This Is Water

‘This Is Water’ is a commencement speech presented by David Foster Wallace in 2005. In it he discusses the overlooked aspect of real life, and demonstrates the way humans are naturally self-centered. However, one of his more interesting ideas is his theory on higher education. He claims that education teaches you “how to exercise some control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what to pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience”. Wallace essentially claims that education teaches you how to choose what and how to think about something.

In this sense, I tend to agree with what Wallace claims, and this is most likely attributed to my recent experience with the literary work of Alice Munro. After Reading a wide range of stories written by Alice Munro, it is clear how being educated about the characters throughout the story may allow the reader to adopt new perspectives from which to think from. What makes Munro’s stories particularly convenient in demonstrating an understanding of Wallace’s theory is that they encourage the readers to think. Munro provides readers with so much insight into the relatable day to day lives of her characters. This also supports Wallace’s idea that it is most important to control your thoughts to survive day to day life. Therefore, when reading the story, the reader is encouraged to make assumptions about the characters and explore the way they think of them. At the beginning of ‘Royal Beatings’, we hear a description of Flo and the father, through Rose’s perspective and we immediately assume that the Rose leads a miserable life and think “what a poor girl”, this is supported by further descriptions of Flo as a repulsive woman. However, as the story progresses we see the other side of the story, and realize that Rose encourages Flo’s anger and frustration, and that Flo is attempting to connect with her new family due to her pity on the single father, despite her being slightly estranged due to her lack of education. 

Thesis Statement and Outline

Thesis Statement

 In Things Fall Apart Achebe attempts to compare the conflicting realms of Igbo society and colonial civilization shaped by his own desire to reconnect with Igbo culture and explore the seemingly hegemonic acceptance of missionaries. 

Topic Sentences

T.S. 1: Achebe uses the characterization of Obeirika to distance Igbo society from their social and cultural values and traditions and demonstrate a social transition towards colonialism.

T.S. 2: Achebe's development of Okonkwo as a pseudo-biographical character serves to establish similarities in the absence of inherited sense of identity and a renegotiation of a relationship with the Igbo traditions. 

T.S. 3: An attempt at relating cultural aspects of the Igbo and the western world is demonstrated in the way Achebe chooses to oversee some factors of Igbo culture exemplified in the novel by the way he only focuses on Ekwefi rather than the polygamous nature of marriage.  

Conclusion: Ultimately, however, with the death of Okonkwo and the events leading up to it, Achebe suggests that society must progress forward, an idea reflected in his Christian upbringing 

Thesis Statement

Thesis Statement: "In Things Fall Apart, Achebe uses the Character of Obierika as a foil to that of Okonkwo in order to highlight the conflict and contrast between static and dynamic society, ultimately suggesting that in order to survive a society must accept change." 

Okonkwo as A Tragic Hero

“Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe is widely regarded as a window into African Society before – and during – the arrival of the colonialists and missionaries. So why would Achebe decide to characterize the main character Okonkwo as a tragic hero?

A tragic hero is one that is ultimately defeated and usually killed at the end of the story, commonly as a result of their own actions. Tragic heroes usually follow a specific archetype encountering hamartia, hubris, anagnorisis, and ultimately death and/or defeat. Okonkwo seems to follow a similar path throughout the novel. From the onset of the story, we are introduced to the aggressive and determined nature of Okonkwo exemplified by his lack of patience with unsuccessful men. However, more importantly, we see a profound fear beginning to exude from his actions and of the perception of his father. This fear of failure and of looking week can be observed by the reader in Okonkwo's actions, specifically when he kills Ikemefuna despite being advised not to as the boy considers him as a father. Okonkwo's fear can most closely be attributed to his perception of his father as a weak and lazy "agbala" and the way their strained relationship drove Okonkwo to reject all things feminine and weak in men. 

However, in order to understand the true purpose of characterizing him as a tragic hero, we must understand the nature of a tragic hero, the hero at some points in the story is usually seen in a negative light and the author develops a dislike between the reader and their character. However, after the death of the character, the reader almost always feel remorse or empathy towards them feeling as though they received more punishment than they deserved. This can be linked back to the fine line Achebe must tread being a native African Christian convert. Therefore, Okonkwo can be seen as an embodiment of many values of Igbo Society demonstrating its functionality, however, his death suggests an end to one main idea, that of inflexibility and a lack of duality.  

Igbo Background Assignment

Before I begin I would like to thank Mr. Chamberlain for his speech and for sharing his views on colonization, many of which I’m afraid I disagree with. I would also like to acknowledge the honor of being able to stand before an organization as great as the Royal Colonial Institute.

