Umuofia was in a festive mood because the Feast of the New Yams was approaching. It seems to be a lot like our Thanksgiving, were there is a lot of eating and family time. There was a lot of preparing that went into this feast. Okonkwo of course could not get into a partying mood because he is such a workaholic and does not want to waste his time. It would be a lot of fun painting my stomach and back like they did to prepare themselves for the feast. It would be very exciting preparing and celebrating this feast.
The one part in this chapter that really surprised me was when Okonkwo asked who took the leaves off the banana tree. It ended up being his wife so of course he beat her again. He is so mean to his wives I cannot believe they put up with that crap. So then it only got worse when she made some smart comment to him so then he went and got his gun and shot at her. This really made my heart skip a beat when this happen. I thought she was dead I was so depressed, but it was a good thing he missed.
After the in-laws come for the feast and go home the second day begins and they have a great wrestling match going on. The wrestling sounds like a lot of fun, it would be amusing to actually participate in it and watch it happen.
We also got to know Okonkwo’s daughters in this chapter. It was really confusing keeping straight who is who and who is their mothers. Each daughter from his three wives brought Okonkwo a plate and they had to sit there and watch him eat it. This would be very annoying and that is an awful lot for one person to eat; he seems to be a little bit of a hog if you ask me. The last sentence it says “In the distance the drums continued to beat.” Are the drums some kind of symbol or something they seem to mention them a lot? I also think Ezinma is going to be an important character here sooner or later…
3 comments:
I thought the whole wrestling thing was very interesting. I also think that Ezinma will be an important character in the future.
Yea, I thought that the drums were symbolic too. I was thinking that maybe they symbolize tribal unity or something. Like the beat is in them together. I don't know just a thought. I think attending a wrestling match would be pretty awesome too.
P.S. Your blog is fun to read!!
The daughters are nice, despite having a psycho for a father I thought. Watching him eat is some sort of custom I guess, but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say its some archaic form of paying respect to their Dad?
The drums are primary forms of musical instruments found through out Africa. Perhaps Achebe is using this as a metaphor? Meaning continued to beat, meaning life continued to go on in the village day after day? Just a guess.
Ezinma is one of Okonkwo's favorites, and he often wishes her as a son. Kind of a mean thing to wish for, since she's fine the way she is, but again, its a matter of status. Something women simply aren't afforded in this society.
Okonkwo is a real jerk sometimes.
Mr. Farrell
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