We started this week with some personal writing, looking ahead to what 2016 might hold for you. Since it is the year of your high school graduation (hopefully) the potential is there for change in a lot of ways. I asked you to think about two different forces of change - internal and external - things beyond your personal control as opposed to those within the scope of what you can. Then we turned that question to the book and looked at the arrival of the missionaries.
- What are the different forces of change in the book? What are the forces external to the Ibo? What are the forces within the tribe, or within families, or personal to Okonkwo, or other characters?
The next topic we discussed revolved around questions of knowledge and belief. I had you write four sentences starting with the phrase "I know..." followed by four sentences that begin with "I believe...." Our questions then turned to issues present in the middle of the novel:
- What does it take to change a person's beliefs? What does it take to change a person's knowledge? Which is more difficult? Why?
Next I had you re-tell the story of what another person in the class did on winter break. While they were funny and entertaining, it was also a difficult experience for someone to have another person tell their story. This was the question we explored as we read the final chapter of the book as we saw the District Commissioner have the final say. Why does he get to end the book?
- What does it mean for one person to tell another person's story? What is lost?
Lastly we explored Okonkwo's suicide and your take-aways from the book overall:
- Why does Okonkwo commit suicide?
- Why do things fall apart?
With that last question we noted that neither side can fully be seen as either hero or enemy - that Okonkwo is a flawed character yet also the victim, and the missionaries do not all act the same way (Mr. Kiaga was interested in dialogue but the District Commissioner focused on law and order). And yet the book does give us the chance to see multiple sides of the story in a way we might not have previously known.
