Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Thought For Today

Hi chidi, well, as i said at the outset, i don't want to go back and pull the book off the shelf, so i am going by my memory of it. My impression is simply that achebe created this portrait of unoka as weak, in contrast with okonkwo. That he put marks of his debts on the wall to respond to one creditor, i will have to pay off those others before i get to you. This to indicate his moral failures; in contrast with his hardworking son who said "yes" to his chi, and succeeded in life.

The flute and drum were continued markers of this difference. And most of all, it fit with my broader understanding of the goal of the novel, which was to create, in okonkwo, a human figure, great in some ways, but very flawed. I took it that achebe was fed up with one-dimensional characters that typified european fiction-graham green or joyce cary, notably—and wanted to show that igbos had a rich culture, as seen in the novel largely in the speech, the proverbs, and the multiform characters. Most important of course was okonkwo and his sons, but that troubled relation was prefigured in his own relation with his father.

Weakness—strength. The latter was seen in masculinity; and that made him unbending, and stood for those in his culture who failed to bend when they sacrificed ikemefuna.

So, not bending, they broke, and "things fell apart." The survivors, the pliable obierinka, mourned the loss.

That's what i remember. If i were to make my response more convincing, i'd have to go back to that shelf, open that well-worn volume, and find the passages to support my claims. But….this is just us chatting, not at war over weakness and strength.

The novel has stayed with us lo these many many years. It is truly a major marker for all of african literature.

A little hard to find an equivalent in francophone lit. There was Une vie de boy, l'enfant noir, and une aventure ambiguë. You need all three of those together to begin to get the impact of TFA

Ken

Get Outlook for iOS

---

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Chidi Anthony Opara, FIIM, CDOA <chidi.opara@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2023 9:43:31 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Thought For Today

 

Ken,

I am asking questions about fictional characters and situations created by a creative writer. I am fully conscious of that fact that the work under reference is a novel.

-CAO.

On Wednesday, June 14, 2023, Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:

Hi chidi,

I was trying to convey what the novel seemed to be saying. Not my own thoughts on what weakness might mean. There is a certain ambivalence about the characters, or some anyway, that achebe catches. The issue of what unoka "really" was might miss the point that this is a novel, not a biography or ethnography.

Ken

Get Outlook for iOS

---

From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Chidi Anthony Opara, FIIM, CDOA <chidi.opara@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2023 6:41:51 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Thought For Today

 

Oluwatoyin,

Presentation of the Unoka character nuances failure.

Is the economic yardstick the only index for measuring success? 

Are people not economically wealthy necessarily unsuccessful?

Was playing the flute so well and thereby producing music that made the people happy not success?

Should the success of artistic productions be measured only by the monetary gain made therefrom?

Ken,

If Unoka was lazy and weak, how come he played the flute from morning until late in the night, producing music that kept his society happy?

The flute, a weak instrument compared to the drum?

How did you come about this assessment? How do you define "weak" in the context of the situation under reference?

The drum and the flute play complementary roles in the production of music. By the way, the legendary Fela and Manu Dibango mainly played the saxophone(modern flute) for example and got their renown from that.

Finally, we should always bear in mind that Chinua Achebe was human and wrote "Things Fall Apart"when he was in his 20s in the 1950s.

Thanks.

-Chidi Anthony Opara (CAO)

On Tuesday, June 13, 2023, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovdepoju@gmail.com> wrote:

I dont recall if Unoka was presented as a failure but he was a man living ahead of the time where he could have been economically successful.

He was successful as a great flutist but since his services were not required on a regular basis and his payment at those times could not cover the intervals and he did not want to farm, so he was often broke and  in debt.

It would take the colonial encounter, the creation of Nigeria and the expansion of her economy and social complexity for an entertainer such as Unoko to achieve economic viability.

Today, singers and comedians are doing very well in Nigeria but its less likely to have been so in Unoka's time.

Unoka, Okonwo's father, if I recall correctly, is contrasted with Okonkwo by his own son, who strives not to be like him, and wonders why one of his sons seems to share his father's contemplative character.

I dont think Okonwo was presented as a failure. Okonwo and Ezeulu in Arrow of God are at the centre of Achebe's genius as an ironic narrative philosopher.

Both characters may be understood as projecting the Igbo expression, ''where one thing stands, another stands beside it'', a principle of the complementary of opposites, of relationships between constancy and flexibility.

They are both strong, unyielding men, great achievers. But did they discern correctly when to yield or not to yield?

Both of them were defeated by their approach to historical forces greater than themselves, forces that perhaps were better addressed through a degree of compromise.

Perhaps only Achebe can fully answer the last question. Female foregrounding Igbo novels had to wait for other writers, but Achebe seems to have moved in that direction with his short story Girls at War.

thanks

toyin

On Tue, 13 Jun 2023 at 13:26, Chidi Anthony Opara, FIIM, CDOA <chidi.opara@gmail.com> wrote:

It is 65 years this year since the publication of Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" in 1958, a good literary work no doubt. There are however a few questions:

(1)Why was Unoka the flutist who was said to handle the flute with dexterity, producing pleasant notes that made the people happy presented as a failure? Does this connect with the Igbo philosophy of "Ezi aha ka ego"(translated in English to "good name is better than wealth")?

(2)Why was Okonkwo, a radical cultural activist also presented as a failure and his docile kinsman Obierika presented as a hero? This belies the Igbo philosophy of "a brave son rather than a cowardly one, even if the brave son die young".

(3)Why were the enormous influences of the womenfolk in Igboland as recorded in the activities of Umuada(daughters)and Ndi Ndom(wives)not highlighted?

Thanks.

-Chidi Anthony Opara (CAO)

--
Chidi Anthony Opara is a Poet, IIM Professional Fellow, MIT Chief Data Officer Ambassador and Editorial Adviser at News Updates (https://updatesonnews.substack.com)

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CABTLsggpR%2B1VLdKEqCPYADyGa2qHvVtbA9Y1nsMQcMhhJ1c-hA%40mail.gmail.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAGBtzfPc-R3hRrObhajx5XPY8-gpQ%3D8M6p-XyjCgXPOB9otHbg%40mail.gmail.com.

--
Chidi Anthony Opara is a Poet, IIM Professional Fellow, MIT Chief Data Officer Ambassador and Editorial Adviser at News Updates (https://updatesonnews.substack.com)

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CABTLsgiLzKC9jootyMFQ3pOjCoi7zi1rTUMpPaS9kyeOhYof_Q%40mail.gmail.com.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/SN7PR12MB843618388BA62BB6E744FD84DA5AA%40SN7PR12MB8436.namprd12.prod.outlook.com.

--
Chidi Anthony Opara is a Poet, IIM Professional Fellow, MIT Chief Data Officer Ambassador and Editorial Adviser at News Updates (https://updatesonnews.substack.com)

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CABTLsggEW3JvziG2N2ADLC34YfhTtHbTbzDB6Ecb9U2k%2BeepOg%40mail.gmail.com.