{"id":178905,"date":"2017-06-19T23:04:11","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T17:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=178905"},"modified":"2017-06-24T10:58:49","modified_gmt":"2017-06-24T05:28:49","slug":"occasional-stories-why-did-things-fall-apart-story-of-a-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/occasional-stories-why-did-things-fall-apart-story-of-a-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Occasional Stories: Why Did Things Fall Apart? Story Of A Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Laksiri Fernando<\/a> –<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Laksiri Fernando<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the penetrating novels that I have ever read was Chinua Achebe\u2019s Things Fall Apart. <\/i>When I read it for the first time, sometime back, Okonkwo\u2019s character reminded me of Silidu in Leonard Wolf\u2019s Village in the Jungle.<\/i> Both Okonkwo and Silidu indulged in violence, of course in different ways, but ended up in a similar tragedy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I read the novel for the second time in late 2014 by purpose, impending Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s fall or even predicting it. Okonkwo reminded me of Mahinda this time. Ironically, he also came from Hambantota like Silidu. But Silidu didn\u2019t indulge in violence against innocents like Okonkwo or Rajapaksas.\u2019 Those were the differences. This occasional story was in fact written after Rajapaksas\u2019 fall in early 2015, to draw some lessons for myself, but now published with few changes. It is more fitting to publish it now given the efforts on the part of some to repeat the cycle again. <\/span><\/p>\n

Okonkwo\u2019s Story <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The background to Okonkwo\u2019s story is the conflict between the \u2018white man\u2019 and his Christian mission, on the one hand, and the traditional tribal society in Nigeria and its beliefs and customs, on the other. Part one of the story portrays the traditional tribal society of the Ibo community with nuanced variations from one village to the other. From the prism of the twenty first century, it is a society of strengths and weaknesses; admirable and abominable customs. <\/span><\/p>\n

The story centres around Okonkwo, who is the main character. Unoka was his father. \u201cIn his day, he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow.\u201d I am quoting from Achebe with double quotation marks for you to identify. Okonkwo was different. \u201cOkonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children. Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

He was reacting to his father. Authority was also the ethos of the tribal society. \u201cThat was many years ago, twenty years or more, and during this time Okonkwo\u2019s fame had grown like a bush fire.\u201d Tribal societies are closely knit societies. The \u2018centre holds.\u2019 Authority, tradition and brutal punishments against violations of tradition are the things that hold the society together. It is full of myths and mysticism. They believed in the Oracle pronounced by a witch type woman called Agbala<\/i>. She is a priestess. Everyone had a Chi <\/i>and that is a personal god. If Chi<\/i> is favourable, you are well off or otherwise you are doomed. <\/span><\/p>\n

They had some sort of a democracy. Most of the decisions concerning the village were taken by the elders or the kindred meeting. All other family decisions were taken by the head of the family or the man. Okonkwo had three wives. They lived in separate huts with respective children in Okonkwo\u2019s compound. Okonkwo had his Obi<\/i>. That was a large living quarter. The set up was very much similar to what the Vedda\u2019s had in Sri Lanka until recently. I have seen them during Thisa Harmy\u2019s time in early 1970s. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once, \u201cOkonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife, who went to plait her hair at her friend\u2019s house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal.\u201d This was like a modern-day quarrel in an old fashion marriage in the Sri Lankan or Indian society. The tradition was each wife to cook a plate for the husband and bring one by one to his Obi<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is Ojiugo?\u201d he asked the second wife. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShe has gone to plait her hair.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are her children? Did she taken them?\u201d he asked them with unusual coolness and restraint. It was the Week of Peace. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey are here,\u201d answered his first wife. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDid she ask you to feed them before she went?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d lied the first wife trying to minimize Ojiugo\u2019s thoughtlessness. <\/span><\/p>\n

Okonkwo knew she was not speaking the truth. \u201cAnd when she returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger, he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace.\u201d This was like indulging in violence during peace time or breaking humanitarian law during war time. <\/span><\/p>\n

This was not appreciated in the community. \u201cOkonkwo\u2019s neighbours heard his wife crying and sent their voices over the compound walls to ask what was the matter. Some of them came over to see for themselves. It was unheard-of to beat somebody during the sacred week.\u201d Okonkwo committed a great evil in the eyes of the tradition. The priest of the earth goddess, Ani, called on Okonkwo\u2019s Obi. He declared:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYour wife was at fault, but even if you came into your Obi and found her lover on top of her, you would still have committed a great evil to beat her.\u201d Because it was the Week of Peace. Okonkwo was punished. <\/span><\/p>\n

