Chapters+12-14

1. Paragraph of Text-to-Text/Self/World Connection In the reading, I could take a deeper look into Ibo culture, especially those related to celebrations. In Chapter 12, there was a "festive air" in the village, because Obierika's daughter's suitor was coming to bring palm wine and celebrate with his parents and relatives. This celebration reminded me of "Ham" in Korean culture. "Ham" is a celebration which the male suitor and his friend carry out. It is usually done all the formal arrangements of marriage have been made. In "Ham," the husband-to-be and his friends visit the bride's house with various items such as jewelry and cloth. Then, they yell "Ham Saseyo! (Buy Ham!), and the bride's family comes out and pays a small amount of money to the visitors in return for the "Ham." Afterwards, the bride's family and the visitors celebrate together with food and drinks or the visitors celebrate on their own with the money they have received from the bride's family. I thought that this Korean tradition was similar to //umunna// in the Ibo culture, because it is also the Obierika's daughter's suitor and his family who comes to visit the female. Moreover, the bride-to-be's family prepares the food, just as how it is sometimes done in "Ham." Finally, there is also the common theme of celebration and rejoice with families and friends in both the Ibo and Korean tradition.

2. Predictions about what's to come in the remainder of the book. In the last part of Chapter 14, Uchendu, Okonkwo's younger brother, tells Okonkwo that he is not "the greatest sufferer in the world" and talks about how he did not hang himself though he encountered many hardships. Moreover, he also warned Okonkwo that if he allows sorrow to weigh him down and kill him, his family will all die in exile. When I was reading this part of the chapter, I got the sense that this was a form of foreshadowing. Therefore, I think that Okonkwo will get extremely depressed and feel like he is "the greatest sufferer in the world" because he lost all the things that he had worked so hard for (his title, his honor) and also because he thinks that his //chi// was not made for great things. I think that his depression and suffer will eventually lead to Okonkwo committing suicide and consequently a death for his family as well.

3. A question related to either of the previous two paragraphs in today's journal Can a man defy his destiny as in how the elders of Umuofia said that if a man said yea his //chi// also affirmed?