Okwonkwo Character Analysis

Okwonkwo, the novels main protagonist, is a lot more complex than meets the eye and is often used by Achebe to advance certain themes or purposes in the story. While Okwonkwo may not be a traditional tragic hero, he shares many traits of a tragic hero. Firstly, his tragic flaw, which can be excessive pride, is the thing that eventually leads to his downfall, his death. He commits a crime and the consequence is a punishment that is arguably too harsh, With that being said, Okwonkwo never really comes to a realization that his downfall may be a result of his wrongdoings or his tragic flaw. Choosing Okwonkwo as a tragic hero is a way for Achebe to be able to relfect on the entire Igbo society. If Okwonkwo is symbolic for the entire society, then Achebe is inferencing that their downfall was due to their own doings. While being colonized and being taken over is not something that can be attributed to the Igbo people, their inability to fight back and to open their minds about other ways of thinking could have attributed to their destruction. Using Okwonkwo as a tragic hero allowed Achebe to not only expand Okwonkwo's character, but to also show all the different aspects of the society. If Okwonkwo is considered symbolic for the entire Igbo culture, Achebe has effectively been able to use him to advance several themes. Firstly, the theme of the struggle between cultural beliefs and personal beliefs is something that often comes up with Okwonkwo and other characters like Obierika. While cultural beliefs are often forced upon every person in the Igbo society, there are instances where each character must question whether the actions are justified or not. many characters, including Okwonkwo, were attempting to reach and equilibrium between their cultural and personal beliefs. Another theme that Okwonkwo is the staple of is fate, or destiny. Although Okwonkwo works hard his entire life and does everything he can to stay away from the reputation of his father, he keeps facing obstacles until he eventually dies as worthless as his father did. Again, if Okwonkwo represents the entire Igbo society, then colonization and destruction of the culture was an inevitable act. While they may have attempted to calmly drive the Europeans out, the eventual takeover of their land is something that could not have been stopped.

Passage Analysis

Passage 1: 

The ogbanje scene with Enzima 

Chapter 9 

In this scene, Okwonkwo is suddenly awoken by Ekwefi with news that Enzima is dying. Okwonkwo reassures Ekwefi that it is only a fever and he sets out buying her medicine. The audience is introduced to Ekwefi's character more and learns that nine of her other children have died as infants. A medicine man told them that it was an ogbanje, a "wicked" child that keeps entering its mothers womb and dies again, only to torment the parents. When Enzima was born, she suffered many illnesses but was able to survive. When Enzima was 9, a medicine man found her iyi-uwa, a small pebble that is Enzimas physical link to the spirit world. Enzima and Ekwefi have more than a mother and daughter bond. It is clear that in Igbo culture, for women, being a mother is highest possible rank a women could have. This passage also shows that because of the iyi-uwa, the Igbo culture really values the link between the physical and the spiritual world and that many people try to find a proper balance between these two things. The Igbo culture also tries to find some sort of spiritual and superstitious link between every phenomenon that occurs, such as all of Ekwefi's children dying. 

Passage 2: 

Legal Ramification of Okwonkwo's crime

Chapter 13  

Ogbuegfi Ezeudi's death calls for a large and elaborate funeral because he was a great man that took 3 out of the 4 clan titles. Okwonkwo's gun accidently goes off and kills Ezeudi's 16 year old son. Because killing a clansman is a crime, Okwonkwo must take his family into exile for 7 years and goes to his mothers land, Mbanta. Obierika questions why a man should suffer so much for an accidental killing. This chapter shows the importance of kinship and the consequences that violating that could have. the Igbo people highly value titles and the bond of the clan but when someone violates that, their punishment is very harsh. With that being said, men often question whether the punishment is too harsh 

Passage 3: 

Throwing out the twins into the evil forest

Chapter 7

When Ikemefuna is killed and Nwoye senses it, something inside him breaks. The  audience is then introduced to the idea that newborn twins are left to die when Nwoye shares that the first time he broke down was when he heard the cries of newborn twins that were left to die in the evil forest. In Igbo culture, twins were not allowed and they would be "thrown out" right as they were born. Again, this shows some questionable Igbo cultural practices. Nwoye and Obierika often question these traditions. The Igbo are very loyal to their beliefs and they follow the rules perfectly, but right as something may damage their way of thinking or change how they view the world, their punishment is often questionable. 

Chinua Achebe Interview Discussion

The most meaningful take is the fact that Achebe expressed how many societies, more than he imagined, his book impacted. He share that a school from Korea wrote letters to him about how they were able to connect with the book because Korea was colonized by Japan. The discussion about this specific topic began by talking about how not only was his book able to give a voice to the unheard, but was also able to empower societies all around the world. Another side of the discussion was the fact that it was the first actual piece of African literature that expressed the voices of the Africans and so it was able to not start well known African literatures, but allow many of them to become well known. A question that was asked in the discussion was about if the bad portrayal of African Americans impeded on their progress. As a general consensus, we all agreed that being put in a bad light may not completely worsen a countrys progress, but it certainly does not help it. This discussion not only allowed me to understand Achebe's point of view clearer, but also helped me put the entire novel into context. 

