Thursday, 28 February 2013


1.Based on your reading of “Things Fall Apart”, what aspects of the Igbo culture allow the British to take over? 

Their practice  of  Animism is one of the major aspect that allows the British to do so. Their belief  on supernatural   power   could give them prosperous and  bless  make them believes that everything has it own Goddess. Goddess of earth, tree,sun even the mountain. These believe however is protest by some of the people in the clan. For example, Okonkwo's friend Oberieka  who oppose the idea of killing  Ikemefuna( Chapter seven), he advice him to be more considerable,after all he was just a boy. This is one of the reasons why after some chapter we learn that his sons Nwoye accepted  Christian. He felt as if their practice of making human sacrifices is cruel. Other than that he doubt his clans practice,laws and rules which most of it requires sacrifices. Other practice or laws that  allow British to take over is the dispose of twin child. There is a women mention (Nneka) in the novel that throughout her life have given birth to more than two pairs of twin. And all her twins never got the chance to live their life,in other words, she never took care of them because it is most frown upon in their clan. . This women also converted to Christian. (Chapter Seventeen) .In chapter twenty , Onkonkwo himself admitted that their  people have fallen apart . Theres this conversation between him and his friend Oberieka proves that most aspect of Igbo culture allow British to take over. 

 "Does the white man understand our custom about land"?
"How can he when he does not speak our tongue? But says that our customs are bad,and our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad. How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers , and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart."


2.Since Sarawak has also undergone colonisation, how has this affected aspects of culture in our society? 

Well,  i am a S'wakian and i am so proud of that because i  come from Ulu background. I say it does not  affected that much. However, i would say it improves our life style a bit. My parents knows a bit of English language because when they were in school (although not completely done with it)  used English as an intermediate language . At least they know a bit of english basic conversation. Japan colonisation however teach us a a bit of  their culture.. The "bow' when meeting people, this practice suit the need of some society. Such as the Muslims, for they cannot shake hands with persons of the opposite gender (except their own family) . Even today we still used their sandals,not their sandals which specifically made  by them and then  exported to our country,no, what i mean here is  we name the sandals that we used in our every day life as  selipar jepun.

3.Are there any changes brought about in the lives of the indigenous tribes in Africa and Sarawak? 

First of all,i dont understand this question, so i am very sorry if my answer stray from the path.

In Africa, their life is much more comfortable now . Their daily job gets more easier because they get helps form the metal machine that they used to dislikes. Their lives become much more meaningful as they have a religion to uphold, they will always refers to God for helps and advises. They practice laws and punishment which have a much more sense of humanity. In Sarawak by the way, they still practice their custom but to some certain extend. Most of the people accepted religion. For example, in one family the parents have  seven children. Ater they undergone the colonisation,four of the children converted to Christian and the other three converted to Islam. Untill today they still love each other and pay a visit to one another  after sometime. What i mean here is that, the family bond are still strong it just their religion are different. That is why we're Sarawakian  live in a land that practice one of many. Malaysia Boleh!!

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