In Achebe’s novel, we are presented with a society that slowly begins to lose its tradition and culture as a result of submitting to the white men. Sardonically, the missionaries, who are strong believers in God, use the idea and concept of God and the church to slowly rule over and take control of the clan. In relation to the Yeats’s poem, the emphasis in the first couple of lines gives one the feeling that grip or control over something is being lost, in the case the clan it would be how they begin to lose their culture over time: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;” The missionaries confuse the clan so severely to the extent that they no longer know what to believe in, “Mere anarchy is loosened upon the world”, where we have people rebelling against the clan and the church. The following lines of the poem depict the chaos as the missionaries and the clan members decide to act. Last but not least, the “revelation”, or “second coming”, would be when Okonkwo kills himself to
More specifically he targets the group that he believes has been a detrimental factor to the Bush administration; Evangelists. David Orr describes this group of individuals as a minority of Americans that have been able to rule over the majority due to the mix between state and religion. The effort of these Evangelist’s has been to return America to an almost puritan nation; and have consequently led to dangerously minimal change in our democracy. This attitude of keeping the status quo has been achieved in a number of ways. David Orr describes a variety of high ranking members of society that range from heads of churches to owners of news stations as extreme conservatives who have aided in the republicans attempt to slander the meaning of the word liberal.
How the Contrast Between Obierika and Okonkwo Reveals Facts About Igbo Culture After the invasion of the Christian missionaries in Nigeria, the local tribes found that their history was re-written. Today, there are very few reliable accounts of events from before the “pacification” of those tribes. However, in writing Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe gives Western readers an uncorrupted view of a Nigerian tribe. This investigation will examine the place of morality, tradition, and religious belief in the Igbo society as presented by Achebe. More specifically, this investigation will discuss how these cultural traits are revealed in the interactions between the novel's main protagonist, Okonkwo, and his alter ego, Obierika.
Okonkwo ends up fighting against his chi, and he eventually lost. The Igbo concept of chi is used in various forms. Ralph Madu, a Reverend and Director Directorate of Communications Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria Abuja, proposes two forms of chi: it means “day”, because “chi abola” translates as “daybreak”, or, from a more sacred origin, it means personal God – the spirit that animates human beings. (Okoro) In Things Fall Apart, chi refers to the “divine afflatus” that is considered the supreme God shared by each individual, but more specifically in that person’s aspect, a giver and creator of destiny. (Okoro) For Madu, destiny is the philosophy and belief of the traditional stage that every life is unique in a significant way and is subject to a series of unforeseen hazards and unexpected rewards, which are all made from the chi.
The tendency to uphold colonial powers as part of God’s plan has been evident in the missionary agenda. As a matter of fact, it is hard to differentiate the two. This has led to the condemnation of local religion and religious systems in preference for the Christian foreign religion. Ngugi wa Thiongo referred to the missionaries as the “colonial spiritual police” while amplifying on the great connection between colonial imperialism and the missionary enterprise. However, as much as one should not be blind to the mistakes done in the early days of the spread of Christianity in Africa, we must come to terms with both historical facts and other instances that show that Christianity is indeed an African religion.
‘How does Fitzgerald tell the story?’ questions Chapter 1 The novel takes the form of a 20th century romantic tragedy, this is revealed by contextual means. In chapter 1 Fitzgerald highlights the tragic form of the novel as Nick says ‘what foul dust that floated in the wake of his dreams’. this creates the effect of foreshadow the tragic events of the novel especially as the writer uses the past tense to refer to the eponymous character which creates tension as the impression is given the narrator of the novel knows the outcome of the character but does not disclose information. The line ‘Gatsby turned out alright at the end’ creates an atmosphere of mystery and this is not dissipated by Nick which creates excitement as the reader expects the novel will supply answers. Form- The novel takes the form of a metafiction narrative as the narrator is aware he is writing a novel.
While the empowering and sometimes dictatorial influence of Michael Mompellion’s religious dogma and the uprise of women’s capability provide the novels title with multiple resonant meanings, it is ultimately the ability of nature to “reclaim its place” that supersedes the very structures on which the human population in this remote English village has founded their existence. When presented with devastation on an unprecedented scale, the largely powerless villagers initially look towards the power of unwavering religious faith in seeking guidance from their rector, Michael Mompellion. Mompellion believes the plague to be a test by which God intends to “chastise the souls He would save”, and accordingly insists that his congregation accept the onus of voluntary quarantine. While the ability of
Howl Key Passage – Allen Ginsberg Nicole Morin “Howl”, by Allen Ginsberg, is an extended poem that, although dedicated to Carl Solomon, is reflective of the nature of many underdogs in society, and how the potential to be the best minds is wasted in 1950's USA. "Howl" can only be described as a rant, emphasizing Ginsberg's personal involvement at the time, and yet it covers a range of issues that plagued America's underworld. Thus, the poem is a poem of the forgotten, and their longing to break free from the culture that led them into their despair. Immediately, a sense of a search for spirituality is introduced into the lives of those referred to in this poem, in an effort to free themselves from the chains of everyday life. In a contrast to the limitations they faced, religion seemed to prove a connection that rose above everyday relationships.
Powerful Alliteration: Uses of Sound, Rhythm, and Image to Convey Sensory Detail in an Abbreviated Version of Robert Southey’s “The Cataract of Ladore” Robert Southey was a young,late-18th, early-19th century, idealist who questioned the ethics of the church and Christianity. While at Oxford studying for the ministry, he wrote a revolutionary paper condemning corporal punishment. Oxford officials found his article to be proof that in “the world that forces of anarchy and irreligion [have] secured a foothold ”(“Robert”). Southey was ultimately expelled but this did not stop his pursuit of writing controversial literature. In Southey’s poem “The Cataract of Ladore”, he fuses a forceful and anarchic perspective of the prodigious Ladore River in Great Brittan with a rhyming poem for children.
Reading the poems of both Wordsworth and Coleridge, one immediately notes a difference in the common surroundings presented by Wordsworth and the bizarre creations of Coleridge. Thus they develop their individual attitudes towards life. I will look at differences and similarities concerning people's relationship to nature in poems by Coleridge and Wordsworth such as: "The Ancient Mariner", "Kubla Khan", "The Nightingale," "Lucy", "Tintern Abbey," "There was a boy", " Old Beggar", "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" and "Frost at Midnight". In "The Ancient Mariner," Coleridge demonstrates how violating nature and her subjects brings doom to the infracted. In this poem, the poet emphasises the vengeful, dark side of the land and the sea.