WEEK 4 ~~~~

Perfect Character A Delusion or Reality

In the novel Animal Farm, the hope for a better world remains unattainable. Even with the change of governance, the animals are eventually mistreated. How is it possible that the longing for good can turn awry when the person is in power for long?

In the case of Okonkwo, he is not painted as someone who is without fault. In fact, he is in many ways a tragic hero. Neither is he a person who is evil despite his part in killing Ikemefuna. Based on your understanding of him in the novel, reflect on the following questions:

• How has Okonkwo been a figure of inspiration and disappointment to his people? 
• What are the characteristics of Okonkwo that you can find in your nation’s leader?

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ARE WE ALSO THE COMMUNITY OF THE "ANIMAL FARM"?

BY CATHERINE JANET TIWI

The longing for good can turn awry happens because as the person is used to the same manifesto or promises for over years, he is blind to the modern changes that should take place at the area. The power is used to rebuild or reconstruct the old and weary development and thus neglecting the right of the citizen to have new infrastructure and advanced technology. The background of the novel “Animal Farm” is based on the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the Stalin era that follows after the historical tragedy (Wikipedia, 2013). The long period of governance results in corruption among the leaders. Instead of having the revolution going on, what can be seen are only greedy and evil ways of ruling which does not bring any advantage for the men in the country.

Okonkwo is inspiring his people in a way which he possesses the braveness characteristic in him. He has no fear towards human and manages to go against Amalinze The Cat whom nobody has ever able to fight with. In fact, such at an early age, he owns barns of successful crops. He has three wives and he almost reaches the highest hierarchy in his tribe’s eye. Okonkwo is also the one who stands for his tribe and fights the transformation that the outsiders bring. On the other hand, the versatile Okonkwo does bring disappointment towards his village. His unacceptable deed (beating his wife) during the Week of Peace makes him be fined by the villagers. Disrespecting the God is a big sin for them. Besides, his action, killing the man of his village is his major mistake in his life. He and his family members are outcast and he brings his family back to his motherland and stays there for seven years. The shameful conflict really hurts his pride as a man with name in his village.

Okonkwo’s characteristic that can be seen in my nation’s leader is his spirit of braveness. On the one hand, Okonkwo’s braveness is shown through his strength during fighting but as for the nation leaders, the braveness is shown in their action to develop the country. They strengthen the diplomatic bonds with other countries and work together to build up the country. The exchange of knowledge and technology can improve the development of the country. For example, Malaysia is having economic relationship with Japan where the knowledge that we learn from the developed country is used in the making of our own national cars. That results in success. PROTON manages to produce various cars suitable with the demand in our country. Besides, Okonkwo has the patriotic spirit in him. He fights against the missionaries when they try to bring in transformation for his village. Our nation leaders are not fighting over the transformation but instead they stand firm for the peace of the country. As we can see, the incident in Lahad Datu really tests the leader’s reaction towards the issue. The leaders choose not to destruct the enemy and their country, they just order the army to move only if they find that they are in danger. This proves the reliability and credibility of our leaders in developing our country.

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THINGS FALL APART : PERFECT CHARACTER - REALITY OR DELUSIONS?

1.    How has Okonkwo been a figure of inspiration and disappointment to his people?

Okonkwo is viewed as figure of admiration because he is the perfect example of someone who is able to rise up from the poverty to become a wealthy and respected warrior in Umuofia. He built his fortune alone without any help from others. He is able to provide his family that consists of 3 wives and 8 children. Okonkwo also has a barn full of yams, a shrine for his ancestors, and his own hut, called an obi. He is also an influential clan member in Umuofia. This is shown when many villagers thought he was one of the Egwugwu. He was a fierce warrior; Okonkwo travels to Mbaino to deliver the message that they must hand over to Umuofia a virgin and a young man. Other than that, Okonkwo also a meticulous planner, he already planned to get himself a title once he comes back from exile. He is someone who plans things ahead of time.

Okonkwo is viewed as figure of disappointment when he is unable to cope with the changes occur. He is a disappointment to Nwoye the moment he illed Ikemefuna. He is an abusive husband and father. He beats his wives and Nwoye because they cannot fulfil his expectation. He is not a filial son as he is embarrassed with Unoka’s condition. His own rashness, anger and violence finally bring about his own distruction.

Overall, Okonkwo is admirable man but he has the tendencies of self distruction.

GLORIA JARAU

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Perfect Character A Delusion or Reality

by Trecy Barbara Johnius

From what I understand about the novel, I found that there are not many good values being portrayed by Okonkwo because I found that the bad values are more obvious in him. One of the good values that he portrays is he shows good leadership to his family. All of his family, the three wives and the children will follow all the things that he commands them to do. For example, all of his children follow their mothers to work in their yam field. They follow the obligation that Okonkwo set for them and never disobey his rules or command because once they disobey it they will get punishment from Okonkwo.

While for the disappointment figure that Okonkwo has portrays is he cannot control his anger (he is a hot-tempered man). When his third wife goes to plait his hair and forget to make lunch for Okonkwo, he beats his wife as she comes back from plaiting her hair. Another example is when his wife has accidentally cut the banana’s leave, and then he beats her again and wants to shoot her when she said that he is not good in shooting. This shows that Okonkwo cannot control his temper which is not good to be a leader.

A leader who can control his followers is a good leader because his followers will respect and obey all the rules and command that a leader has. If all the followers obey a leader’s commands and instructions they will not face any problems or difficulties in handling a task. This is shown in Okonkwo’s character where all of his wives and children obey his commands to work and help with each other in the yam field. The cooperation from all the family members they have many yams for their food.