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Old 08-28-2013, 01:48 PM   #23
Hamlet53
Nameless Being
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl View Post

. . .



I wanted to know what happened to Okonkwo's people & heirs. Therefore, I read No Longer at Ease which is set in the 1950s and is about Nwoye's son Obi, "the grandon of Ogbuefi Okonwko who faced the white man single-handed and died in the fight". Similar to his grandfather, Obi also finds himself alienated from the changing culture and experiences a tragic downfall as the result. Whether or not it is appropriate to befriend or marry osu is a major part of the plot. In this book Nwoye reveals what he thought of the death of Ikemefuna and his father's action. This story also has an interesting passage in which Achebe tells us what he thinks of books where the main character commits suicide. What is the legacy left behind to this new generation? This quote summed it up.

Spoiler:
"When I was young I knew of them-Okonkwo, Eseudu, Obierika, Okolo, Nwosu.... And many others, as many as grains of sand. Among their fathers we hear of Ndu, Nwosisi, Ikedi, Obika, and his brother Iweka-all giants. These men were great in their day. Today greatness has changed its tune. Titles are no longer great, neither are barns or large numbers of wives and children. Greatness is now the things of the white man. And so we too have changed our tune. We are the first in all the nine villages to send our son to the white man's land." Our son specifically refers to Obi, Okonkwo's grandson sent to England for his education at the expense of the village.


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Thanks for mentioning the follow-up book and adding another book to my TBR list. .
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