the bushes the father tells the son to get his gun ready and to swiftly commit suicide when needed. They see four men and two women returning to the house. Obviously these four men and two women have an important role – they were people whom trapped all those inside the house, for one reason – as a food source since they’re cannibals. The father could hear the screeching as the two escaped from the house. It seems like the son has some sense of evil and good because whenever he feels like he’s near something negative he warns his father. His son is used to foreshadow the future of the novel because the cannibals are most likely the main antagonist of the story. These cannibals don’t care about others since they strive to survive by eating other humans without acknowledging that their humans too.
This shows inequality because clearly the cannibals overpower every other character. Even the protagonists – the father and son were close to death, these cannibals will stop at nothing until they acquire their food. When they catch their food they torture them by letting them starve to death instead of immediately putting them out of their misery. Those who are caught are hopeless – they never had a chance to survive once they were caught inside the padlock. There’s truly no superior being in the world, however, the cannibal groups attack those who they deem as inferior (obviously if they wouldn’t be able to defeat those who are stronger). Again, in present day this can be part of racism – certain racial groups who believe that they’re superior to others and that they have the right to terrorize the inferior group. During the Holocaust, Adolph Hitler had captured and basically massacred Jews because he felt that they were inferior, not only this, but he also did this to gays, disabled, etc. This shows human fear towards those who poses danger to others. We as people tend to brand people in prison as outcast and fear them especially if they murdered. As humans we put our lives first above all else.
the revolver into it. Take it, he whispered. Take it. The boy was terrified. He put his arm around him and held him. His body so thin. Dont be afraid, he said. If they find you you are going to have to do it. Do you understand? Shh. No crying. Do you hear me? You know how to do it. You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it quick and hard. Do you understand? Stop crying. Do you understand?” (57-58).
During this scene, the man and his son went into a large house that was once lavish. After the father had insisted opening the latch, the son was afraid and kept on begging to leave. Despite the son’s resistance the father had finally broke in, but all he found was people all laying in the dark with amputated arms and legs. In fact, the house was basically a slaughter house – everyone in the locked room was naked and afraid. When a man called for help the father only ran and grabbed his son to quickly escape the house and it finally dawned on him that the box in front of the road is used to trap everyone inside the padlock. After hiding in behind the bushes the father tells the son to get his gun ready and to swiftly commit suicide when needed. They see four men and two women returning to the house. Obviously these four men and two women have an important role – they were people whom trapped all those inside the house, for one reason – as a food source since they’re cannibals. The father could hear the screeching as the two escaped from the house. It seems like the son has some sense of evil and good because whenever he feels like he’s near something negative he warns his father. His son is used to foreshadow the future of the novel because the cannibals are most likely the main antagonist of the story. These cannibals don’t care about others since they strive to survive by eating other humans without acknowledging that their humans too.
This shows inequality because clearly the cannibals overpower every other character. Even the protagonists – the father and son were close to death, these cannibals will stop at nothing until they acquire their food. When they catch their food they torture them by letting them starve to death instead of immediately putting them out of their misery. Those who are caught are hopeless – they never had a chance to survive once they were caught inside the padlock. There’s truly no superior being in the world, however, the cannibal groups attack those who they deem as inferior (obviously if they wouldn’t be able to defeat those who are stronger). Again, in present day this can be part of racism – certain racial groups who believe that they’re superior to others and that they have the right to terrorize the inferior group. During the Holocaust, Adolph Hitler had captured and basically massacred Jews because he felt that they were inferior, not only this, but he also did this to gays, disabled, etc. This shows human fear towards those who poses danger to others. We as people tend to brand people in prison as outcast and fear them especially if they murdered. As humans we put our lives first above all else.
The Road Blog 8
“Three nights later in the foothills of the eastern mountains he woke in the darkness to
hear something coming. He lay with his hands at either side of him. The ground was
trembling. It was coming toward them.
Papa? The boy said. Papa?
