Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Things Fall Apart & The Second Coming
The WB Yeats poem "The Second Coming" is cited in the foreward to the novel Things Fall Apart. After you have finished reading the novel and the poem, why do you think this poem is an appropriate choice to introduce the main themes highlighted in the novel. What is the meaning to the Yeats poem? How does this correlate to the meaning of the novel?
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The poem seems to refer towards to second coming of Jesus. It speaks of an aburpt change and the horrors that will be caused from it. This change distrubs what once was in its attempt to change it. In the novel the Christians come in with good intentions, but even just the presence of them destroys the Igbo people's culture and religion. What was suppose to be a shining light is a dark nightmare.
ReplyDeleteI think that poem was used to empasize that something was coming and that they wouldn't like it at first. It seems to me that it is like someone is coming to replace their customs and traditions and replace them with the Christian belifs that was refered to in the poem as the 'Second Comming'. The second coming refers to Christianity and Jesus Christ.
ReplyDeleteThis poem reminds me alot about the book of revelation. It seems to be rephrasing the bible in the second coming of Jesus (like Kristina said). It talks, just like revelation does about how everything will "fall apart," and in the book the missionaries try to bring about a change, for the "greater good," but instead make things worse.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kristina that they came in with good intentions but that they later destroyed theit customs and traditions. I also agree that the Second Coming refers to Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the poem was a good choice to highlight the novel because it tells of different forces coming in and dirtying the "pure" minds of the Ibo people. It highlights how easily the Ibo people were impressed with the new religion and begin to follow it without remorse.
ReplyDeleteYeats Poem represents how easily people can be influenced by outside forces and how things can fall apart when new ideas shake old beliefs.
The novel, Thing Fall Apart, is appropriately named becaise things really do fall apart in the Ibo ways. At first the missionaries were harmless, then a new leader came and took the intiative to govern the people under his new faith. Due to those actions taken by the new leader, familes are torn apart within clans. Everything truely fall apart.
While the poem was hard to understand, I felt it hinted negatively about the effects of Christianity. "What rough beast... slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?" is an example of making the birth of Christ seem ominous rather than joyous. The Second Coming is usually celebrated, yet this poem seems to point out that ill effects may come from it. The same principals are present in Things Fall Apart. Not only is that phrase in the poem, possibly the inspiration for the title, the poem relates to what happens in the book. Christianity had negative effects on the Igbo people just as the poem suggests that it might. It was a good choice to relate the two.
ReplyDeleteYeats poem has to do with Christianity and Jesus Christ. Also I think that the poem emphasizes that abrupt or sudden change typically leads to things falling apart. For example, the Christians coming in in the novel "Things Fall Apart" and ruining teh Igbo Culture.
ReplyDeleteThis second coming could be a new god. The god the christians talk about is forgiving and merciful and everybody is accepted into this new church. This is blasphemy for the clan. This change in belief allows many members that were not accepted into the clan find a new life and a new religon. There old religon begins to fall apart and so does there culture and cusoms.
ReplyDeleteIan Long posted: I agree with Kristina that the poem refers to Jesus coming back to our planet for the second time. That ties in with how Okonkwo left his tribe for 7 years and then came back. The poem describes how whenever new ideas come to a foreign place, they tend to make the tribe fall apart. Just like how the tribe argued about what to do with the new Christian people.
ReplyDeleteBrittany Suchanek posted: I agree with Crystal on the points that the poem was used to emphasize 'things falling apart', in the society of the Igbo people. Everything that they valued, their traditions, beliefs, etc, was affected when the Christians moved into the area and overtime forced their beliefs onto the Igbo.
ReplyDeleteConnor Frederick posted: I find it ironic that its called the second coming because i believe it speaks of the coming of the church within the story, just as Jesus had a second coming and now the church he created does as well. Within the poem it kind of shows uncertainty of what is coming and not knowing if it will be good or bad for the clan even if the church means well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kristina as well, the missionaries came with good intentions, but everything ended up worse then before they came.
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ReplyDeleteW.B. Yeats wrote the poem in the aftermath of World War I, specifically referring to the Russian Revolution. The poem generally relates to times of turmoil and chaos, which relates quite nicely to Thing Fall Apart. Things Fall Apart itself is a song about turmoil and chaos and could be argued that, with the coming of Europeans to Africa, Umuofia experiences its own revolution, like the one Yeats had in mind when he composed his poem. There are numerous similarities that can be seen when you compare the two situations, which makes it that much more fitting that Achebe chose Things Fall Apart as the title in reference to Yeats poem.
ReplyDeleteBrittany said: It seems to me that the poem refers to a first coming, as in something bad that occurred, this could be thought of as the Christians coming into the Igbo settlement. Then as stated, "Surely the Second Coming is at hand" must refer to hope for some sort of savior or some new way for their troubles to be resolved, so that things can return to the way they were. In the novel, this could be chasing the Christians out and returning to their previous traditions.
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