Perfect Character A Delusion or Reality
In the novel Animal Farm, the hope for a better world remains unattainable. Even with the change of governance, the animals are eventually mistreated. How is it possible that the longing for good can turn awry when the person is in power for long?
In the case of Okonkwo, he is not painted as someone who is without fault. In fact, he is in many ways a tragic hero. Neither is he a person who is evil despite his part in killing Ikemefuna. Based on your understanding of him in the novel, reflect on the following questions:
How has Okonkwo been a figure of inspiration and disappointment to his people?
Firstly, being a leader of his clan had made him as the inspiration to his people. A leader is chosen by his/her own people based on the qualities that a leader should be – rich, powerful, brave, strong and hardworking. In Okonkwo’s case, he was chosen because of his richness for he had a yam plantation and he worked very hard. Besides that, as a leader, he would fight in order to defence his clans. For example, he fight against the missionaries because they tried violated the traditional beliefs.
For the disappointment part, he became a tragic hero at the end of the story which the main protagonist of the story should not portray. He killed himself for he failed to defence his clans. So, it was a disappointment for his people to see a leader killed himself without finding other ways to settle the problems.
What are the characteristics of Okonkwo that you can find in your nation's leader?
One characteristic that I can find in our nation’s leader is dared to take risks. The leader that I inspired by is Tun Dr. Mahathir Muhammad. He was the fourth prime minister of Malaysia and considered one of the best of leader of Asia for he had contributed in putting the country’s name, Malaysia onto the map of the world.
He dared to take risks can be portrayed when he challenged the CEO of the Petronas company to build a tallest twin tower in the world. At first, people of Malaysia were not agree on the prime minister’s purpose for it would cost a loss to the nation but he sticked to his principal and continued the construction. When the towers were completed, then the people realize that the towers did benefits the country especially in the business and tourism sectors.
Showing posts with label DARREL UNCHATT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DARREL UNCHATT. Show all posts
Thursday, 2 May 2013
DARREL UNCHATT - WEEK 5 REFLECTION
WEEK 5 REFLECTION (Week 1 Re-post)
In your respective blogs, think reflectively of the issues found in the novel. The following questions should help you in your analysis:
Based on your reading of “Things Fall Apart”, what aspects of the Igbo culture allow the British to take over?
As mentioned in the “Things Fall Apart”, British had taken over Nigeria during the 1800s. The first aspect is the Igbo people were not aware that the British colonised their land until the British introduced the new religion, Christianity and vanished most of their cultures. The Igbo seemed to invite them openly to their land without knowing the British other intention which was to change the people and also the whole country which they would have a hard time to adjust the new changes. They think that by letting the British build the church in the Evil Forest, all of them will get rid but they are wrong. Starting from that, the British slowly take over their land. Second aspect is the Igbo were not uniting at the time the British came. It was their weakness that the British was easily colonised them without taking too much time and converted most of them into Christianity. Last but not least is most of their custom beliefs and cultures were against the Christianity beliefs and also the humanity. For example, the killing of one of the twin was rejected by the missionaries because it is against the new religion and also the Igbo people were amazed by the story of the Jesus Christ’s life.
Since Sarawak has also undergone colonisation, how has this affected aspect of culture in our society?
Sarawak was undergone colonisation by three powerful powers – The Sultanate of Brunei, the White Rajahs and the British. Each power had affected the aspect of culture of the society during that time and until now. The White Rajah or the Brooke’s dynasty was very obvious which had affected the society’s culture. Before Captain James Brooke came to Sarawak, the people were not united as the Malays stayed along the coast lines and the indigenous people stayed in the deep forest. After seeing the situation, the first Rajah of the Kingdom of Sarawak tried to find ways to unite them by introducing them to agriculture. The Malays would work as farmers and the Dayaks would work in the timber sectors. Besides that, the Rajah also welcomed the Chinese and the Indian immigrants as workers but then most of them brought their family and settled down. From my point of view, the Brooke’s dynasty really changed Sarawak on how he brought the Sarawak people together and we still feel the unity until now.
Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak?
A lot of changes have been brought in the lives on both tribes. Firstly is unity. The indigenous tribes of both nations began to unite when the colonisers came to colonise their place. Realising that the lands would be taken by the outside’s power, people tended to join forces to defence their land before it would be exploited. For example, Sarawak, the society was not agreed that James Brooke took over their land. They began to fight the Brooke’s soldiers but as the time passed, they were realised that Brooke was doing the right thing for the new country and for the future of Sarawak. Secondly, the two nations were introduced with the new religions. Most of the indigenous people were converted to the Christianity without force. The missionaries know how to persuade them to covert. Besides the missionaries did not vanishing the local traditional beliefs but to obey them as long as it is not against the religion.
In your respective blogs, think reflectively of the issues found in the novel. The following questions should help you in your analysis:
Based on your reading of “Things Fall Apart”, what aspects of the Igbo culture allow the British to take over?
As mentioned in the “Things Fall Apart”, British had taken over Nigeria during the 1800s. The first aspect is the Igbo people were not aware that the British colonised their land until the British introduced the new religion, Christianity and vanished most of their cultures. The Igbo seemed to invite them openly to their land without knowing the British other intention which was to change the people and also the whole country which they would have a hard time to adjust the new changes. They think that by letting the British build the church in the Evil Forest, all of them will get rid but they are wrong. Starting from that, the British slowly take over their land. Second aspect is the Igbo were not uniting at the time the British came. It was their weakness that the British was easily colonised them without taking too much time and converted most of them into Christianity. Last but not least is most of their custom beliefs and cultures were against the Christianity beliefs and also the humanity. For example, the killing of one of the twin was rejected by the missionaries because it is against the new religion and also the Igbo people were amazed by the story of the Jesus Christ’s life.
