Thoughts on "Things Fall Apart"

    The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is an intriguing novel that I am glad to have a chance to read. Achebe has a way of transporting the reader to the place in which the book describes, in this case being the Igbo society in Africa, before colonization. Up to the point where I am reading now, I have been able to comprehend the content and it has been pretty interesting to learn of how the Igbo society lived before colonization began to take over Africa. Although as I read, I find more beliefs that I do not agree with like the fact that men are allowed to practice polygamy and hit their wives when they do not approve of something. One scene that startled me was during the Week of Peace when Okonkwo hit one of his wives just because he was looking for a way to let out his anger. He found that the banana tree had bee cut and his wife tried to explain that she had cut it to give the food that she would serve him more flavor,  Okonkwo disregarded that and hit her to an exagerating point. The only reason why he was punished for what he did, was that he had hit her during the Week of Peace. If this had happened on any ordinary day, he would not receive any consequences for his cruel actions. Another scene that disturbed me was the fact that Okonkwo and his second wife had had many failed pregnancies and one of their dead babies had been mutilated, dragged across town, and thrown out like a bag of rocks with no concideration that it was a human being who had lost its life just so that the upcoming children would stop dying so soon. Although I do not agree with these beliefs and their way of handling, I have no other option but to respect their way of life.