Note #36
Paper 2 Outlines
1) Pride can lead to failure and self-destruction or to accomplishment and self-fulfillment. Discuss the presentation of pride and its consequences in at least two of the works you have studied.
Pride is a theme explored in great detail in both novels, 'Things Fall Apart' and 'The Thief and The Dogs'. Both novels are united by their presentation of excessive pride, or hubris, as the protagonists' hamartia, leading readers to develop a disdainful approach towards it.
Pride is depicted as a crippling force that incites both Okonkwo and Said to undertake destructive actions. Okonkwo ends up killing Ikemefuna due to his fear of appearing weak and not upholding his pride, even though his emotions towards the boy carried a semblance to love. Said's initially unwavering faith and pride leads him to slaughtering two innocent civilians.
Pride is a prominent character trait used by both authors to amplify the tragic hero archetype. The protagonists of both novels are consumed by a toxic overflowing pride that interferes with their rational thought process and leads them to committing acts that eventually lead to self-destruction.
2) How are challenges to authority presented in the two works you have studied, and what impact have such challenges had on readers or audiences?
Both the novels 'Things Fall Apart' and 'The Thief and The Dogs' portray authority as an evil debilitating entity obstructing the protagonists from fulfilling their goals and serve to represent larger sections of society, i.e, colonialists and the corrupt higher society, respectively, causing the readers to agonise against them to an extent.
The authors' use of rhetorical language serves to illustrate the extremity embodied by authoritative bodies, insinuating that any resistance to them would be crushed and thus elevating the sense of tragedy that resonates throughout both novels. In 'Things Fall Apart', the villagers burn down the church in retaliation to the unmasking of the egwugwu, seen by extension as a challenge to the very principles of the clan. In response, the district commissioner has the leaders jailed and abused.
In 'The Thief and The Dogs', Said's rebellion against the police and Rauf Ilwan proves futile as he is eventually caught and killed.
The response to authority in both novels is hostile despite the differing nature of its origin. While the conflict in 'The Thief and The Dogs' is between different socioeconomic classes in the same society, in 'Things Fall Apart', the destabilizing force is an external one. However, both protagonists have absolute disdain for authority which flames the external conflict between them, and foreshadows their eventual demise.
Paper 2 Outlines
1) Pride can lead to failure and self-destruction or to accomplishment and self-fulfillment. Discuss the presentation of pride and its consequences in at least two of the works you have studied.
Pride is a theme explored in great detail in both novels, 'Things Fall Apart' and 'The Thief and The Dogs'. Both novels are united by their presentation of excessive pride, or hubris, as the protagonists' hamartia, leading readers to develop a disdainful approach towards it.
Pride is depicted as a crippling force that incites both Okonkwo and Said to undertake destructive actions. Okonkwo ends up killing Ikemefuna due to his fear of appearing weak and not upholding his pride, even though his emotions towards the boy carried a semblance to love. Said's initially unwavering faith and pride leads him to slaughtering two innocent civilians.
Pride is a prominent character trait used by both authors to amplify the tragic hero archetype. The protagonists of both novels are consumed by a toxic overflowing pride that interferes with their rational thought process and leads them to committing acts that eventually lead to self-destruction.
Both the novels 'Things Fall Apart' and 'The Thief and The Dogs' portray authority as an evil debilitating entity obstructing the protagonists from fulfilling their goals and serve to represent larger sections of society, i.e, colonialists and the corrupt higher society, respectively, causing the readers to agonise against them to an extent.
The authors' use of rhetorical language serves to illustrate the extremity embodied by authoritative bodies, insinuating that any resistance to them would be crushed and thus elevating the sense of tragedy that resonates throughout both novels. In 'Things Fall Apart', the villagers burn down the church in retaliation to the unmasking of the egwugwu, seen by extension as a challenge to the very principles of the clan. In response, the district commissioner has the leaders jailed and abused.
In 'The Thief and The Dogs', Said's rebellion against the police and Rauf Ilwan proves futile as he is eventually caught and killed.
The response to authority in both novels is hostile despite the differing nature of its origin. While the conflict in 'The Thief and The Dogs' is between different socioeconomic classes in the same society, in 'Things Fall Apart', the destabilizing force is an external one. However, both protagonists have absolute disdain for authority which flames the external conflict between them, and foreshadows their eventual demise.
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