Friday, July 6,2007

Part 2, Ch. 14-19
1.At the beginning of Part II, Okonkwo has fled his "fatherland" Umuofia for committing a "female" ochu, and he has taken his family to his "motherland" Mbanta. Why? And why does Okonkwo despair? How does his mother’s brother Uchendu respond to Okonkwo in his despair?
Okonkwo fled his "fatherland" Umuofia for committing a "female" ochy, and he takes his family to his "motherland" Mbanta because he has killed someone of his own tribe and once you do that, you have to leave your village for 7 years so they can cleanse the land that he had lived on. Okonkwo despairs because he feels like he has had a huge loss and he is the only one who has to deal with it, he is feeling sorry for himself. Okonkwo's mother's brother Uchendy responds to Okonkwo in his despair by telling him that he is not the only one who has had a great loss. Uchendy says that he used to have 6 wives and now he has none, and that he has had lots of children, but they have all had to be burried. He says that Okonkwo has no reason to kill himself because Umuofia is still alive with all the sorrow that has happened to him.

2. What has happened to the Abame clan? How do Uchendu and Okonkwo account differently for the "foolishness" of the Abame? Whose reaction seems wiser in responding to new challenges to old ways of living? What does Uchendu mean when he says, "‘There is no story that is not true’"? (ch. 15, p. 99)
The Abame clan has been killed and wiped out because they killed a white man and the other white men came back and killed all of them for what they had done. Uchendu and Okonkwo accound differently for the "foolishness" of the Abame because Okonkwo thinks that they had it coming to them because the orical had told them that something bad would happen, but they didn't listen, but Uchendu thinks that they were foolish to kill the white man because you aren't supposed to kill something that doesn't speak because it is like a story they used to be told about a kite. Uchendu's reaction seems wiser because there is reason to why he feels they were foolish. When Uchendu says "There is no story that is not true" he means that all the stories that are told happen in one way or another, so they are told for a reason so they must be true.

3. Why does his friend Obierika visit Okonkwo in exile the first time? And the second time? What are Nwoye’s motives for converting to Christianity? Trace the stages in the Africans’ reactions to the Christian missionaries coming to Umuofia and Mbanta, and to the missionaries’ evangelical efforts to convert the Africans. What are the sources of misunderstanding between the Igbo and the missionaries? What kinds of Africans are attracted to the new religion and why? Why does Nwoye convert to Christianity? How does Okonkwo react to Nwoye’s conversion?
Obrierika visits Okonkwo in exile the first time because he was bringing over Okonkwo's money that he had collected by selling his yams, he said he didn't know when Okonkwo would need them so he decided to bring it over. Obrieka visits Okonkwo the second time because he sees Nwoye and finds out that he is no longer part of his father's family and has converted to a Christian. Nwoye's motives for converting to Christianity was that the hymne they sang captivated him, it answered his questions of all the bad things that had happened to know of. The missunderstanding between the Igbo and the missionaries is that the missionaries think that the Igbo gave the land for them to build on out of the kindness of their hearts, but really they gave it to them becasue they gave it to the missionaries because to them it was useless and evil, to them it was the worst thing they could give them, and they don't know each other's language well enough to comunicate properly. The Africans that are attracted to the new religion are the outcasts and baby twins that are left to die, because they aren't accepted in the village and they are accepted in the mission. Nwoye converts to Christianity because his father is mean to him, and doesn't really show him respect, but the Christians to at the missionary. Okonkwo's reaction to Nwoye's conversation is to get mad at him and ask him were he was, Okonkwo's horrible tempertantrums show through his calmness.

4. "The young church in Mbanta had a few crises early in its life" (ch. 18; p. 110). What are these crises? Why are the people of Mbanta largely content to allow the Christians to remain in their midst at this point--the end of Part II? What are the differences between the religion of the Mbanta people and that of the Christian missionaries?
"The young church in Mbanta had a few crises early in its ife" and the crises were that a convert decided that you couldn't get in a higher station tha he was going to go back to the village, and Okoli died, and the villagers wouldn't let the women converts get any water, red dirt, or chalk. The people of Mbanta were largely content to allow the Christians to remain in their midst at this point because they had too much going on to worry the village people about converting. The difference between the religion of the Mbanta people and that of the Christian missionaries was that the christians believed in one God that cared for them and made them equal, and the Mbanta people believed in many gods that could make bad things happen to you if you didn't give them a sacrafice.

5. Uchendu and a speech by an elder of the umunna (ch. 19; p. 118) give us insight into the changes that they have seen in recent generations of their people. What are these changes and why do they cause the elders to fear for the younger generation and the future of the clan? How might these changes prepare the way for the white man’s success in imposing his rule in Africa?
The changes that Uchendu and a speech by an elder of the Umunna give us insight into the changes that they have seen in the recent generations of their people are that the younger generation gives smaller feasts because they don't want to have to use all their food on someone els who already has food and doesn't need it. The elders fear for the younger generation because they seem to be more into doing things for themselves rather than doing things for others, and they pray for the wrong things like more money rather than more kins men. These changes might prepare the way for the white man's success in imposing his rule in Africa, because they won't be fighting together, they will most likely be fighting on their own, so the white man has more of a chance to pick them off one by one.