TFA Chapter 14 ( NOTES in parentheses are for understanding) edit in own words to Mr. McCloskey
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TFA Chapter 14 (words in parentheses are for understanding)
1. Where has Okonkwo gone to? Mbanta, the home of Okonkwo's mother. What memory of the place is described as we enter this chapter? Okonkwo thinks about when he came here as a child to bury his mother.
2. What about Okonkno's crime makes it a "female" violation?
A lot of notes below. Beating his wife during the week of peace is a crime against the earth.
What do you think the significance of this is?
There is a dichotomy (split) between genders in that society, can compare to the USA if you want.
3. What is a "chi"? Why is there a conflict between Okonkwo and his? Okonkwo's shifting beliefs about the chi are important (in understanding the end of the novel. You might already see).
Okonkwo at various times blames his chi for bad luck, but at other times he claims personal credit for his good luck.
(When Okonkwo commits suicide at the end of Things Fall Apart, his bad chi could be faulted.)
4. Why do you think Uchendu wants his sons to hear his message to Okonkwo? What lessons/values could they learn through his example?
Uchendu advises Okonkwo to receive the comfort of the motherland gratefully. He reminds Okonkwo that many have been worse off—Uchendu himself has lost all but one of his six wives and buried twenty-two children. Even so, Uchendu tells Okonkwo, “I did not hang myself, and I am still alive.” Uchendu's Lessons on the Motherland
5. Writing Questions (1 paragraph)
- What is the meaning of Uchendu's message to Okonkwo? How does he use Okonkwo's current situation to teach him a lesson about gratitude?
Uchendu urges Okonkwo to respect their cultural history and accept the help of his mother's family with more grace and appreciation than he has shown. Uchendu not only reminds Okonkwo of how their culture works, but also looks beyond culture to talk generally about life.
-
Chapter 14 Summary:
Okwanko’s Uncle, Uchendu, and the rest of his kinsmen receive him warmly. They help him build a new compound of huts and lend him yam seeds to start a farm. Soon, the rain that signals the beginning of the farming season arrives, in the unusual form of huge drops of hail. Okonkwo works hard on his new farm but with less enthusiasm than he had the first time around. He has toiled all his life because he wanted “to become one of the lords of the clan,” but now that possibility is gone. Uchendu perceives Okonkwo’s disappointment but waits to speak with him until after his son’s wedding. Okonkwo takes part in the ceremony.
The following day, Uchendu gathers together his entire family, including Okonkwo. He points out that one of the most common names they give is Nneka, meaning “Mother is Supreme”—a man belongs to his fatherland and stays there when life is good, but he seeks refuge in his motherland when life is bitter and harsh. Uchendu uses the analogy of children, who belong to their fathers but seek refuge in their mothers’ huts when their fathers beat them. Uchendu advises Okonkwo to receive the comfort of the motherland gratefully. He reminds Okonkwo that many have been worse off—Uchendu himself has lost all but one of his six wives and buried twenty-two children. Even so, Uchendu tells Okonkwo, “I did not hang myself, and I am still alive.”
Re-building a Home
Okonkwo and his family have fled from their home in Umuofia because Okonkwo committed an accidental murder when shooting his gun into the air. The family has come to Mbanta, the home of Okonkwo's mother. As he arrives, Okonkwo thinks about when he came here as a child to bury his mother.
Uchendu, the uncle of Okonkwo, greets him and helps him to get settled. Okonkwo is given some land to build a home for his family and where he can also plant yams for the year's harvest. Uchendu's sons help Okonkwo by offering him three hundred yams to plant.
The rainy season soon comes. When the storm is so powerful that hail falls from the sky, the younger members of the village run outside to eat them. Okonkwo is older and has less energy; he feels troubled at having to start over. Furthermore, he was pursuing one of the highest titles of the clan, and that is now in danger since he has been exiled from his home. Okonkwo becomes depressed and blames his chi, or personal spiritual being, for holding him back.
One Final Marriage Ceremony: The Isa-Ifi
Amikwu, the son of Uchendu, is marrying a new wife, but there is one more ceremony to perform. This ceremony, the isa-ifi, a ceremony that happens after the bride-to-be has spent time away from her future husband. She must attend the ceremony and swear that she has not been with any other men. The bride-to-be must swear this to her husband's family at the umuada. The umuada is a special gathering in which Uchendu's daughters come back home to question the bride-to-be about if she has stayed faithful to their brother, Amikwu.
At the end of the ceremony, Uchendu sacrifices a hen, and the marriage is complete.
There Is No One for Whom Things Are Well
Uchendu decides to speak to Okonkwo about his depression. After the isa-ifi, Uchendu calls Okonkwo together with his sons and daughters and speaks to them all. Uchendu says that even though Okonkwo is troubled over being forced into exile, he should remember the power that a mother and her land has. He reminds Okonkwo that their people say nneka, or Mother is supreme, and asks Okonkwo if he knows why they have this saying.
When Okonkwo replies that he does not know why people say this about mothers, Uchendu asks him another question about why women are taken back to their homelands to be buried when they pass away. Okonkwo still does not know the answer nor do Uchendu's children.
Question 2 notes:
Under the dual-sex system that existed in traditional Igbo society, women controlled specifically identified spaces and areas of the public, such as the markets, the worshipping of certain deities, and cer- tain social ceremonies. Achebe attempts to repre- sent some of these instances where women exercise power. For instance, despite his maleness, Okonkwo is punished and must flee from his clan because he has committed a female crime, a crime against the earth goddess. Importantly, it is to his motherland that he must flee for safety. When he is punished very early in the novel by Ezeani, the priestess of Ani, it is because he has also offended the earth goddess by beating his wife Ojiugo during the Week of Peace
TFA Chapter 14 (words in parentheses are for understanding)
1. Where has Okonkwo gone to? Mbanta, the home of Okonkwo's mother. What memory of the place is described as we enter this chapter? Okonkwo thinks about when he came here as a child to bury his mother.
2. What about Okonkno's crime makes it a "female" violation?
A lot of notes below. Beating his wife during the week of peace is a crime against the earth.
What do you think the significance of this is?
There is a dichotomy (split) between genders in that society, can compare to the USA if you want.
3. What is a "chi"? Why is there a conflict between Okonkwo and his? Okonkwo's shifting beliefs about the chi are important (in understanding the end of the novel. You might already see).
Okonkwo at various times blames his chi for bad luck, but at other times he claims personal credit for his good luck.
(When Okonkwo commits suicide at the end of Things Fall Apart, his bad chi could be faulted.)
4. Why do you think Uchendu wants his sons to hear his message to Okonkwo? What lessons/values could they learn through his example?
Uchendu advises Okonkwo to receive the comfort of the motherland gratefully. He reminds Okonkwo that many have been worse off—Uchendu himself has lost all but one of his six wives and buried twenty-two children. Even so, Uchendu tells Okonkwo, “I did not hang myself, and I am still alive.” Uchendu's Lessons on the Motherland
5. Writing Questions (1 paragraph)
- What is the meaning of Uchendu's message to Okonkwo? How does he use Okonkwo's current situation to teach him a lesson about gratitude?
Uchendu urges Okonkwo to respect their cultural history and accept the help of his mother's family with more grace and appreciation than he has shown. Uchendu not only reminds Okonkwo of how their culture works, but also looks beyond culture to talk generally about life.
-
Chapter 14 Summary:
Okwanko’s Uncle, Uchendu, and the rest of his kinsmen receive him warmly. They help him build a new compound of huts and lend him yam seeds to start a farm. Soon, the rain that signals the beginning of the farming season arrives, in the unusual form of huge drops of hail. Okonkwo works hard on his new farm but with less enthusiasm than he had the first time around. He has toiled all his life because he wanted “to become one of the lords of the clan,” but now that possibility is gone. Uchendu perceives Okonkwo’s disappointment but waits to speak with him until after his son’s wedding. Okonkwo takes part in the ceremony.
The following day, Uchendu gathers together his entire family, including Okonkwo. He points out that one of the most common names they give is Nneka, meaning “Mother is Supreme”—a man belongs to his fatherland and stays there when life is good, but he seeks refuge in his motherland when life is bitter and harsh. Uchendu uses the analogy of children, who belong to their fathers but seek refuge in their mothers’ huts when their fathers beat them. Uchendu advises Okonkwo to receive the comfort of the motherland gratefully. He reminds Okonkwo that many have been worse off—Uchendu himself has lost all but one of his six wives and buried twenty-two children. Even so, Uchendu tells Okonkwo, “I did not hang myself, and I am still alive.”
Re-building a Home
Okonkwo and his family have fled from their home in Umuofia because Okonkwo committed an accidental murder when shooting his gun into the air. The family has come to Mbanta, the home of Okonkwo's mother. As he arrives, Okonkwo thinks about when he came here as a child to bury his mother.
Uchendu, the uncle of Okonkwo, greets him and helps him to get settled. Okonkwo is given some land to build a home for his family and where he can also plant yams for the year's harvest. Uchendu's sons help Okonkwo by offering him three hundred yams to plant.
The rainy season soon comes. When the storm is so powerful that hail falls from the sky, the younger members of the village run outside to eat them. Okonkwo is older and has less energy; he feels troubled at having to start over. Furthermore, he was pursuing one of the highest titles of the clan, and that is now in danger since he has been exiled from his home. Okonkwo becomes depressed and blames his chi, or personal spiritual being, for holding him back.
One Final Marriage Ceremony: The Isa-Ifi
Amikwu, the son of Uchendu, is marrying a new wife, but there is one more ceremony to perform. This ceremony, the isa-ifi, a ceremony that happens after the bride-to-be has spent time away from her future husband. She must attend the ceremony and swear that she has not been with any other men. The bride-to-be must swear this to her husband's family at the umuada. The umuada is a special gathering in which Uchendu's daughters come back home to question the bride-to-be about if she has stayed faithful to their brother, Amikwu.
At the end of the ceremony, Uchendu sacrifices a hen, and the marriage is complete.
There Is No One for Whom Things Are Well
Uchendu decides to speak to Okonkwo about his depression. After the isa-ifi, Uchendu calls Okonkwo together with his sons and daughters and speaks to them all. Uchendu says that even though Okonkwo is troubled over being forced into exile, he should remember the power that a mother and her land has. He reminds Okonkwo that their people say nneka, or Mother is supreme, and asks Okonkwo if he knows why they have this saying.
When Okonkwo replies that he does not know why people say this about mothers, Uchendu asks him another question about why women are taken back to their homelands to be buried when they pass away. Okonkwo still does not know the answer nor do Uchendu's children.
Question 2 notes:
Under the dual-sex system that existed in traditional Igbo society, women controlled specifically identified spaces and areas of the public, such as the markets, the worshipping of certain deities, and cer- tain social ceremonies. Achebe attempts to repre- sent some of these instances where women exercise power. For instance, despite his maleness, Okonkwo is punished and must flee from his clan because he has committed a female crime, a crime against the earth goddess. Importantly, it is to his motherland that he must flee for safety. When he is punished very early in the novel by Ezeani, the priestess of Ani, it is because he has also offended the earth goddess by beating his wife Ojiugo during the Week of Peace
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