Occurrences of different magnitudes can completely change how a person thinks, acts, or feels every second of the day. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie illustrates the story of a girl’s life--a girl by the name of Kambili--and how corruption (figuratively and literally) changes her outlook on life. Domestic violence takes a toll on not only her, but her family also. As Kambili strives to find hope, she instead finds something bigger than that- change in herself. Adichie’s work is known to reflect the dynamic story of the Nigerian people during this era. Working to eliminate political strife, Adichie publishes this work, hoping to demonstrate the true meaning of how it truly feels to live under an oppressive state of both physical and mental capacity. …show more content…
For instance, Kambili recognizes that she is constantly put down by Amaka, yet she does not assert herself. While witnessing Kambili’s shy and potent deposition, Aunty Ifeoma retorts, “O ginidi, Kambili, have you no mouth? Talk back to her” (170). Through Aunty Ifeoma’s encouragement, Kambili realizes the extent of her mental oppression. Kambili also notices that Aunty Ifeoma’s lifestyle is contradictory to her own upbringing, which enhances the idea of freedom from mental oppression. This idea is significant because Kambili’s realization of this pushes herself to mature mentally. Given Aunty Ifeoma’s tough love, Kambili blossoms into a mature being, capable of handling retaliations from anyone. Kambili’s meek disposition travels with her for the rest of the story, where she learns to voice her opinion when she believes that it is right to do so. She aims to seek approval from Aunty Ifeoma, because she is constantly trying to prove to Papa that she can be much more than the perfect Catholic, submissive scholar he pushes her to be. In contrast, one of Aunty Ifeoma’s key beliefs is voicing her opinion when necessary, which leads to her taking action and stepping in, while encouraging Kambili to adapt that quality. Obedience to other family members also results in an impact on how Kambili visualizes her surroundings and also, how her family views …show more content…
Papa drills into Kambili and Jaja’s minds that their own Papa-Nnukwu is something to be feared, simply because his religious beliefs do not coincide with Papa’s own. He did not want to send “[Kambili and Jaja] to the home of a heathen” but ensured to them that “God will protect [Kambili and Jaja]” (62). Believing that their own grandfather is a heathen, they avoid him at all costs; during visitations, they do not respect him as fully as they should. Moving forward, Kambili immediately starts changing her mindset of Papa-Nnukwu into something her Papa disapproves of. During the appropriate visitation leave time, Kambili confesses that she “did not want to leave; [she] wanted to stay so that if the tofu clung to Papa-Nnukwu’s throat and choked him, [she] could run and get him water” (66). Obviously, this is against Papa’s personal morals, and Kambili knows this; yet, she still continues to use the hypothetical situation as a way to escape her oppressive mental state and think for herself. Adichie reveals that Kambili is willing to step out of what she was taught to do (what is right according to her parents) in order to express what she believes is truly right, leading to a positive character development in Kambili because she is able to
Aunty Ifeoma, wanting her niece and nephew, to experience something outside of her brother’s structured home, convinces Father, using religious reasons, to let Kambili and Jaja visit her home. Shocked by the schedules given to Kambili and Jaja to follow during the stay, Aunty Ifeoma takes them away and integrates them into her family, making them do shifts for chores. At a time when her cousin’s friends come over, Kambili “wanted to talk with them, to laugh with them so much...but my (her) lips held stubbornly together… and did not want to stutter, so I (she) started to cough and then ran out and into the toilet” (Adichie 141). Kambili, unfamiliar to the house full of light-hearted arguments and constant laughter, finds herself trapped inside her own emotions, incapable of expressing them. Just like any other hero enters a new place with different values, Aunty Ifeoma’s home had a set of completely different values, and Kambili initially has a hard time adapting to this
As wise John Berger once said,“Never again shall a single story be told as though it were the only one”. A “single story” is the story of a culture that we learn from stereotypes and conspiracies developed throughout time in our society. In “Things Fall Apart”, Chinua Achebe defies the single story of African culture while still tying their native language in to show the importance between a physical differentiation of culture, and the similarities with morals and values they have in common. Through gender roles and proverbs used in the language of this book, we have a cultural insight of Nigeria through a new set of eyes given to us by Achebe that detures us from the single stories that we were taught to by our society.
The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a story that opens the reader's mind to an entirely different way of living in a Nigerian village. Achebe was born in Nigeria in 1930, perhaps this is why he writes a whole book on a Nigerian village and introduces to us the ways of life for the Nigerian people. From the first page of the book to the last, Achebe allows the reader to enter the mind of the main character Okonkwo. Okonkwo is the leader of his village and is very respected for his many achievements. Although Okonkwo means well for his village, the novel invites the reader to see him has a flawed character who eventually suffers from the consequences of bad "masculine" decisions he makes throughout the book.