Stalin's Red Army Speech- Paper One Commentary

https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1941/11/07.htm

            Stalin and Hitler and many tyrannical leaders were able to gain their power through excellent speech delivering skills. Their power in speaking and persuasive language allowed numerous countries to believe in things that are looked at as atrocious today. Stalin committed acts that are unspeakable against his people and was still able to control his power and his country. The key to any political speech are literary devices that each are able to have a certain persuasive effect on the audience. By heavily antagonizing opposing countries and connecting with the army in order to empower them, Stalin demonstrates what is needed to be able to be a powerful leader.

The text that I will be analyzing is Stalin’s Speech at the Red Army Parade on the Red Square Moscow on November 7^th, 1941. The target audience is stated in the first minute of Stalin’s speech as Stalin says,“Comrades, men of the red army and the red navy, commanders and political instructors, working men and working women, collective farmers-men and women, workers in the intellectual professions…”. With this, it is clear that Stalin is targeting all of Russia. With that being said, the majority of the audience members are men of the Red Army. By addressing them as “working men and women” or as “workers in the intellectual profession”, Stalin is saying that they are more than just men in the army. He is showing them that he knows that they have other professions and other lives. This automatically attracts the target audience and allows Stalin to be the good ethical character. This further allows for the speech to be more persuasive. Stalin is aiming to persuade the men to fight and not give up against the German army. He empowers the men and degrades the German army throughout the entire speech.

            The speech is meant to congratulate the men on the 24^th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. It begins with expressing Stalin’s deep worry for the war and says what The Soviet Union has lost as a result of the war: “We have temporarily lost a number of regions, the enemy has appeared at the gates of Leningrad and Moscow”. After that, an empowering message starts as Stalin explains how the army has risen and fought successfully against the Germans. He begins to recall old events such as in 1918 where the Soviet Union was being controlled by the enemy and continues to explain how the Soviet Union, “recovered all lost territory, and achieved victory”. Again, this makes the army and the people of the Soviet Union view themselves as indestructible and inexhaustible, something that would have helped them win the war. Stalin continues to boost up the egos of the army by explaining how the country is currently in the best economic position it has ever been and how the entire country supports and fights for the Red Army. Throughout this entire process, Stalin continues to antagonize and demonize the “Hitlerite Germany”. According to Stalin, “Germany is bleeding, her reserves of man power are giving out, the spirit of indignation is spreading…” The speech ends with the idea that the “entire world” is looking at the Soviet Union as the force that can defeat the enemy and bring peace and justice into the world.   

            The speech is clearly very biased and attempts to antagonize the German people to a very large extent. There are many personal pronouns such as, “Our reserves of man power...” Stalin makes an attempt to connect with the audience through the use of personal pronouns and show that he is not different than them. He also makes a personal connection with the audience in the first paragraph by addressing each one of them personally. This hooks the audience and also would persuade them even more because they feel a connection with him. There are also several instances of hypophoras such as, “And what happened? We routed the interventionists, recovered all our lost territory, and achieved victory”. The use of a hypophora would allow the audience to formulate their own question for a second and then have it be directly answered. Because Stalin needed absolute control all the time, he used hypophoras often and answered his own questions directly after in order for the audience to not have an opportunity to formulate their own thoughts and rather just agree with him. Stalin also uses an expletive when saying, “Our entire country, all the peoples of our country, support our Army and navy”. This emphasizes that every single person who is a part of the country must support the red army because he said so. There is also a use of an eponym when saying, “Hitlerite Germany”. Because Hitler is known to be a horrible person, the use of “Hitler” to describe Germany makes Germany seem horrible and demonizing. He generalizes one person from a country to the entire country and makes Germany further hated. Towards the end of the speech, an anaphora is used when repeating “German Invaders”. Again by repeating this phrase, the idea that Germans are invaders is further emphasized and stays in the audiences mind. The use of all of these rhetorical devices is meant to do one thing: to antagonize the German people and to make the Soviets hate Germany and love the rule of the Soviets. Although Stalin goes down in history as one of the cruelest leaders, his speeches and persuasive abilities allowed him to climb up to power.

Although Stalin is believed to be an intimidating and tyrannical ruler, the speech shows the opposite. The tone of the speech is friendly and encouraging. Stalin makes an attempt to connect with the army and not to intimidate them. His welcoming and hopeful attitude further persuades them to do everything that he would want. The atmosphere is relaxed and the speech makes everyone empowered. The purpose of the speech is to lift people’s moods and self-esteems up. While watching the video, it is clear that everyone in the audience is encouraged and empowered and there is no sense of fear. Stalin speaks in a calm and encouraging way, something that allowed him to be such a successful leader.

Interactive Oral Commentary Practice

The Scene that I chose is Act 1, Scene 2, Lines 453 - 490.
The characters speaking in this scene are Miranda, Ferdinand, and Prospero.

Guiding Questions:
1. How does the use of Miranda as a symbol for innocence allow the contrast between man and monster with Caliban and Ferdinand?
2. How does Prospero's background as royalty contribute to his controlling personality? What does Shakespeare say about royalty through characterizing Prospero as such?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3qIclUmQO4NXzBJOTlieUJ0aWM/view?usp=sharing

bell hooks: On the Language of Power

In this essay, bell hooks discusses the rich history behind African American Vernacular English and how it started off as a tool of rebellion but could have the possibility of holding back many bright children today. Although the entire essay was informative and thoughtful, the most meaningful thing that I took away was the fact that children who have grown up in an environment where African American Vernacular English is the norm are being held up in educational facilities because their specific language is often thought of as “rude” or “incorrect”. The entire idea of Standard English has a very blurred line when it comes to the educational system. Most educational facilities require the use of “Standard English” not only in essays and formal assignments, but also as a means to communicate in the classroom. This leaves many children who have grown up in a “Non Standard English speaking home” confused about what they should be speaking and communicating with. When they are in their communities, they speak like they have been taught their entire lives. When they are in the classroom, they are taught that that way is wrong. This only reinforces the idea that AAVE or any other dialect of English is incorrect, informal, and un-educational. This in turn leaves the children thinking that their culture and language is not worthy of higher education. This leaves little opportunity for many children to seek higher education and be able to succeed in school. As one off bell hooks favorite quotes says, “This is the oppressor’s language yet I need it to speak to you”. The children who aim for higher education find themselves in need to abandon their language and move on to the “Standard English”. This does three things: leaves them confused about their identity, exposes them to criticism from the African American society, and allows them to lose a part of the language they have grown up with. What really struck me was the fact that both white and black children grew up in the same country and go through the same educational system and yet African Americans have to work twice as hard to climb up the educational ladder because the educational system does not have any programs that utilize AAVE (or any “Informal” dialect of English for that matter). What started off as a language that is meant as a means of empowerment and as a tool for rebellion is transforming into something that holds back a large majority of the African American community. Standard English being a means of communication has shown to be a difficulty for a large number of African Americans who have been raised to speak the language that their ancestors were once proud to speak.  

Linguistic Imperialism and Pop Culture

Linguistic imperialism is the idea that a certain dominant language is being transferred onto other people due to current world demands that center around that language. From education to business to pop culture, the English language is rising to be the most dominant language on the world. Pop culture is currently known today to be in “English”. When someone is named an “international celebrity”, it is generally known that they are either from and English speaking country or they have been able to make international relations because they are proficient in the English language. For example, Lady Gaga is very well known in both English and non-English speaking countries. Ailee is an international Korean star but was actually born in Colorado and studied in the states her whole life. In that sense, the face of pop culture are English speaking stars, English songs, and English television. These are the celebrities and shows that children will grow up watching and admiring. In today’s society, the spread of pop culture is extremely quick and accessible. Children in India can watch an American movie online easily. The movie industry is generally known to be American and most movie theaters in the world carry English movies. For many foreign singers, incorporating English words and sentences into their songs is a very good way to appeal to a larger and more international audience. For a star to be able to be international and successful, they must have connections from other countries. The only way they can get these connections is by being able to speak English because they will not learn every single language in the world in order to have to reach out to a wider audience. Shakira, for example, began singing only Spanish songs in the beginning of her career. As she broadened her horizons, she found that in order to make it into the business, her songs must be in English. She is the international sensation that she is today because she was able to learn and communicate in English. By making pop culture dominated by English, it excludes many potential singers, movie stars, and directors. There could be a little boy who lives in Malaysia that has the potential to be the most influential and brilliant director, but without the English language, he could never put himself on an international scale.  With that being said, there are always rare occasions of barriers being broken. The most watched video on YouTube and the only video to ever be viewed 2 billion times is Gangam Style, a Korean song that only has 2 English words. The appeal of this song comes from the rather unique singer, catchy tune, and the exotic music video. But as I said before, that is a rare occasion. Pop culture is continually being dominated by the English language and as for now, it does not seem like that could change. While there are consequences, pop culture is meant to be taken lightly and so the fact that there is linguistic imperialism in pop culture does not pose any real threat on the world today.