Chinua Achebe s Things Fall Apart And The Power - 1370 Words

Things Fall Apart and The Power and the Glory Reading Response Chinua Achebe’s world-renowned work, Things Fall Apart, centers around a Nigerian tribe which becomes the subject of conversion to Christianity via missionaries. During the course of this novel, we follow the central character, Okonkwo, through times of stability and times of change in his homeland to arrive at the cathartic ending of his suicide. Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory, however, centers around an unnamed whiskey priest, who is on the run from the authorities in Mexico, where religion has been outlawed. Over the course of this novel, the struggle between church and state is illustrated as well as the conflicting perspectives of the people both are trying to†¦show more content†¦Having seen the way his father was mocked, Okonkwo’s entire life was â€Å"dominated by fear of failure and weakness,† and he made it his goal â€Å"hate his everything his father loved† (Achebe 13). This, in turn, caused to Okonkwo to become â€Å" a man of action and a man of war† even though â€Å"perhaps down in his heart, Okonkwo was not a cruel man† (Achebe 13). Because of the community he lived in judged a man according to his worth as it was part of their culture and custom, the action-driven Okonkwo was able to succeed despite living in the shadow of his father’s failures. In addition to Okonkwo’s success in his village, Achebe also shows how religion and culture is a source of stability by portraying it as a system of justice and moral code. The egwugwu, or the ancestral spirits of the tribes, served as the closest thing to a legal system in Okonkwo’s society. In the context of the story, the egwugwu judged the case of Uzowulu, who was the kind of man to â€Å"not listen to any other decision† other than the one given by the egwugwu (Achebe 94). Another source of ultimate authority was Ani, â€Å"the judge of morality and conduct† (Achebe 36); when Okonkwo or any other m an broke her laws of peace, they were punished accordingly. The villagers and their beliefs about their ancestral spirits enabled a system of peace and harmony. In many ways, Achebe portrays the tribe’s culture and customs as an essential part of society in its own way, keeping the people together with

William Faulkner s A Rose For Emily - 1265 Words

Love, Loss and Longing—three traits that many would agree Emily Grierson, the main character from William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose For Emily†, experiences inexorably. At first glance, one might be confident in one’s understanding of the story at face-value, claiming it to be a thrilling mystery with a mysterious ending. Another may try to analyze contextual evidence to answer some of the many unanswered questions this story proposes. Why does Emily sleep with the corpse of her late husband? Why does she kill him in the first place? Yet, I will not attempt to do so, at least not directly. I will instead turn to the perspective from which this story is told: that of the townspeople. The ways which they describe Emily will lead to tangential yet important realizations that they share more with the outlandish characters they describe than they realize, illuminating basic human tendencies that we all share along the way. In Part I of the story, Emily is introduc ed in detail that, at first glance, one may insignificant to the plot yet somewhat telling of Emily’s condition. After careful reflection on the words used, however, one could draw a very different conclusion: â€Å"[Emily] entered—a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head† (1). Emily is, in part, a manifestation of the negative effects that inevitably accompany wealth. First, she is described as wearing all â€Å"black†Show MoreRelatedWilliam Faulkner s A Rose For Emily951 Words   |  4 Pagesliterary Response to â€Å"A Rose for Emily† â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner was published in 1930. This short story is set in an old southern town. I believe that this and several other combinations of events are what made the main character Miss Emily go insane. Miss Emily was an old school southern woman trapped in a modernizing society. She tried desperately to keep to her old ways, but the changes that happened around her were inevitable. This made me feel like something was going to goRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s A Rose For Emily1316 Words   |  6 Pagesminuscule detail in the writing. In order to fully enjoy William Faulkner’s â€Å"A Rose for Emily† readers must do the latter. Faulkner is a witty writer; some symbols are less obvious than others in his writing. To fully appreciate and obtain full meaning of the text readers must pay attention to his symbols and how they contribute to the greater theme. William Faulkner uses symbolization in â€Å"A Rose for Emily† to develop a theme of personal struggle. Emily faces many personal struggles: her relationship withRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s A Rose For Emily1181 Words   |  5 Pages Is William Faulkner s A Rose for Emily iconic American literature? Faulkner uses setting, theme and plot to show the ways â€Å"A Rose for Emily† is an iconic American literature. Faulkner saw the Forum magazine with his short story he wrote, â€Å"A Rose for Emily† and found out that was his first national publication. The Mississippi Writers Page says, â€Å"The man himself never stood taller than five feet, six inches tall, but in the realm of American literature, William Faulkner is a giant† (MWP). Read MoreWilliam Faulkner s A Rose For Emily1528 Words   |  7 Pagespoint of view is A Rose for Emily told? Why? In William Faulkner s short story A Rose for Emily the reader is given the account of an old woman who is rejected by society. The reader is acquainted with Miss Emily Grierson by a spectator, somebody who is not Miss Emily, but rather part of the town that rejects her. The storyteller has a somewhat omniscient perspective, knowing more than the normal town s individual, however not all that matters there is to think about Miss Emily. The storytellerRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s A Rose For Emily1801 Words   |  8 Pages William Faulkner is known for his many short stories, however, many has wondered what has influenced him in writing these stories. Like his well known, most famous short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, which has always been compared to â€Å"Barn Burning†, one of Faulkner’s other short story. It only make sense to compare them two together because these two stories has may similarities , whether it may be in setting , characters or style they favor each other . Nevertheless they also have many differencesRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s A Rose For Emily957 Words   |  4 PagesBereavement While a â€Å"Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner and â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† by Flannery O’Connor share the common themes of unexpected death and the old south, the murders found in each story are vastly different. Both stories tell of strong female protagonists who don’t cope well with change and both foreshadow death right from the beginning, but the murderers themselves come from completely different worlds. Emily Grierson of â€Å"A Rose for Emily and the grandmother in â€Å"ARead MoreWilliam Faulkner s A Rose For Emily879 Words   |  4 Pagesare both similar due to how these emotions cause a human to act irrationally. The lone woman in A Rose for Emily and the cashier, Sammy, in A P both portrayed a greater sense of hate which overcame their love. We as humans, capable of powerful emotion typically act too quickly to even understand the consequences of our actions. One prime example is portrayed in William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily, Emily loved Homer tremendously, however he did not feel the same way †he liked men, and it was knownRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s A Rose For Emily1682 Words   |  7 PagesLyons Professor Amy Green Writing about Literature COM1102 Oct. 06, 2015 William Faulkner s A Rose for Emily is a short story that has also been adapted into a short film; both have been largely debated. Faulkner’s lack of a normal chronology and situation-triggered memories generates a story that has many understandings among its readers, but surprises everyone at the end. When asked about the title of his story, Faulkner said, [The title] was an allegorical title; the meaning was, here was aRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s A Rose For Emily854 Words   |  4 Pages Literary Response to â€Å"A Rose for Emily† â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner was published in 1930. This short story is set in an old southern town. I believe that this and several other combinations of events are what made the main character Miss Emily go insane. Miss Emily was a old school southern woman trapped in a modernizing society. She tried desperately to try and keep to her old ways, but the changes were inevitable. This made me feel like something was going to go wrong very early inRead MoreWilliam Faulkner s A Rose For Emily1810 Words   |  8 Pages William Faulkner is one amazing writing ,who is known for his many short stories .However, many has wondered what has influenced him in writing these stories . Like his well known, most famous short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily†, which has always been compared to â€Å"Barn Burning†, one of Faulkner’s other short story. It only make sense to compare them two together because these two stories has may similarities , whether it may be in setting , characters or style they favor each other . Nevertheless