That was not the downfall of Okonkwo. That was the beginning. Okonkwo was too authoritarian. That was not warranted or permitted by the tradition. Okonkwo had a sort of an adopted son, Ikemefuna. He was brought to the village as a payment from another village in settlement of a dispute. That was some time ago. Now he was part of the family and Okonkwo liked him. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, after the appearance of Locusts on the village, which was considered a bad omen, the elders decided to kill the boy. It was permitted as he was an outsider or a son of another village. The Oracle of the Hills and Caves had pronounced it. When Ogbuefi Ezeudu, the oldest man in the village came to know about it he came to Okonkwo and said \u201cThat boy calls you father. Do not bear hand in his death.\u201d Okonkwo didn\u2019t listen. He said the elders have decided to kill the boy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Umuofia has decided to kill him. They will take him outside Umuofia as is the custom, and kill him there. But I want you to have nothing to do with it. He calls you his father.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Okonkwo did not heed the advice. He wanted to avoid the feeling of weakness or failure. That was the moral degeneration of Okonkwo. When his own son, Nwoye, came to realize that his father had killed his \u2018brother,\u2019 he was disdainful of him. Okonkwo was not the only one who was responsible for the \u2018things falling apart.\u2019 But according to Achebe\u2019s story he was symbolic. <\/span><\/p>\n

There were several other similar events that led to Okonkwo\u2019s downfall. It was not only his down fall, but the downfall of the whole clan. One day a white man appeared.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHe was not an albino. He was quite different. He was riding an iron horse. The first people who saw him ran away, but he stood beckoning to them. In the end, the fearless ones went near and even touched him. The elders consulted their Oracle and it told them that the strange man would break their clan and spread destruction among them.\u201d So, they killed him.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did the white man say before they killed him?\u201d asked Uchendu. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe said nothing,\u201d answered one of Obierika\u2019s companions. <\/span><\/p>\n

There was a long silence. Uchendu ground his teeth together audibly. Then he burst out: \u201cNever kill a man who says nothing. Those men of Abame were fools. What did they know about the man?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

He ground his teeth again and told a story to illustrate his point. This story is also telling. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMother Kite once sent her daughter to bring food. She went, and brought back a duckling. \u2018You have done very well,\u2019 said Mother Kite to her daughter, \u2018but tell me, what did the mother of this duckling say when you swooped and carried its child away.\u2019 \u2018It said nothing\u2019 replied the young kite. \u2018It just walked away.\u2019 \u2018You must return the duckling,\u2019 said Mother Kite. \u2018There is something ominous behind the silence.\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

And so, Daughter Kite returned the duckling and took a chick instead. \u2018What did the mother of this chick do?\u2019 asked the Old Kite.\u2019 It cried and raved and cursed me,\u2019 said the young kite. \u2018Then we can eat the chick,\u2019 said her mother. \u2018There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Achebe\u2019s story went on, and on, and on. Finally, Okonkwo also killed a white man with his Machete and hanged himself. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Let me finish the story here and highlight its lessons briefly as I see it. Anyway, Achebe\u2019s story ends with Okonkwo\u2019s tragedy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lessons of the Story<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Things fell apart\u2019 because of internal and external reasons. All societies have certain ethics, ethos or customs in both \u2018war and peace.\u2019 These moral principles may be akin by and large to all societies and maybe there are universal elements. Okonkwo was one who did not follow some of these sacred principles, for greed of power, wealth or simple pleasure of authority. <\/span><\/p>\n

He bet his wife during the \u2018Week of Peace.\u2019 He killed Ikemefuna who called him father, for fear of feeling weak or failure. Not only he was responsible, but the whole society. The people in Abame killed a \u2018white man\u2019 when he was silent. It was against the sacred principles of the tribe. Finally, Okonkwo could not control his rage and killed the head messenger of the \u2018white administration\u2019 and hanged himself thereafter in desperation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, the \u2018white man\u2019 also or primarily was responsible for the whole calamity, whatever the pronounced pretexts again for greed of power, wealth or simple lust for authority. But they perhaps followed certain principles although pronounced by themselves for ulterior motives. As Okonkwo\u2019s wise friend, Obierika, said: \u201cNow he [the white man] has won our brothers, our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Achebe took the title of the novel from a verse by W. B. Yeats in The Second Coming<\/i> which says the following: <\/span><\/p>\n

Turning and turning in the widening gyre<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":92325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nOccasional Stories: Why Did Things Fall Apart? 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