It would be ludicrous to dispute the value of the British and European colonies. They provided direct monetary assets to the British Government and could be regarded as valuable possessions that defined the wealth of our great nation. These colonies were protected and maintained, first thought to be an eternal source of wealth. However, it appears the well has gone dry and the colonies were no longer a source of revenue. Having been a brilliant source of profit, it is a dismal matter to at last see this era come to an end. Over time, our nation has been regarded as the pinnacle of forward thinking and advancement. However, the idea of a new chapter of colonization introduced to us today is in all senses backward.

Supporters of this new colonial stage claim to colonize, capture and destroy in the name of liberty, happiness, and prosperity. They paint a savage picture of the native inhabitants of the colonial lands depicting them as mentally disturbed, subhuman beings, living in a hellish environment supporting a dysfunctional society. As a representative of the Igbo culture, currently under colonial threat in Northwestern Africa, I would like to present them as a sample of indigenous people in order to sway you into rethinking your approach to colonization.

The Igbo people comprise one of the most prominent and diverse ethnic groups in Africa amassing to around 15 million people. However, the Igbo people can hardly be regarded as a single people, made up of over 200 separate groups and dozens of different languages and dialects. Even their cultures differ slightly from one group to another. Therefore, under colonial rule, the Igbo people will most likely be combined leading to conflict and true dysfunctionality. They have occupied their land for over 2000 years proving their success as a society. They build machines, tools and develop simple mining and ironworking technologies contrary to popular beliefs depicting them as animals. The Igbo people live in autonomous villages ruled by their elders in a well-coordinated ruling system regulated by goodwill, mutual respect, and diplomacy. They also delegate different roles and chores in the community to the different age groups allowing for a functional and efficient manner of running their villages. Thus the Igbo define a society in all meanings of the word. The Igbo people even have values not yet established in British society. For instance, women are provided opportunities to progress and become a prominent individual and not just an extension of their husband. They also have religion, in fact, one similar to Christianity where they believe in a God, the devil, and a form of guardian angels. They have a judicial system punishing crimes and solving disputes.

Therefore, if advocates of a new colonial regime cite security, peace, and prosperity in addition to other societal benefits as the flagships of their colonization, then there is truly no need for them as the Igbo people and the thousands of other colonized peoples have already established a society, peace, security, and prosperity. 

Coriolanus Practice IOC

Igbo Society and Colonization

Before I begin I would like to thank Mr. Chamberlain for his speech and for sharing his views on colonization, many of which I’m afraid I disagree with. I would also like to acknowledge the honor of being able to stand before an organization as great as the Royal Colonial Institute.

It would be ludicrous to dispute the value of the British and European colonies. They provided direct monetary assets to the British Government and could be regarded as valuable possessions that defined the wealth of our great nation. These colonies were protected and maintained, first thought to be an eternal source of wealth. However, it appears the well has gone dry and the colonies were no longer a source of revenue. Having been a brilliant source of profit, it is a dismal matter to at last see this era come to an end. Over time, our nation has been regarded as the pinnacle of forward thinking and advancement. However, the idea of a new chapter of colonization introduced to us today is in all senses backward.

Supporters of this new colonial stage claim to colonize, capture and destroy in the name of liberty, happiness, and prosperity. They paint a savage picture of the native inhabitants of the colonial lands depicting them as mentally disturbed, subhuman beings, living in a hellish environment supporting a dysfunctional society. As a representative of the Igbo culture, currently under colonial threat in Northwestern Africa, I would like to present them as a sample of indigenous people in order to sway you into rethinking your approach to colonization.

The Igbo people from one of the most prominent and diverse ethnic groups in Africa amassing to around 15 million people. However, the Igbo people can hardly be regarded as a single people, made up of over 200 separate groups and dozens of different languages and dialects. Even their cultures differ slightly from one group to another. Therefore, under colonial rule, the Igbo people will most likely be combined leading to conflict and true dysfunctionality. They have occupied their land for over 2000 years proving their success as a society. They build machines, tools and develop simple mining and ironworking technologies contrary to popular beliefs depicting them as animals. The Igbo people live in autonomous villages ruled by their elders in a well-coordinated ruling system regulated by goodwill, mutual respect, and diplomacy. They also delegate different roles and chores in the community to the different age groups allowing for a functional and efficient manner of running their villages. Thus the Igbo define a society in all meanings of the word. The Igbo people even have values not yet established in British society. For instance, women are provided opportunities to progress and become a prominent individual and not just an extension of their husband. They also have religion, where they believe in a God the devil and a form of guardian angels. They have a judicial system punishing crimes and solving disputes.

Therefore, if advocates of a new colonial regime cite security, peace, and prosperity in addition to other societal benefits as the flagships of their colonization, then there is truly no need for them as the Igbo people and the thousands of other colonized peoples have already established society, peace, security, and prosperity.