Chinua Achebe wrote a story of a young Nigerian warrior who experienced so much adversity throughout his life that it deserved to be broken down into three parts. Each part of the three parts of the story is broken down into is a different period in Okonkwo’s life, each facing different struggles in different places. Okonkwo’s story is like many others in history, and ends like one as well, eventually having his whole tribe face British colonization.
The story Achebe writes is not necessarily based on one true story, but rather one that is based on a whole history of events that people have been through. Immediately when reading this story, I thought back to the Ted Talk of “The Danger of a Single Story”, the story and writing of people only to be dismissed by the rest of the world as “third world” or just a tale that is made up. Achebe’s story speaks about experiences that one would not know of without works like his, people within the “first world” would not have a clue as to the damage caused by some of their own countries, or the lack of attention to the “third world” countries. The British colonization coming into Achebe’s story is a tale known all too well for small countries all over the world, specifically Africa and countries with valuable land or resources. After the colonization of these countries, their personalities and stories are wiped out by the “first world” and they’re left to be whatever picture is painted of them. These stories such as Achebe’s tell the true story, what actually happened and what it is like to live and deal with these experiences. The struggle for these “third world” countries to have an identity is similar to Achebe’s main character Okonkwo, both ending with the all too familiar colonization. By looking at Achebe’s Things Fall Apart alongside some of the other excerpts and articles we’ve read reveals the extent of the worldwide struggle, the connection to single story and Things Fall Apart is just one of many that do so.
Works Cited:
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. Penguin Publishing Group, 2017.
| Adichie, N.A . (2009, October). The danger of a single story [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg&feature=emb_title |
Yes these statements are so true and relate so much of what is churning on in today’s world. I think for so many we have just this perspective and stereotype for not only some of the people living in our own country(s) but also those surrounding us. Until we learn to see it, learn it, and understand it from an actual person’s perspective it’s hard to grasp the difficulties people are going though. I believe it also sheds light on how different our lives can be from one another.
Tow.8, I liked how you compared this to our world today and I find what you said very true. I also think it is important to talk about how the “single story” plays into “Things Fall Apart.” Without reading too far into the book yet, the fact that the context presentation talked about three different phases of this warrior’s life and how he was treated made me think directly about a “single story” and how he is perceived in the same way, but different circumstances, throughout his entire life, ultimately leading to the end they all could see coming. Does anyone agree, disagree, or have something to add to this point?
I really loved during your presentation how you incorporate the single story and chose to speak on it during your context presentation, it’s important to realize there is a single story in the reading of “Things Fall Apart.” It is abundantly clear throughout the reading and you portrayed that really well in your discussion.
I like how you connected “Things Fall Apart” with Adichie’s Ted Talk! I agree with your point discussing how both of these address the fact that the story is dismissed and considered “third world” literature. I feel that the lack of perspective has a lot to do with society’s ignorance to cultures outside of their own. To consider something as “third world”, shows that society should be more open to understanding and appreciating others’ experiences, and we should learn to acknowledge the cultural differences and not ignore them to make it easier for us to understand.
I think that your post is very good and the first point you described was extremely crucial and a great job on the authors part for writing the story that way. Okonkwo’s life being told from different parts is a great way for us to get a full perspective of his life and what makes him his. The single stories being addressed is another crucial part of “Things Fall Apart”. This is another example of how people from different areas of the world can falsely assume things of another area because of a lack of education.
I think it’s important to make an effort to acknowledge to others no matter if it is people within the “first world” or “third world.” Everyone has struggles and has a right for their story to be heard by others. I think a lot of people tend to be closed off to things that they may not personally resonate with. While I understand that, people should still make an effort to understand others and their perspectives as that is when others start to truly grow and learn. I think it is important to understand the differences, but also it’s crucial to realize we’re more similar than alike at the end of the day.
I thought your post was really well written and I liked how you related to back to the first weeks Ted Talk about single stories because I was thinking the same thing while reading. I think everyone has there own view and stereotypes of certain things in the world that are very difficult to unhear or rethink that stereotype until we actually learn more about what it may be. Stereotypes often come from ignorance which is something that is really important in our world today that needs to be fixed.
All of Achebe’s books and poems were a way for him to help remove the single story from Africa. He told stories and gave the world a glimpse of Africa from an insider point of view. He used his life and stories from Africa to help the world understand it more. In the our module we read that many publishers rejected the book because it was written by an African, they feared that the book would not sell but thinking about it, if the book had been written by anyone else, it would have been just a story but because the book was written by an African, a Nigerian, that experienced things that happened in the book, it is now a part of history. In my opinion, because of this book, the single story of what the thought about Africa has change.
I think you are absolutely correct in stating that British colonization is a concrete example of historical implementations of single stories. I think a major contributor to this phenomenon is the idea of “power,” something that Adichie’s Ted talk focused upon. British colonization implemented its power to not only strip the rights, territory, and culture of so many African countries, but to change their stories into a single one. As you stated, the third world is somewhat grouped into a single category, defined by degrading terms. It is our responsibility to acknowledge that we have been participants in the spreading of a single story and to erase that idea by educating ourselves in readings such as Achebe’s. It is also our responsibility to not just categorize all African cultures based off a single reading such as “Things Fall Apart.” We need to challenge ourselves into many stories to grasp a better understanding of varying cultures around the world. We cannot limit ourselves or other cultures to a “single story.” Achebe’s novel is a great gateway into making this happen.
I agree with the points you made. Especially with the comparison between Adichie’s Ted Talk. By the end of the novel I also compared my thoughts to that ted talk. How the commissioner thought about creating a book about the tribal people and how his point of view was completely different from Okonkwo. Achebe does a great job describing the change in society and the realistic aspects of how British colonizing was seen through the lens of Okonkwo and his people.
I agree with your comparison between “Things Fall Apart” and “The Danger of a Single Story” that is from the first week’s ted talk. I kind of felt the same way as I read this week’s reading. I also agree that without knowing Okonkwo’s full story, it is impossible to understand how he feels and what happens to him. In this sense, it is similar to the danger of the single story.
I really enjoyed how you compared “Things Fall Apart” with “The Danger of a Single Story”. I think that this comparison shows many problems people in different countries did not need to face. I think that since we did not read the other two books about Okonkwo’s life, it is easy to generalize an opinion on him similar to creating a “single story” about him and his life. I think it is also really important to not characterize everyone in Africa based on this singular story.
Like the majority of the comments said, well done on bringing up “The Danger of a Single Story,” because since the author wrote the story in third person, we were not provided with explicit details of each of the main characters’ lives. I also liked how you brought up how many countries after colonization have their stories somewhat wiped out by the “first world” because I think that’s how Okonkwo felt leading up to his death.
I agree with the points you made. Well done explaining your stance and giving concrete evidence such as real life issues to boost the credibility of your claims. It was very intelligent of you to include the relationship of Things Fall Apart and Adichie’s single story speech. I do agree that this story seems a lot more like a single story and you gave it the emphasis it deserved in your essay.