Death Foretold free essay sample

Chronicle of a Death Foretold In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez ridicules the hypocrisy of the church, which is central to the life of the village. While the townspeople celebrate the arrival of the Bishop; sex, alcohol, and murder coincide with the supposedly sacred event. Marquez reveals hypocrisy through biblical allusions, the villages hedonistic lifestyle, and the murder of Santiago Nasar. The bible is often used as source of divine inspiration, but in Chronicle of a Death Foretold biblical stories are satirized to reflect the hypocrisy of the church. For example, many of the town’s people are named after biblical characters, such as Maria Alejandra Cervantes and Pedro and Pablo Vicario, while they act in the most unchristian way. Maria Alejandra Cervantes is named after the mother of God, Mary, but is herself a prostitute, the exact opposite of Mary who was the eternal virgin. Pedro and Pablo Vicario are named after apostles, but are portrayed as alcoholics and murderers. We will write a custom essay sample on Death Foretold or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Peter did not directly kill Jesus, but denied Christ three times before his death. Pedro denies Santiago’s innocence before the cock crows three times. Marquez portrays biblical allusion by relating each character to one who played a similar role in Jesus Christ’s life. The small Colombian town is filled with many Christians, yet through the course of the novel, Marquez reveals that the denizens of the town only care about virtues which are contradictory to those of Christianity. The three day festivals which mark Angela and Bayardo’s marriage the party, â€Å"had sacrificed forty turkeys and eleven hogs for the guests, and four calves which the bridegroom had set up to be roasted for the people on the public square. He recounted that 205 cases of contraband alcohol had been consumed and almost two thousand bottles of cane liquor, which had been distributed among the crowd. † (Marquez 18). The sheer amount of goods that Bayardo purchased for the party shows that some Christian’s value gluttony and greed. The town’s people failed to warn Santiago about his murder and showed little to no or care. They had audacity to gather around Santiago’s home to witness the crime, as if they did not care. Instead of following the Christian rule their determination to stick to hypocritical honor codes results to consequences such as the loss of innocent lives. Marquez compares the lifestyle of Jesus Christ to the life of Santiago Nasar. â€Å"Santiago put on a shirt and pants of white linen†(page 5). Like Jesus, Santiago wears a white linen shirt on the day he is supposed to die. White is symbolic for innocence and this choice of clothing promotes Santiago Nasar’s innocence. The nature of Santiago’s death is similar to the crucifixion of Christ. Santiago is stabbed through his hand against a wooden door by Pedro and Pablo Vicario, similar to Jesus being nailed to a wooden cross. The knife â€Å"went through the palm of his right hand and then sank into his side† (Marquez 117). Christ nailed to the cross is a stigma, or â€Å"the bleeding of hands†. While Father Amador performs the autopsy, he discusses Santiago’s wounds and compares Santiago’s wounds to the wounds of Jesus Christ. Father Amador says, â€Å"He had a deep stab in the right hand, it looked like a stigma of the crucified Christ†(Marquez 75). Gabriel Garcia Marquez creates a society that is based on the morals of Christian values. All citizens of the town believe in living honestly, loving, and faithfully, but they seem to believe in values that contradict Christianity. Marquez compares Santiago Nasar physically and ideologically to Christ Jesus. Marquez reveals the social corruption in the town through Santiago’s death. Santiago died for the sake of the Vicario reputation. He died in a way of honor and respect like Jesus. He sacrificed himself for the greater good by dying for others sins.