Chapters+1+&+2

After reading chapters 1 and 2 of Chinua Achebe's //Things Fall Apart//, I wanted to read more of it; however, as reading ahead may spoil the content. This book centers around the culture of the African Igbo people and the story of Okonkwo's family. I like how this book introduces the reader to various forms of African Igbo culture. For example, the book has a glossary at the back that explains to the reader about the unfamiliar African nomenclatures. When reading, I encountered a vocabulary called "Obi." It means an African traditional hut that families lived in. It introduces the other side of African culture. I think the interaction and the ramification between the two societies are interesting to see. For example, when the lady from Okonkwo's tribe was killed, Ikemefuna needed to be brought to be lived in Okonkwo's family. The first chapter showed Okonkwo's personality. He despised a feminine lifestyle and preferred a bold and masculine lifestyle. He liked wrestling. I felt sorry for Okonkwo to have a weak, debted father who couldn't leave anything behind for his son. After reading the first two chapters, I have thought of several questions. 1. What is going to happen to Ikemefuna, will he be treated equally from the tribe and the family? 2. What will happen? 3. What is the book's theme? I have made some predictions for the book. I think that Okonkwo will have to raise Ikemefuna and Ikemefuna will need to mingle with the blood related sons of Okonkwo. There will be some kind of trouble as it is a book, otherwise, it wouldn't be a notable book.

The title of the book reminds me of the current status of the world. There are ethnic tensions in East Europe that is falling the world apart. It is tearing the lives of the people, the culture of the people, and the border of the people. As we learned during our Social Studies class, the nationalistic thoughts of European nations failed to unite, rather, dismantled the society. They use languages like "Gome" or "Obi." The author writes in the original language of the Igbo people as some words are hard to explain through the English language. Learning new vocabulary makes the reading more fun. There is a glossary that gives the meaning of these unfamiliar words.