Perhaps not a whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate.” (Achebe 208-209). The commissioner intends to write a book documenting the Ibo culture. He is unaware, and likely uninterested in knowing the full story of Okonkwo’s life. “one must be firm in cutting out the details.” (Achebe 209) Okonkwo had just realized that his tribe was doomed because of their weakness. He decided to take his own life as a result of a lifelong struggle to help his clan by being a strong and hardworking man, in an attempt to distance himself from his weak and unsuccessful father’s reputation.
Prominently, King Leopold II of Belgium usurped the Congo territory in which he wreaked horrible atrocities (Gondola). Heart of Darkness draws itself from this dark annal of human history. As stated before, the novel does not seek to decry the Belgian treachery, but rather to explore meaning and civility—a lofty task. This is accomplished first by presenting the Conrad perspective through description and allusion; and then pitting different characters against such a world. Their reactions are, in essence, answers to the generalized timeless question posed by bleak conclusions of existence: what is the point of life if we are doomed to life?
And indeed i don't know wether he had been a pauper all his life. He had given me some reason to infer that it was his impatience of comparative poverty that drove him out there (Conrad, 114). Kurtz’s original reason for the quest was for his fiancés family to respect his status and approve of their relationship. This is what initially evoked his ambition to acquire the job as an ivory hunter in the Congo, however by the end of the novel, this is the least of his concerns. As Kurtz spent more time in the Congo River, his goals shifted from the sole purpose of proving his worth to his intended family, to creating his own kingdom.
It is clear that at the beginning of this excellent comedy Oliver and Orlando are not the best of friends, in spite of their sibling relationship. Note the way that in Act I scene 1 they fight, and Orlando, having his brother trapped in some kind of wrestling hold, tells us that his brother has committed the following crimes against him: My father charged you in his will to give me good education. You have trained me like a peasant, obscuring and hiding from me all gentleman-like qualities. The spirit of my father grows strong in me, and I will no longer endure it! Clearly the hatred that they feel for one another is expressed through their behaviour and the words they use for each other, such as when Oliver insultingly calls his brother a "boy" and he tells the Duke that he hates Orlando just as much as he does, knowing that this will be bad for his brother.
Aibileen works for Elizabeth, so Aibileen has to take care of her daughter, Mae Mobley. Aibileen and Mae Mobley have a different relationship than other babies she has taken care of. It is a different relationship because Aibileen has a seed of bitterness planted inside her after Treelore, her son, died. In an article by Jackie Crosby, it mentions the love Aibileen had for her babies, “There's Aibileen, the wise and gentle soul whose heart breaks every time one of the white babies she loves so much grows up to ‘become just like they mama’” (Crosby). So she teaches Mae Mobley something she has never taught any of her other children because she wants to avoid Mae Mobley turning out like her mother, Elizabeth.
Stephen Khumalo, being a simple man from the hills of Ndotsheni, is shocked and hurt to find his family's immoral condition in Johannesburg. Seeing as he is a priest from a rural town, he is rarely faced with the bittersweet temptation of sin. Therefore, he cannot understand why his close relatives have succumbed to things such as murder, prostitution, and deceit. His honesty and faith in God till the very end of the book bears witness to the kind of upbringing and lifestyle he has had. “The humble man reached into his pocket for his sacred book, and began to read.
Just like the mighty herds of wildebeest, the people who make their homes on Africa's great Serengeti plains are constantly on the move. This episode focuses on two women searching for their spiritual identity. Alice Wangui, a Nairobi hair salon owner, takes a trip to her native Kikuyu village so that her child will be born with a sense of community. On the savanna proper, Flora Salonik lives in an isolated farming hamlet, and struggles with the decision of whether or not to return to her own roots: the bustling metropolis of Arusha, Tanzania. Episode 1: Savannah
His father was very laid back and accomplished nothing in life and Okonkwo hated him for it. Okonkwo’s eldest son Nwoye is lazy and weak from an early age. Okonkwo’s fear of his father’s laziness rubbing off on his son Nwoye changes Okonkwo from hero to villain when he beats him to make himself more masculine. What he thinks is helping his family is actually causing pain. Okonkwo’s wives are often beaten for the simplest of things, sometimes even for not explaining to him where they have gone.
From time to time I hear the saying ’‘You have to die in order to protect your life.’’ There is no sense in that what so ever. If you die to protect your life you aren’t alive anymore so how did you protect your life? Nobody says ’’I will spend all my money in order to save my money.’’ Those sayings pretty much have the same logics to me. If I were to guess, I would guess that every soldier that was fighting for his county and had a near death experience was praying and hoping that he would come out of this alive while he was lying there and dying. Joe Bonham was a soldier who almost lost his life fighting for his country.
All they end up doing though is becoming another casualty, another statistic, dying in a war that had no real reason. The only thing those soldiers ended up doing was proving that war truly is futile. What about the families of those dead soldiers? Are they comforted by the fact that their family members are incredibly brave? No, they are not, all they know is that their son or brother is gone, and the only reason for their loss, is a war which is completely futile, a pointless war which destroyed an entire generation.