In life, there will always be ghastly memories standing in one’s way of achieving eternal happiness. It is up to mankind to determine how individuals should overcome adversity so they can experience the blissfulness that life has to offer. In Joy Kogawa’s novel, Obasan, Naomi’s experience throughout her life reveals the conflict between man versus self. Naomi seeks to find balance between remembering and forgetting her tragic childhood. Kogawa demonstrates how eradicating one’s past, dwelling on previous experiences, experiencing trauma, and shielding another from trauma can lead to one’s corruption.
In life, there will always be ghastly memories standing in one’s way from achieving eternal happiness. It is up to mankind to determine how individuals should overcome adversity so they can experience the blissfulness that life has to offer. In Joy Kogawa’s novel, Obasan, Naomi’s experience throughout her life reveals the conflict between man versus self. Naomi seeks to find balance between remembering and forgetting her tragic childhood. Kogawa demonstrates how eradicating one’s past, dwelling on previous experiences, experiencing trauma, and shielding another from trauma can lead to one’s corruption.
Eugene seems very self centered and given his description of the book he seems to care much about his appearance and his place in society. While in Aunt Ifeoma's home Kambili thinks about an event in Jaja’s past after the Aunt asks Jaja what had happened to his small finger as it was devastated,”When he was ten, he had missed two questions on his catechism test...papa took him upstairs...came out supporting his left hand with his right”(Adichie 145). Here it is apparent just how much he cares for his self image. Jaja did not manage to get to the top spot in his class, thus would directly affect Eugene as his kids would not be just as revered as himself leading to his self image being lowered. He hates this, this feeling of second best. He feels
Throughout the novel, Kambili embarks on a profound change from a girl who always remained in fear of her father, held back by his heavy restrictions on her, to an expressive and vibrant girl who fights for what she believes in. Her trip to Nssuka and encounter with characters like Amaka and Father Amadi intiated it, yet it was also an independent journey, with her longing to go against her father for what she believes finally shining through towards the end of the novel. As a result, she will continue to grow and defy her father’s restrictions, creating a conflict in the rest of the novel.
Mama Beatrice and Aunty Ifeoma represent different women in post-colonial Nigerian society. Nevertheless, they both show the empowerment and subjugation in the domestic position they serve. From the time Nigerian women had an equal purpose in their tribe as men in pre- colonial Nigeria to the after math of colonialism in 1960, it is clear that colonialism disrupted the traditional system of indigenous Nigerian societies. Nigeria’s women have continuously evolved, but their persistent spirit they always possessed never changed.
The amount of female support Kambili receives in Nsukka from Aunty Ifeoma and Amaka ultimately help her gain confidence and show her the meaning of what it feels like to be free from male dominance. Aunty Ifeoma illustrates that she is not afraid to speak her mind in any situation especially when you have done no wrong. When Papa abused Kambili after she dove after the ripped painting of Papa-Nnukwu, Aunty Ifeoma immediately spoke and sai...
Chinua Achebe was an influential Nigerian author during the 1900’s who was credited with his three essays which have been fused together into the book “Home and Exile”. In his stories he discusses things such as his own Igbo people, the problems with colonialization, the strength that stories can have and many more topics. A big part of his essays are on his thoughts of colonialism, the impact it has had on his home of Nigeria, and how stories written by others either helped justify colonialism or rejected it. Chinua argues that stories have their own power to fight, and while stories themselves do not have the ability to directly fight colonialism; they do, however with their power of words, stories can motivate and encourage people to stand up against colonialism. In proving this thesis to be a true statement, I will be providing evidence of the how, why and the extent to which stories can fight colonialism.
"Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie :The Danger of a Single Story." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Some may say that Kambili’s coming of age journey started with her Aunt Ifeoma subtle influence but I believe that her transition began with the visit to her grandfather.(65) Throughout the story we haven’t seen her once thought of going against her father’s word. Both of the kids was o...
Throughout the centuries, the roles of Nigerian women have continuously evolved. During the pre- colonial era, women in Nigerian tribes were not only child bearers and wives, but also free adults. They played critical roles in food preparation, weaving, pottery, and the economy. However, the impact of British rule in Nigeria made a significant shift from the pre-colonial to the post- colonial era. The influence of the Catholic Church, Western style education, patriarchal government and modern ways of making money took a major toll in a woman’s role in society. As demonstrated in the history and literature of Nigeria, society can clearly witness the setbacks and growths of Nigerian women experienced. This literary paper’s purpose is to analyze how these women came to be, what exactly caused to evolve, and where they stand in today’s society.
It talks briefly about how the children are affected by the constant abuse. Kambili in the novel had a stutter and spoke in a very low voice as a result of the fear of communicating her true feelings and thoughts. They were all fearful of what the consequences might have been if they had a heart-to-heart conversation with Eugene. In the addition, she had an obsession of always trying to please her father, so he would have some act of acknowledgment towards her. In the novel she stated that she “wanted to make Papa proud” for doing what was asked of her (Adichie 94).
In “Things Fall Apart,” Chinua Achebe incorporates the theme of marginalization. Instead of the typical scenario in canonical works, the focus is on the tribe Umuofia in Africa: