Tragic Hero- Okonkwo

Throughout the novel, Things fall apart, Achebe evolves Okonkwo as a power hungry, self sufficient character which both personifies and opposes the Igbo culture. Okonkwo’s character is unique, we find that his tragic flaw is developing and gaining the qualities of his father, he does all in his might to abstain from turning into his lazy father, Unoka. Achebe skilfully manipulates Okonkwo’s character to be portrayed as one who suffers from Hubris, this pride and arrogance developed Okonkwo’s downfall, his main purpose was to remain in power and never to be perceived as weak, Okonkwo is presented further as a character void of emotions, as he believes showing emotion is a symbol of weakness. His killing of Ikemefuna, and beating his wife during the Week of peace have severe ramifications and lead to the murder of the boy at the funeral, which in turn leads to him being exiled, this is the peripeteia of the novel, which transforms his fortunes. Essentially, Achebe establishes Okonkwo as a tragic hero in order to evoke various emotions from the audience, the protagonist becomes an antagonist. Achebe utilises Okonkwo as a tragic hero in order to develop a downfall, which in turn progresses into tragedy, this enables the audience to connect with the character on an emotional level. Moreover, Achebe highlights to the reader that various actions have serious repercussions and in this case Okonkwo’s actions led to an internal conflict within the character. A character portrayed as being powerful, was now defeated into being powerless. Okonkwo’s actions defeated him physically and mentally, his actions led to his sorrowful and sinful death.

Igbo Culture

Igbo background assignment: Throughout my trip to Igboland I had opened my eyes to a wonderful culture, a culture with values and morals, and with respectable people. The Igbo people are a major ethnic group in Africa, it is reported that there are 15 million of them living inside Nigeria, whilst there are a million living outside. Igbo is a culture with a rich heritage, and their beliefs are grounded in certain myths. The Igbo believe in a supreme God whom they call Chukwu, they believe that to him belongs all power and might, thus I was able to realise the religion has a vital importance in their everyday lives. Many people from various other nations or cultures, not particularly in Africa, disregard many cultures for the simple reason of thinking their culture is greater than another. What I found in igboland was rather astonishing, their culture has a lot of substance, many of us find certain cultures to be primitive due to their ritual beliefs. Moreover, the history of the Igbo culture is very unique, before the twentieth century, it was considered wrong to refer to the Igbo as a single people, each of their groups were so distinct from another, that if an Igbo person were to travel twenty or thirty miles into another village and tried to converse with the inhabitants of the village, it would have been difficult for them to be understood. Furthermore, archaeology suggests something distinctive to Igbo culture, unlike various other African cultures it has been discovered that the Igbo people have inhabited the same geographical location for over two thousand years. I urge people who are not educated on the unique Igbo culture to visit Igboland and witness such a momentous and distinct culture. An evident characteristic of the Igbo society was the lack of a centralised political structure, this is substantially different to certain nations and cultures or areas in the west, which are governed by rules and regulations set by the governments. Many of us feel that a centralised power or government is the best way to rule a country or nation, however, the Igbo people lived a comfortable life governed by their elders as they lived in towns ruled by the ones considered to be senior in that village. The lives led by the Igbo people was somewhat different to how we’re used to living life, the relationships of people were grounded on blood ties, each person traced their ancestry to three fundamental groups, namely; uno or house, umuma or lineage and the third was obodo or town. The first group (uno) consisted of family such as one’s wife and children, the second comprised of a number of closely related houses, while the third group was town of which one belonged to. It is important to realise and know that the head-man of each town, village and lineage was elected the position by virtue of his age, this highlights the importance given to the elderly people an Igbo society, this further demonstrates the stark contrast between the values or beliefs of the Igbo society as opposed to the West. We realise that the Igbo society is a caring one, and everyone in the village is united and are willing to live together in harmony under the leadership of a head-man. In our various nations, we strive for democracy and the Igbo people achieved democracy without a central government. This was achieved as the Igbo adhered to the concept of direct participation in governmental affairs, the whole idea of democracy stemmed from the idea of cross-cutting ties. There were five most important cross-cutting institutions, these institutions were; the council of chiefs, women’s association, council of elders, secret societies and age-groups, without them the whole Igbo society would malfunction and disintegrate. Therefore, we find that the Igbo had designated institutions to deal with certain issues, although being governed by elders of the village, they did fantastically well to achieve democracy whereby each person was treated equally. This further implied, that the people of the Igbo community were able to live with one another in perfect harmony. Moreover, the Igbo culture is unique, especially to people who aren't from an African nation, those who are from the Western nations. Many people from West consider African societies to be primitive, yet, their culture is far from primitive, it is a culture that is sharply different to any other. They have the utmost respect for elders and treat them as rulers and saviours. Their beliefs and political structures implies their close bond between every single person belonging to a community and group. Even though, they aren't governed by a government, they seem to be living lives under democratic rule, and each case or problem is taken care of a by a particular institute.

