TFA+Reflections+TaeYoon

DIscussion #1 Reflection

In our Literary Circle discussion today, our group came up with various ideas and insights of "Things Fall Apart." However, I find two major points mentioned by our cultural evaluator, Min and the two others in my group in response to my question, "Why is Okonkwo in need of anger-management?" very intellectual. We had something similar to a two-sided debate where Min said Okonkwo was angry at the **society** for not being suitable for his father nor (sometimes) him. Min also said how Okonkwo seemed to be mad at the society's inability to present him with anything, especially when he had an extremely hard start to his life, while others were able to inherit at least somethings from their fathers. He explained how the society emphasized physical strength quite a lot and how it lacked in other aspects. On the other hand, Eric stated that it was actually the father's fault. He explained how Okonkwo was infuriated by the fact that his father was a complete failure. He had a miserable life, had nothing in his possession when he died except a flute. His father failed to supply Okonkwo and his family with anything at all when he died, leaving Okonkwo to start life out of scratch as such a young boy. I thought this discussion was very heated and therefore intriguing.

Discussion #2 Reflection

Our discussion for today was a more serious and focused one than the previous one. We frequently had debates over opinions or assumptions thrown into the discussion. Two of the most heated topics we had in our discussion for today were the elements of Igbo society as well as the gradual change in Okonkwo's personality/actions. One of the most in-depth discussions we had revolved around the elements of Igbo society and what characteristics we saw as positive, negative, or neutral. A major argument we had was over whether the role of the Oracle in the society was positive, or negative. In the end, we came to the conclusion that it is a rather negative element of the society, as the Oracle has something similar to absolute power. The decision of killing Ikemefuna was made by her, without any questioning or reasoning, and carried out smoothly. On the other hand we also discussed the evident change in Okonkwo. We all agreed that Okonkwo was getting softer, that the killing of Ikemefuna had somehow ripped apart Okonkwo's stubbornness. Overall, we thought Okonkwo was becoming weak.

Discussion #3 Reflection

Today's Literary Circle discussion was quite interesting. We proceeded into our discussion as normal, with points introduced by each participant in the circle. Things that caught my attention were how Eric Park, our Characterization analyst, pointed out how Okonkwo wasn't changing at all throughout the whole novel. Okonkwo remains a bold, fierce character within the novel who doesn't know forgiveness. Through that point, I also learned a knew word, a word that defines an unchanging character, a static character. Later, we entered the most fierce debate we've ever had in our Literary Circle discussion. John and Min argued whether the colonization was conflicting with the sayings of the bible. I agreed with Min who had logical reasons to back his stance against John. Min was saying yes, it was.

Discussion #4 Reflection

As our last discussion, discussion #4 was a pretty interesting one. Although there weren't too many things to point out due to the fact that our reading was only 3 chapters long, with far less page numbers than we ever had to read before. However, there were two extremely puzzling questions that arose amidst our discussion and they were: 1. Why did Okonkwo kill himself? and 2. What was the purpose of the brief mentioning of the District Commissioner's book? The first question was where most of our group members had a lot to say about. In the end, our discussion generally came down to the conclusion that Okonkwo's overwhelming disappointment and his untamed hatred towards the white men drove him, in the end, to commit suicide. Okonkwo had had high expectations for Umuofia to become the fierce, war-like clan it had been prior to the invasion of the white men when he was in exile. Unfortunately, after long wait, he was failed by his clan as they decided not to go to war with the white men, making Umuofia cowards. Secondly, Okonkwo was tired of the white men, he wanted to wipe out every single one of them at all costs, but he could not do it alone. Umuofia's cowardliness left Okonkwo all alone as the only rebel-like person in his clan.