Shh. It's okay.
What is it, Papa?
It neared, growing louder. Everything trembling. Then it passed beneath them like
an underground train and drew away into the night and was gone. The boy clung to
him crying, his head buried against his chest. Shh. It's all right.
I'm so scared.
I know. It's all right. It's gone.
What was it, Papa?
It was an earthquake. It's gone now. We're all right. Shh” (14).
As the two – father and son continue to travel along their journey; they stop at pit stops in order to acquire more supplies. While doing so, they arrive at Georgia or what is left of it anyways; during their visit to this state they visit their old house. For some reason the son is frightened to go in suggesting that something must have happened in the past. Though, the father continues on and reminisces about the past – his old house. Three days later the two experience an earthquake and during this section the novel explains that many people attempted to find refuge. Evidently, the child is scared during the earthquake demonstrating that he has never been through one ever, but his father persuades him that everything will be okay. However, in context earthquakes are dangerous and sustains damages throughout the area – if the trembling was growing louder that means this earthquake was pretty dangerous. Clearly the father is doing anything he can to keep his son alive, under no circumstances does he want his son to die – this shows the fatherly love surrounding the two. It’s reasonable since the child is probably the only one left in their family and the only one that can keep his hope and dreams alive.
Earthquakes are devastating and show the inequality of man vs. nature. Most of the time nature prevails because it’s basically unpredictable – no one can truly predict when natural disasters will occur and how much damage will be sustained. Humans are unequal when it comes to fighting nature, sure we can fight against most other things such as: other humans, animals, war, etc. But the fact is, even if we can stop some damage from earthquakes there will always be some form of damage made. Yet the real question is what causes these natural disasters? Humans are part of the cause by destroying the environment. In current day society more earthquakes are occurring than it did in the past, not to mention the hurricanes and tsunamis which all destroy people’s homes and causes suffering. The man’s son demonstrates the terror caused by these disasters – people should be afraid of the damages. As a result, many people tend to buy supplies and stock up on their storage. People even turn towards shelters to protect their families. The fact is, against nature we’re powerless and there’s no one in the world that can fight against a hurricane since they’d just be shred to pieces. Against nature we’re useless because it’s unpredictable and there’s no way we’d be superior in a world we live in which is full of nature.
hear something coming. He lay with his hands at either side of him. The ground was
trembling. It was coming toward them.
Papa? The boy said. Papa?
Shh. It's okay.
What is it, Papa?
It neared, growing louder. Everything trembling. Then it passed beneath them like
an underground train and drew away into the night and was gone. The boy clung to
him crying, his head buried against his chest. Shh. It's all right.
I'm so scared.
I know. It's all right. It's gone.
What was it, Papa?
It was an earthquake. It's gone now. We're all right. Shh” (14).
As the two – father and son continue to travel along their journey; they stop at pit stops in order to acquire more supplies. While doing so, they arrive at Georgia or what is left of it anyways; during their visit to this state they visit their old house. For some reason the son is frightened to go in suggesting that something must have happened in the past. Though, the father continues on and reminisces about the past – his old house. Three days later the two experience an earthquake and during this section the novel explains that many people attempted to find refuge. Evidently, the child is scared during the earthquake demonstrating that he has never been through one ever, but his father persuades him that everything will be okay. However, in context earthquakes are dangerous and sustains damages throughout the area – if the trembling was growing louder that means this earthquake was pretty dangerous. Clearly the father is doing anything he can to keep his son alive, under no circumstances does he want his son to die – this shows the fatherly love surrounding the two. It’s reasonable since the child is probably the only one left in their family and the only one that can keep his hope and dreams alive.