Paper 1 commentary: Barack Obama's second inaugural speech

Barack Obama’s inauguration speech as he was elected president had major significance in terms of the history and culture of the American people as a whole. It was a means of “binding this nation together” irrespective of the “colours of the skin” of the American people. The statements mentioned has rhetorical significance in the speech, in these instances, a polysyndeton is utilised. Thereafter, President Obama goes on to state “what makes us American…” here the audience is allowed to understand the use of amplification to further enhance the quality of the message conveyed by the president. Immediately, in the first paragraph of the speech, the audience is enabled to grasp the overarching implication of the president. “we affirm the promise of our democracy” demonstrates the values of America as a nation, which is to allow freedom to all its citizens. Transitioning into the second paragraph, the audience is greeted by a sententia, “We hold these truths to be self-evident…and the pursuit of happiness.” here, president Obama quotes the declaration of independence, this further might be the use of ethos by the president as he further is tries to communicate to the audience that he is credible. Furthermore, the implication of the declaration of independence demonstrates to the audience the will of president Obama to guarantee “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" to America’s citizens. Additionally, the association with the declaration of independence resonates with another famous political speech, Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream”, which further enhances the value of president Obama in the eyes of the audience. As the speech progresses, the audience realises the main purpose, the purpose to demonstrate to American citizens that they are in safe hands, and with the will of the people as well as the foundation by which the country is laid upon allows, president Obama to once again appear as credible, making him the right person for such a historic role. The antithesis “the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few”, shows that once again, president Obama refers to a historical period in order to develop his message to the people of America. From the immediate few paragraphs of the speech, the audience is clearly highlighted, it is American citizens. President Obama aims at portraying the lifestyle of freedom that American people will be able to live, he does this by referring to historical times and once more referring to the values of America as a country. Moving further on into the speech, President Obama begins the sixth, seventh and eighth paragraphs with the statements “together, we determined that a, together, we discovered that a and together, we resolved that a…” the anaphora utilised here highlights the will of the president to work “together” in harmony with the people to create a “great nation” that “protects its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune”. Transitioning once again to further on in the speech, one is able to highlight the use of anaphora once again, as president Obama states; “so we must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools”, once again this appeals to the American people as the president tries to further prove his credibility and earn the trust of the people. The main aim of the speech is to highlight the credibility of president Obama as a man who is willing to fight so that America can further progress, the speech also aims at demonstrating the aims of the president and his plans as to how to develop the country, in these instances Obama utilises anaphora to good effect, allowing the audience to resonate with his message as it has an impact on their lives and most importantly their country, this further allows them to portray their patriotism and further the patriotism shown by president Obama, as he wishes to make great strides towards even more success of the country. Throughout the speech, anaphora is utilised frequently, and in each instance of it being mentioned, it signifies the unity of the country, as well as how nothing can be achieved without togetherness, thus placing the intended audience which are the citizens of America. The repetition of “our journey is not complete until…” once again portrays president Obama’s will to work together with the citizens of America toward the progress of America as a country. President Obama implies that he is unable to do it without the support and togetherness of each person. In conclusion, Barack Obama’s inauguration speech is filled with rhetorical devices, each of which highlight the inability of him to undertake such a historic role without the support and togetherness of each and every person. His speech aims at proving his credibility to the audience, as well as highlighting the strides America can make if each citizen contributes to the development of the country.