English Blog

Why would Achebe, taking into account the cultural context, choose to characterize Okonkwo using the tragic hero archetype? In the novel Things Fall apart, written by Chinua Achebe, the main protagonist, Okonkwo shows archetypes of tragic hero. Tragic hero is defined as a character with heroic aspects but with a fatal flaw . Okonkwo follows a stereotypical  standards of a tragic hero in the novel. In this particular novel, Okonkwo has the fatal flaw of fear for a change. Also, he has heroic aspects of being rich, respected, and hard working. A tragic hero is often the protagonist in literature of tragedy. Then, why did the author decided to make the protagonist follow the stereotypical guidelines to a tragic hero? The background of the novel is based upon the aboriginal culture of Nigeria of 1800's. It was a period of time of massive colonization - colonization have begun and started to gain power over the endemic culture. The Westerners had supreme over technology such as v...

Hello and good evening It is a great honor to have the opportunity to be invited to speak for one of the greatest community of all times. I want to congratulate the great British to success in breaking the boundaries between countries and spreading our great culture. On the other hand, the African tribes are now falling into altercations and frays on deciding which culture is 'real' for them and which one they should follow. It is common for us to believe that following and preserving a 'real' culture is important; I mean who doesn't think that? Well, today, I want to share this one particular world that you might have, or, by high chance, not heard of. This world is a world where it is 'real' in every aspect. This world is where people believe the existence is a dual but interrelated phenomenon. A world where people believe death is not the end. A world where all forces interact to cause "good". A world where people believe more than one god. ...

My most meaningful takeaway " People from different parts of the world can respond to the same story, if it says something to them about their own history and their own experience" My most meaningful takeaway for our inquiry discussion in the interview of Chinua Achebe was the quote of " People from different parts of the world can respond to the same story, if it says something to them about their own history and their own experience" Our group asked whether or not if it is possible to understand the oppression of colonization even if one's country was never colonized. Our group had a long discussion to answer this question fully. Most of us believed that it is not possible to fully understand while some said it is possible through having a second experience such as watching a movie, reading a book or even hearing other's experience. As we were discussing, I realized the power of language once more. Depending on how one articulate, people of different ex...