"All their customs are upside-down. They do not decide bride-price as we do, with sticks. They haggle and bargain as if they were buying a goat or a cow in the market." "That is very bad," said Obierika's eldest brother.”
As I read those few lines in Things Fall Apart, it reminded me tremendously of our society today, where judgment is easily placed on things we are not used to, if we see someone doing things that society is not okay with or believes is right, we tend to look at those people as crazy, ignorant, uncivilized. But it is the mindset of today’s people that everyone has to be exactly like his neighbor because uniformity is brilliant and different is preposterous.
Obeirika settles the marrying off of his daughter by the counting of sticks, but another father settles his daughter’s marrying off by bargaining. One is seen as civilized and the other as uncivilized. If both these men were to be placed in a room together, they both would most likely have a solid explanation for the method he finds fit to his liking to marry his daughter off. So which man would be right? Only one can be right seen as they both are different, correct?
Wrong, just because these methods are different does not mean that one is brilliant and one is preposterous, it means there are two ways to get the end result. With options different than normal, can come change, which is uncomfortable and why it is hard for us humans to accept. This has been the mindset of humans for quite some time, because we can be so closed minded to different beliefs, cultures etc., we forget that a dollar has two different sides but is still worth the same amount. - Rakasha McIntosh
I agree with you to a certain extent. Of course, there are numerous ways to get something you want or get an issue resolved, but the true conflict that lies in us, humans, is we overthink about the level of morality portrayed in the ways in which you choose to go about that problem. Take this example for instance: people in the world are in dire need of money and we, Americans, know that the only way we can get money is by working for it. But say in Africa, the only way they can receive money is by robbing and killing people. Does the dollar still carry the same worth, although the decisions made were two polar opposites?
ReplyDelete-T'Nia Tention
DeleteI agree that a lot of times we perceive certain things that we don't understand as incorrect or immoral even though it may be a part of a normal lifestyle. Such barriers can be surpassed by accepting that one way is not the only way, and that there are many things occurring all over the world that may not necessarily be what we are accustomed to.
ReplyDelete- Valentina Mejia
I agree that people are closed minded to different cultures and religions. Humans have the tendency to believe that their way is the only right way. Which makes us ignorant to the different cultures and religions in the world.~Jaya Jugmohan
ReplyDeleteI want to add onto a point from Jaya. Although people are closed minded, which is obviously seen through the Europeans in the novel, many people don't even realize they're being closed minded about a particular topic, which makes it harder to shift blame on an individual when they don't even see anything wrong with their actions.
ReplyDelete-Rachel Robutti
Like they say ignorance is a bliss, we close ourselves off from different cultures and beliefs because of societies such as the Ibo, they are such a different society compared to that of ours, and obviously they approach situations much different than ours but are they really that different?. We would rather to stay in our own little box in our corner of the world without any knowledge of others out there, instead of learning and accepting the lifestyle of others.- Rakasha McIntosh
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rachel. Just because the way people react to particular topics doesn't necessarily mean they're ignorant or close minded, because some may not think what they're doing is wrong. Take Kurtz as an example, he doesn't see anything wrong with the way he goes about collecting ivory, yet Marlow is able to see the problem with it.
ReplyDelete-Destiny Quinones
I agree with Destiny and Rachel, everyone reacts differently and encounters situations differently ignorance does not mean they are in the wrong. -Rebecca Jones
ReplyDelete