Response to Kobe's Post:

I had not really noticed that the book appears to lack a central plot line. After reading his blog post I did notice that at some points while I was reading I felt a bit disconnected from what was happening which is probably an effect of the lack in central plot. After giving it thought the points where I have been most interested were the ceremonies and different cultural things which do not a need central plot line to be interesting. Good point Dellers.

I am enjoying reading Things Fall Apart. I find the cultural things that are included in the plot to be very interesting. For example, I thought the huge ceremony with the town, that would be a simple court case today, was a very unique way of a culture to deal with issues. I am enjoying the simpler writing style of this novel because I feel that I can focus more on what is happening and the culture more than deciphering what the text means. I am excited to see if the culture is different in the new place Okonkwo is being forced to live.

I really enjoyed the first 5 chapters in Things Fall Apart. One thing that I was thinking about after I read is how it was just acceptable for one clan to give another clan a boy and a girl for committing a murder. I didn't realize it until I had finished reading and was thinking about what happened to realize this. I think this shows just how different the culture and society is there. I did find the reading to be much easier to comprehend than the previous works we have read.

Achebe Response

Before reading this essay I actually had not thought about the Western perspective that we all look upon Africa with. For me the most influential source of information about Africa is the media. I have not read a book about African history before and have never thought about the perspective in which I receive my information about Africa. This essay has made me optimistic about reading our new novel to gain a more realistic perspective.