Part 1 Questions

1. Okonkwo is a man who's life is led by fear, pride, and determination. his fear is of becoming a failure, his pride of being thought of as a warrior, and his determination to be considered a strong, wealthy, and powerful man. Okonkwo is a very hard working man, and he works hard to cultivate and grow his farm, to have strong sons, and a respected family all of which make a good leader. even though Okonkwo is a good leader he is somewhat different from the heroes my own community is familiar with. people who are considered heroic in Umuofia are usually warriors and hard working farmers, and although there are some similarities between the two there are many more differences. Strength is usually regarded as power, however a strength can also be something like facing your fears, and your weakness can hiding from your fear.

2. Unoka, Okonkwo's father, was a very carefree man, and he was usually regarded as a woman. Okonkwo's feelings toward his father are those of anger because his father was called a woman, he was disapproved of by all, and he achieved nothing in his lifetime.Unoko's actions shaped Okonkwo's life tremendously, unknowingly Unoko's actions caused Okonkwo to let his life be controlled by fear, and to have difficulty in showing his love. In their culture their can be two types of people, those who are honored, and those who are a disgrace to the clan. To succeed in this environment a person could be neutral neither a disgrace or an honor. The system of taking titles is very common all around the world even if it's less noticeable in some countries and there are some differences. in this culture titles are very important because when earned it gives power and respect. Women are almost always regarded as worthless, not worthy of titles.

3. Chinua seems to understand Okonkwo, and Okonkwo's reason for most of his actions. The nine villages seem to have little almost no contact with each other although they follow some sort of support system. Chinua also seems to show his fondness at time of Enzima and wrestling. His point of view seem to lean towards Okonkwo's favor however he keeps everyone's actions in neutral, not really judging, chinua's values seem to revolve around respect, determination and courage. His perspectives seemed to be that women had their place in life as did men and everything that happened, happened for a reason.

4.This novel takes place in southeastern Nigeria during the 1890's and their culture is of the Igbo/ Ibo people. In this culture they value strength,power,wealth,determination, and success. They believe in very powerful Gods and Oracles. Rituals, ceremonies, social hierarchy and personal achievement are of great importance in the Igbo culture. Rituals and ceremonies help keep the spirit of the clan alive while social hierarchy place leaders in their midst. Social life is based on how successful a man is the more wealth he owns the more he is respected. Some very important celebrations are wrestling matches, communal ancestral feasts, the crowning of titles,and more. War is considered a chance to prove oneself of their strength, religion is very important in their lives if they create an abomination then they believe the gods will wreck their lives. Every man in Umuofia is expected to be a warrior,to defend their honor, pride, people, and abide by the rules of the elders. people from the igbo culture and the people of the Hispanic culture have many differences with a few similarities, here are some examplescustomsOne of their very common customs is ceremonies, the ceremonies the Igbo culture hold are very different from those of the Hispanic culture, for example the Hispanic culture has marriage ceremonies that are held in churches while in the Igbo culture if a man takes a woman and has talked to their family then once he takes her she is his wife. The Igbo people also have naming ceremonies while the Hispanics don't. Their customs are very different.perspectivesIn the Igbo culture the women are definitely not held as high as the men. And in the Hispanic culture the women, although not thought of so dimly, are considered the weaker, and warriors in the Igbo culture are recognized as fearless, hardworking men, the Hispanic culture had somewhat the same idea.BeliefsThe beliefs of the Igbo people concerning religion consist of one supreme god called Chukwe and other lesser forms of gods that are sorts of messengers of Chukwe whereas in the Hispanic culture there is one God.valuesBoth cultures value many different things for example the Igbo people value strength, wealth, a firm handover the household, and hard work now in the Hispanic culture they value these things too but they aren't so vital for a good man.

5. The people of Umuofia are afraid of evil restless spirits and dangerous animals of the night, they especially fear snakes however to avoid the snakes they call them strings.

6. The cause of the disagreement between Mbaino and Umuofia began because a man from Mbaino killed a woman from Umuofia.

7. The most important crops are Yams, Cassava, Coco-yams, and beans. the seasons are Planting season, carefree season, harvest season, and dry season. Share-cropping is not a very profitable arrangement, when a man doesn't have many seeds he goes and asks his neighbor for some and after he has grown them he gets a third of the harvest. womens crops are Cassava, coco-yams, and beans. Yams are the king of crops and it is a mans crop. Crops are assigned to men and women because a man's crop requires more strength. The relationshipof woment to agriculture seems to be one of restrain because the woment are held back from harvesting any of the important crops.

8. The family's relationship with each other is one of well known acquaintances and sometimes friends. Okonkwo's home appears normal according to Igbo custom. Okonkwo's relationship with his wives is one of a firm leader, his feelings toward Nwoye seems to be of frustration towars his laziness, Ekwefi is the only woman towards which he really appreciated, and his daughter Enzima is somewhat of a trophy in his heart. Men in the Igbo culture are the founders and the women are the supporters. Okonkwo seems to think that women are much too weak and should all be more like men.

9. Okonkwo beats his wife because she left to her friends house and didn't come back in time to make him dinner. This shows the values of the culture which are completing the man's whishes and the man completing the gods like a chain of command. Ezeani believes wife beating should not be permitted because it is an abomination to the Earth Goddess.

10. when i began reading at first I was outraged at how women were treated in this culture. I was angered because of what my community had taught me, which was that men and women were equals, but as i placed myself in that sort of envirionment i realized that i would have most likely thought Okonkwo's actions justified. what seems most foreign to me was what they interpreted as as the Gods anger and how many gods there were. what seemed most familiar to me was how among the children there were customs about what a girl could and couldn't do and the same with boys.