Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: Analytical Essay

Cultural Clash Makes Things Fall Apart

“If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism” (Sowell). This quote by Thomas Sowell, a well-known American author (among other occupations), describes perfectly one of the driving themes in Chinua Achebe’s novelThings Fall Apart from the +perspectives of both the Europeans and Umuofian’s like the lead character, Okonkwo. After reading Achebe’s literary work, it was immediately apparent that neither of the two cultures involved knew much about the other. Furthermore, it was made clear neither group was willing to become completely educated in the ways of the “opposing” society, though the Ibo people were more accepting than the British. Finally, the reader observed that the downfall of any hope for co-existence resulted from each culture’s stubbornness and ignorance in regard to one another. The final outcome, as it was left at the end of the novel, was not a result of cooperation, but a result of force. Ultimately, all negative outcomes that occurred as a result of the clashing of these two cultures stemmed directly from the differences present between them.

Ramayan - The Story Behind Diwali

The beginning of winter sees the onslaught of the festive season in India with Dusherra, Diwali, Gurpurab, Id and Christmas all lined up to celebrate. Each festival has a mythological tale that underlines its significance and in case of Diwali it is the Ramayan.

The Ramayan and the Mahabharat are two ancient Hindu texts which are known as itihas. There is unlikely to be an Indian, no matter what his religion, who has not heard these tales as a child. So here I present in short final chapter of the epic story of the Ramayan which is the reason we celebrate Diwali.

Diwali is actually short for Deepavali.It is called the festival of lights or "deeps". The story is that when Ram the exiled prince of Ayodhaya returned after 14 years it was "Amavas" or the dark night of a new moon.

The people of Ayodhaya were not to be deterred by this and all of them lit small lights in large numbers in and around their homes to welcome their beloved prince home. This caused the town to shine like day on the darkest of nights.

So the night was called Deepavali and hence forth each year on the same night the people would light up their homes in a similar fashion to welcome Ram back from exile. To this date the followers of the Hindu religion light up their homes on the same day to celebrate the return of Ram.

Blue Blood, True Blood . . . A Book Review

Conflict and Creation

I came across the name Stewart Swerdlow in my research of the history of our planet. His name came up in You Tube videos (Camelot Project Interviews) and was linked to various researchers such as David Wilcock. I also found that he was linked to the infamous Montauk Project, which was responsible for the Philadelphia Experiment. I had seen the book Blue Blood, True Blood and decided it was worth reading.

In the preface his first sentence and I quote

Save the Planet Kill A Lizard

Mahashweta- A 'Must Read Book'

Well, today when I was just checking out the answers directory, I found one question ‘Have you ever cried while reading any book?’. That question grasped my attention. Reading different types of books, novels, magazines etc have been my passion since long time. Books were like my best friends and always I carried at least one book with me wherever I went, wherever I travelled. The main reason I love to read books is firstly, I can forget whatever my problems may be while reading the book, secondly I can learn a lot from those books and thirdly it increases my knowledge and also, improves my vocabulary. I have read about 60+ books till date and there are few favorites also. One among them isMahashweta.

The Author: Sudha Murty

The Summary

Mahashweta is written by an Indian author Sudha Murty.The protagonist in the story is Anupama, a mesmerizing beauty complementing her name. The story revolves around her life. Anupama, who has a keen interest in literature, Sanskrit and plays and drama, gets married to Anand a doctor who falls in love with Anupama after watching her act in the play ‘Mahashweta’. She too falls in love with him and overcoming all the oppositions from Anand’s mother Radhakka, they get married. Things won’t be very easy for Anupama in the early days of her marriage as Anand leaves for England and promises to call her back after 3 months as she had to stay because of Deepavali Pooja that newlywed bride performs in Indian culture and to cope up with her in-law who had given in to their marriage unwillingly only because of her son. But Anupama promises herself that she will win the confidence and love of her in-law.