Blog 12

The majority of women during the time period that The Awakening was written were repressed regardless of whether they were consider high class or low class. Men looked at their wives like they were their own piece of property and treated them like such. However, women of high class like Edna were looked at differently than those of lower class, being that she should be much more obedient to her husband and family. She is required to uphold her role in social standings regardless of what she wants, and women of lower class aren't being kept under a close eye for these things as much as her. Although different in their social standings, women of lower class and women of higher class both longed for more freedom than they were granted.

Blog 10

Okonkwo makes very rash decisions out of anger, but doing whatever it takes in his mind to protect his clan is something that we all could have seen coming. On page 168 the British say "the white man whose power you know too well has ordered this meeting to stop," this is when Okonkwo realizes that they have been completely overruled. In a way, Okonkwo can be looked at as a hero for murdering the white man and defending his people, but it's also very weak because he ended up killing himself so he could not finish the job that he started. 

Blog 9

The conflict between culture and religion is the most significant part about this section. Nwoye and Okonkwo have their differences and no longer speak because of Nwoye's decision to join the Christians. On page 119 Okonkwo's friend Obierika spotted Nwoye among the missionaries and asked "what are you doing here?" And Nwoye said, "I am one of them." Obierika asks how Okonkwo is and Nwoye replies with "I don't know, he is not my father." The people in these clans clearly don't like change and like to keep things the same, so when one of them "trade" sides it can cause a lot of conflict. 

Blog 8

Family is a very important aspect of Things Fall Apart. Every person helps protect the family and makes it whole. After they received Ikemefuna and had him for about three years, Okonkwo and his family completely accepted him and he called Okonkwo father. You can see the love of a mother when Ezinma was taken by the priestess into the woods and Ekwefi followed them the whole time, no matter how far they traveled or how weak she felt to make sure that her child was okay. Okonkwo also spent the majority of the night looking for Ekwefi and Ezinma to protect them. Culturally, family is one of the most important bonds to these people. 

Blog 7

One of the customs in the beginning chapters of Things Fall Apart that I thought was especially interesting was when the husband offers Palm wine to his wives and all of them know their place and order to receive. The first wife is always the one who gets the first sip of the Palm wine and the rest of the women have to wait for her to arrive before they can continue in their order of ranks. On page 18 Okonkwo says "is Anasi not in?" And the other wives said that she was coming and then it says "Anasi was the first wife and the others could not drink before her, and so they stood waiting." Although our culture tells us that monogamy is the way to go, and theirs clearly is focused around polygamy, I think this is their own cultural way of showing respect to the women that were first chosen by the husband. 

Blog 6

Marlow goes to talk to the Intended awhile after Kurtz's death because he has his documents and in his documents there was a picture of the Intended and he wanted to meet her. While visiting with the woman, they talk about Kurtz, how it was impossible not to love him, and how great of a man he was. On page 129 The Intended asks Marlow what Kurtz's last words were and he replies with, "the last word he pronounced was-your name." Kurtz's real last words were "the horror, the horror," I believe Marlow told the woman this instead to save her feelings because while conversing with her, Marlow can clearly see how much Kurtz meant to her and he wanted her to think that she meant that much to him as well. I also think that he says this instead of "the horror, the horror," because it is so dark he didn't want to change her views on Mr. Kurtz with his actual last thoughts. 

Blog 4

At the bottom of pages 86-87, Marlow describes the Russian man as a harlequin, which is comparable to a clown like figure. The Russian man explained to Marlow they you "don't talk with Mr. Kurtz, you listen to him." He also responds later with "I tell you, this man enlarged my mind." Which I believe to mean that Kurtz had opened up the Russian man's eyes to the things that were around him and helped expose him to new things which widened his horizons, expanded his mind, and changed him as a person which also shows that Kurtz is influential and direct.

Blog 3

In this paragraph, Conrad uses several elements to describe Marlow's feeling of alienation. Conrad uses metaphors and similes in his description of Marlow's feeling. In the first couple lines, he compares the people around him to monsters. A couple paragraphs in he says "he must meet that truth with his own true stuff- with his own inborn strength" meaning that he must be strong to deal with his feelings. Marlow's alienation is expressed by describing the people around him in the text.