In chapter one of Things Fall apart, we learn about Okonkwo’s father, Unoka. Unoka is described in this chapter as a man that people didn’t have much respect for. He was said to be lazy, improvident, and was in extreme amounts of debt due to him borrowing money from neighbors and never returning the money he owed. He never took any titles. (Mandela 4)
Because of how his father acted, Okonkwo was ashamed of his father. “Fortunately, among these people a man was judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father (Mandela 8).” This shows us that back in the 19th century, some dealt with this issue of people judging them based on things their parents have or haven’t done. Do you think we still see this issue occurring in today’s society? How can this be harmful to a person’s reputation in the time period of the book or even in today’s society?
Making the Modern World: Europe in the 19th Century
Liberalism and socialism and imperialism, oh my!
Yes i believe that we see younger generations being judged on the actions of their parents. An example of this might be if a kids father is in jail for murder, other parents might not want them to hang out with their kids. This can have huge affects on a persons mental state.