Since Sarawak has also undergone colonisation, how has this affected aspect of culture in our society?
Sarawak was undergone colonisation by three powerful powers – The Sultanate of Brunei, the White Rajahs and the British. Each power had affected the aspect of culture of the society during that time and until now. The White Rajah or the Brooke’s dynasty was very obvious which had affected the society’s culture. Before Captain James Brooke came to Sarawak, the people were not united as the Malays stayed along the coast lines and the indigenous people stayed in the deep forest. After seeing the situation, the first Rajah of the Kingdom of Sarawak tried to find ways to unite them by introducing them to agriculture. The Malays would work as farmers and the Dayaks would work in the timber sectors. Besides that, the Rajah also welcomed the Chinese and the Indian immigrants as workers but then most of them brought their family and settled down. From my point of view, the Brooke’s dynasty really changed Sarawak on how he brought the Sarawak people together and we still feel the unity until now.
Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak?
A lot of changes have been brought in the lives on both tribes. Firstly is unity. The indigenous tribes of both nations began to unite when the colonisers came to colonise their place. Realising that the lands would be taken by the outside’s power, people tended to join forces to defence their land before it would be exploited. For example, Sarawak, the society was not agreed that James Brooke took over their land. They began to fight the Brooke’s soldiers but as the time passed, they were realised that Brooke was doing the right thing for the new country and for the future of Sarawak. Secondly, the two nations were introduced with the new religions. Most of the indigenous people were converted to the Christianity without force. The missionaries know how to persuade them to covert. Besides the missionaries did not vanishing the local traditional beliefs but to obey them as long as it is not against the religion.
Monday, 29 April 2013
DARREL UNCHATT - RELIGIONS AND SUPERSTITIONS
Religions and superstitions
Karl Marx once commented that 'religion is the opium of the people'. Do you agree with him? In the case of Umuofia, do you think their native religion stunts their development? Is the 'new' religion seen as a way of bringing development to Umuofia?
Apart from religion, superstitions play an important part in the Ibo culture. Do you have your own sets of superstitions which you find difficult to discard?
The following points can help you as you write your reflective post on the role of religion and superstition in the novel and in your life:
• Analyse how superstitions and religions play in the life described in the novel.
• Do superstitious beliefs and religion affect the development of a country? How?
• How does one's beliefs affect the nation in terms of politics and culture?
Through the story, Chinua Achebe describe that the superstitions and religions have a big impact in their life. The readers can see that how the Igbo people relate their superstitions belief in their daily life basis. For example, they worshipped the goddess of the earth and avoid from committing any sins for fear that a catastrophe that might sweep all the entire generations.
For religions, the Christian missionaries play much roles in changing the mentality and the culture of the local people. the missionaries tried to introduce the new religion and help the local people to leave their cruel beliefs such as the scarification of the baby.
I believe that superstitious beliefs and religion do affect the development of a country. This is because a country depends on the people’s state of mind in order to run their country. Based on the novel Things Fall Apart, the Igbo people did not aware about the outside of their country until the British came and colonised their country. For example, the Igbo thought that the bicycle was a metal horse. So, from the example, without knowing and too much stick on the superstitious beliefs and religion, we are not going to learn something new that is outside our beliefs.
After all this modernization that has taken place, beliefs persist in our societies. How they affect the nation in terms of politics and culture? It is all depend on the one’s mentality. Based in the novel, it is so obvious that Okonkwo can fight alone in order to retain the old traditions before it would be vanished entirely by the British.
Karl Marx once commented that 'religion is the opium of the people'. Do you agree with him? In the case of Umuofia, do you think their native religion stunts their development? Is the 'new' religion seen as a way of bringing development to Umuofia?
Apart from religion, superstitions play an important part in the Ibo culture. Do you have your own sets of superstitions which you find difficult to discard?
The following points can help you as you write your reflective post on the role of religion and superstition in the novel and in your life:
• Analyse how superstitions and religions play in the life described in the novel.
• Do superstitious beliefs and religion affect the development of a country? How?
• How does one's beliefs affect the nation in terms of politics and culture?
Through the story, Chinua Achebe describe that the superstitions and religions have a big impact in their life. The readers can see that how the Igbo people relate their superstitions belief in their daily life basis. For example, they worshipped the goddess of the earth and avoid from committing any sins for fear that a catastrophe that might sweep all the entire generations.
For religions, the Christian missionaries play much roles in changing the mentality and the culture of the local people. the missionaries tried to introduce the new religion and help the local people to leave their cruel beliefs such as the scarification of the baby.
I believe that superstitious beliefs and religion do affect the development of a country. This is because a country depends on the people’s state of mind in order to run their country. Based on the novel Things Fall Apart, the Igbo people did not aware about the outside of their country until the British came and colonised their country. For example, the Igbo thought that the bicycle was a metal horse. So, from the example, without knowing and too much stick on the superstitious beliefs and religion, we are not going to learn something new that is outside our beliefs.
After all this modernization that has taken place, beliefs persist in our societies. How they affect the nation in terms of politics and culture? It is all depend on the one’s mentality. Based in the novel, it is so obvious that Okonkwo can fight alone in order to retain the old traditions before it would be vanished entirely by the British.
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