Earthquakes are devastating and show the inequality of man vs. nature. Most of the time nature prevails because it’s basically unpredictable – no one can truly predict when natural disasters will occur and how much damage will be sustained. Humans are unequal when it comes to fighting nature, sure we can fight against most other things such as: other humans, animals, war, etc. But the fact is, even if we can stop some damage from earthquakes there will always be some form of damage made. Yet the real question is what causes these natural disasters? Humans are part of the cause by destroying the environment. In current day society more earthquakes are occurring than it did in the past, not to mention the hurricanes and tsunamis which all destroy people’s homes and causes suffering. The man’s son demonstrates the terror caused by these disasters – people should be afraid of the damages. As a result, many people tend to buy supplies and stock up on their storage. People even turn towards shelters to protect their families. The fact is, against nature we’re powerless and there’s no one in the world that can fight against a hurricane since they’d just be shred to pieces. Against nature we’re useless because it’s unpredictable and there’s no way we’d be superior in a world we live in which is full of nature.
The Road Blog 7
“He woke before dawn and watched the gray day break. Slow and half opaque. He
rose while the boy slept and pulled on his shoes and wrapped in his blanket he
walked out through the trees. He descended into a gryke in the stone and there he
crouched coughing and he coughed for a long time. Then he just knelt in the ashes.
He raised his face to the paling day. Are you there? he whispered. Will I see you at
the last? Have you a neck by which to throttle you? Have you a heart? Damn you
eternally have you a soul? Oh God, he whispered. Oh God” (6).
The man who’s in charge of taking care of his son (both their names are unknown at this point). The father begins questioning God because their basically the only or few of the only sole-survivors of a post-apocalypse. No matter where they go they’re the only ones left in the world; basically this man is trying to survive with his child. Due to the apocalypse there’s barely anything left which forces them to travel constantly looking for supplies: food, utensils, shelter, etc. It’s clear that this child isn’t old enough to understand what’s going on because he still relies on his father to read him bedtime stories – usually as children grow older they don’t ask their parents for bedtime stories. Being a father he takes the role of trying to keep his son intact – he even goes as far as telling his son that if his son dies, he wishes for that to happen to him as well. No matter what they’re going to stick together as that’s the only possible way that they can survive. However, it doesn’t seem like they’re the only survivors because if they survived – it’s possible that other humans or other life forms survived too. Basically the two are trying to survive at all costs – the father is there to confront his son while the son is aiding his father’s sanity.
The man is trying to reach out to God and blaming him to be soulless because God let the chaos occur, resulting in a deadly situation where the whole world is practically gone. In reality because God never shows himself to the world, people can only have faith in him, but this man who’s obviously powerless against the situation is clearly unequal to God. God has the power to change the world whereas the man can only live on Earth and try to survive along with his son, but for how long? Each time he calls out to God, he will never see God in actuality because it’s only his belief that God exists. Just because he believes in God doesn’t mean that he will show up to this man – the man isn’t considered a Messiah, a messenger, or anything else – he’s only a survivor. This is basically a game of survival; in which if God does exist he won’t help the man since its survival of the fittest, so mankind may have destroyed them. God who transcends mankind isn’t going to willingly help one person live; thus again it shows the inequality between human and God (power). This shows that those who believe in any form of Gods or some deity are powerless against them – they offer so much and yet gain nothing back in return (it’s all an illusion inside their heads). When something goes wrong they resort to God for help, but they don’t receive anything, then they start to blame their God. Even if they blame God, they will still never see their deity because humans aren’t comparable to those who have power, that’s why we tend to look up to those that do; thus being exploited.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Blog Phase 2: Things Fall Apart #6
“Obierika with five or six others led the way. The Commissioner and his men followed their firearms held at the ready. He had warned Obierika that if he and his men played any monkey tricks they would be shot. And so they went.
There was a small bush behind Okonkwo's compound. The only opening into this bush from the compound was a little round hole in the red-earth wall through which fowls went in and out in their endless search for food. The hole would not let a man through. It was to this bush that Obierika led the Commissioner and his men. They skirted round the compound, keeping close to the wall. The only sound they made was with their feet as they crushed dry leaves.
Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo's body was dangling, and they stopped dead.
"Perhaps your men can help us bring him down and bury him," said Obierika. "We have sent for strangers from another village to do it for us, but they may be a long time coming" (270).
As a result of the white inhabitant and the betrayal of his brothers, Okonkwo was fed up with all the changes and the weakness of his clan; thus he committed suicide. He realized that his clan was becoming weak by transferring to a new custom – the fact is he didn’t want to become equal to the whites because in his view he was more superior to them. Even though, it’s clear that the missionaries considered the tribe to be weak and believed the clan to be unequal, they decided not to use force in order to acquire more converts. However, Okonkwo wasn’t willing to give in because he wanted to keep the power in his clan, and since he was powerless to do so which demonstrate his inequality to the whites, he decided not to give in, but to give in through suicide. He wasn’t willing to convert as it was a sign of weakness, however, his suicide contradicted his beliefs because it showed his weakness and powerlessness to fend against the converts and bring back his tribe to fruition.
This is a clear example of how people in the world when they feel that they’re treated wrongly, and looked down upon just because they were raised to believe in something someone else disagrees with will decide to follow their own actions. They don’t want to be seen as inferior just because of how they were raised and what they believe in; obviously people have different views of the world. However, if they’re pressured so much by others, they’ll eventually either give in into something they disagree with or they will consider ending their lives.
In today’s world, those who are discriminated against because of their skin color – if they’re constantly beat up by a certain group; they may acquire hatred for that group and as a result follow through with what those people did to them to gain revenge. Another example is those who are homophobic; thus causing those who are homosexual to hide their sexuality; but once they’re secret is leaked, they decide to commit suicide because they’ll be constantly picked on.
There’s inequality all over the world, all in different forms. Each time no one will be able to fit in because another group will continuously look down upon them.
There was a small bush behind Okonkwo's compound. The only opening into this bush from the compound was a little round hole in the red-earth wall through which fowls went in and out in their endless search for food. The hole would not let a man through. It was to this bush that Obierika led the Commissioner and his men. They skirted round the compound, keeping close to the wall. The only sound they made was with their feet as they crushed dry leaves.
Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo's body was dangling, and they stopped dead.
"Perhaps your men can help us bring him down and bury him," said Obierika. "We have sent for strangers from another village to do it for us, but they may be a long time coming" (270).
As a result of the white inhabitant and the betrayal of his brothers, Okonkwo was fed up with all the changes and the weakness of his clan; thus he committed suicide. He realized that his clan was becoming weak by transferring to a new custom – the fact is he didn’t want to become equal to the whites because in his view he was more superior to them. Even though, it’s clear that the missionaries considered the tribe to be weak and believed the clan to be unequal, they decided not to use force in order to acquire more converts. However, Okonkwo wasn’t willing to give in because he wanted to keep the power in his clan, and since he was powerless to do so which demonstrate his inequality to the whites, he decided not to give in, but to give in through suicide. He wasn’t willing to convert as it was a sign of weakness, however, his suicide contradicted his beliefs because it showed his weakness and powerlessness to fend against the converts and bring back his tribe to fruition.
This is a clear example of how people in the world when they feel that they’re treated wrongly, and looked down upon just because they were raised to believe in something someone else disagrees with will decide to follow their own actions. They don’t want to be seen as inferior just because of how they were raised and what they believe in; obviously people have different views of the world. However, if they’re pressured so much by others, they’ll eventually either give in into something they disagree with or they will consider ending their lives.
In today’s world, those who are discriminated against because of their skin color – if they’re constantly beat up by a certain group; they may acquire hatred for that group and as a result follow through with what those people did to them to gain revenge. Another example is those who are homophobic; thus causing those who are homosexual to hide their sexuality; but once they’re secret is leaked, they decide to commit suicide because they’ll be constantly picked on.
There’s inequality all over the world, all in different forms. Each time no one will be able to fit in because another group will continuously look down upon them.
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