06.09.09

My Comments on Things Fall Apart and More Knitting and Another Hobby

Posted in Book Reviews, Historical Trivia, Uncategorized, hobbies, knitting and crocheting at 4:18 pm by Administrator

Another gloomy day today. . . blah. . .

I finished reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.  I thought the ending was kinda sad, but then found that this book has a sequel called, No Longer At Ease.  I think I may try to get a hold of that copy and check it out.  Hopefully the end of that one isn’t so sad.

The story of Things Fall Apart is noteworthy for several reasons.  Since most literature available to us today is written by westerners, many accounts of what the African was like came strictly from the distant observation of the westerner.  There are relatively few writings from the perspective from the African because they just didn’t write much and thus did not have much preserved written history.  Things Fall Apart is one of the few literary works written from the perspective of a native African who was actually familiar with their native rituals and customs.  Because of this, Achebe is able to give us valuable insight into the lives of one African tribe, the Ibo.  I copied one of their folk tales on a previous post, which can be read here.

Aside from the glimpse of the lives of one African tribe (actually primarily “one” African “man” and his family), we also get a glimpse of their perspective as they encounter missionaries for the first time.  My feelings of missionary work and colonialization is mixed.  While I understand the desire to “evangelize” to those who have not heard of Christ, the disruption to their lives and customs has been distressing to me.  Naturally since many natives had barbaric practices such as human sacrifices and worshiped myriads of gods and idols, the introduction of Christ would definitely be beneficial.  For instance one of the superstitions the Ibo had was that twin babies were evil, therefore, they were not permitted to live.  Immediately after birth, twin babies would be placed in a jar and left out in the forest to die.  Christian missionaries changed the perception of twins being evil by taking the babies in and rearing them.  Not only were the babies able to thrive, but it also showed the Ibo that there was nothing evil about twins.  The Christian missionaries also took in persons who were outcasts.  This practice of taking in outcasts surely displayed compassion, and other acts of kindness like this are definitely desirable examples to a people who have no knowledge of Christ and His love.  However there have been down sides to missionary work and colonialization when not enough respect is afforded to the natives being evangelized.  History has shown us many examples where the lack of understanding and respect to the natives have caused violent uprisings and strife amongst the natives.  Fortunately, writings from people like Achebe can be a helpful insight to outsiders to tread carefully when trying to interact with foreigners. I think books like this have helped discerning missionaries do their work more effectively and compassionately.

The down side of missionary work and colonialization has been when the missionaries and/or colonialists come with an attitude of superiority.  Many times natives were seen as savages, barbaric, and/or less than human.   To be fair, there is a great difference amongst those who call themselves Christians.  While it’s true there were/are many who have faithfully and truthfully worked to help the natives, there were many others such as the Roman Catholics who have exploited natives in the name of religion.  Some priests such as in the early Congo even abandoned their priesthoods to become slave traders.  Philippine history has also shown how the friars looked down upon the Filipinos calling them Indios and considered them beneath the Spaniards.  The mark of these classifications have persisted even to this day where terms such as “white” or “black” have been so thoroughly integrated into our vocabulary that many people don’t even realize that those words were designed to be politically and culturally divisive manipulating.

I also find that “improvements” in the name of modernization has been detrimental to a certain degree.  Certainly proper sewage for sanitation and plumbing is helpful, but the introduction of westernized goods have introduced non-biodegradable stuffs into those countries which are piling up in horrid heaps.  Western goods have also fueled the greed for “material possessions” that once were not as much of a consideration. Both goods coming in and going out have had their drawbacks by disrupting cultural traditions.  Because along with goods comes the “ideals” and practices of another culture.  The Islamic world has seen how this has affected their culture and one reason why they resent the West.  Age-old traditions are being upset and a new culture is being “forced” upon them.  This reminds me of how once both China and Japan did not want to trade with the West, but were forced into trade.  The West forced both China and Japan to trade with them.  As a result Japan learned and exploited the idea of “imperialism,” when once they were isolationists.  And China had to endure such things as the Opium Trade.  South America was plundered, as was Africa, and even the Philippines.  Modernization does not come without a cost.

Anyway, back to Things Fall Apart.   I found it to be an enjoyable read as well as educational.  The writing style was very simple and easy, and flowed well.  I appreciated how the author, Chinua Achebe, wrote in such a way that seemed unbiased, and took consideration of all sides.  For instance, we not only see the “hard” side of a warrior, but also the mind and heart behind it.  We are shown the perspective of a traditional tribe as opposed to that of the missionaries.  There is a “soft treading” missionary, as well as a “hard-handed” missionary.  We see the respect the different tribes afford one another even though they have different customs.  It is this type of wisdom I think that is needed in our world today.  Modernization has forced us to live in a smaller world wherein it is inevitable that our countries interact.   Understanding one another in love, I think is our best bet now.  While I don’t know how things will pan out with our world today, I do like that Obama mentioned in closing in his speech in Cairo that our Bible teaches us a message of “peace.”  And then he proceeded to quote the Bible, Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.”

Two thumbs up for Things Fall Apart!

The other things that have been going on here is that Aaron and I have decided to take up a hobby–drawing.  Well actually Aaron has already been drawing, but his main focus has been on anime style drawings.  But to help improve his style we decided he should try his hand on other types of drawings.  So we hopped down to the art supply store, checked out some books and did some still life, pencil drawings yesterday.  This is our first project together in pencil.  Aaron’s is on the left, mine is on the right.

We were sitting next to each other, so we both saw the bottles in a slightly different angle.

Here’s a close up of Aaron’s first still life.

Here’s a close up of mine.  I think Aaron did a better job, especially with shading, but hey, he’s been drawing more than I have recently!

Hopefully with time we’ll both improve.  Aaron may actually start taking painting lessons, so he will definitely move ahead of me very quickly.  If we keep this up, I may post our progress from time to time.

In addition to drawing, I’ve been continuing with knitting.  I’m not moving so quickly on this one, but this is how far I’ve gotten so far.  It’s a gansey for Brian.

Here’s a closeup of the top half.  The design is supposed to be an Alpine Region design.

Here’s a closeup of the bottom welting.  For this gansey I used an English Channel Island cast on.  A close up shows the little bobbles on the bottom ridge.

And that’s it for now.  I’m still reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, but I definitely like this story more than his Secret Sharer.   I’m also still trudging along with Noli Me Tangere and reading some interesting stuff on John Calvin.  Tonight I plan to listen to a woman lecture on Chumash Indian herbs in Santa Monica.  We’ll see how that goes.

Marlakins

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