Agbala Do-o-O!

Here's my monologue. Its in Chielo, the priestess', point of view as she tries to figure out her standings in life; she must remain loyal to her god but at the same time, she has ideas to defy Agbala. Agbala in this case, refers to the Oracle.

In the midst of the nervous tension, I forgot to say some lines while presenting so please take that into consideration while reading it.

Agbala do-o-o! Agbala do-o-o!
I address you Agbala, as the priestess of the Oracle of the hills and the caves. Tell me of what is to come! Is Umuofia safe? What Agbala says must and will happen...lest they want to be struck with his anger. Great Agbala will protect Umuofia! Now .. what is to come oh great Agbala?....

There is no answer, he will not answer. I suppose Agbala does not want to tell me...or there is nothing to tell. I admit, I am scared. Agbala tells me things. I hear what others cannot hear, see what others cannot see...It is scary, I admit. For hours I lose conscience and track of time..this is when the spirit of Agbala is upon me. I end up back in the cave of Agbala but I am tired; drained!

For hours, I have no memories. Sometimes if I'm lucky, I get flashes of memories. Just flashes though, mere tid bits. Just last night, as I was prophesizing, I saw the face of my lovely daughter Ezinma. She was looking up at me with fearful eyes. She did not seem to recognize me.

Pray tell me, oh mighty Agbala, tell me that Umuofia will be safe...That those I cherish will live long and that my daughter Ezinma will stay.

...Sometimes I think, if Agbala prophesizes, can I prevent it? With these calloused hands, will I be able to change the future? Protecting my village from unwanted disasters? As the priestess, I cannot do this. I am bound by soul to this cave. This cave so dark and damp that men fear. I must keep strong...but these thoughts take over me just as Agbala does. It is not preventable and plagues my mind. I cannot change the future Agbala has set out. But still, fear lies in my heart; doubt of my ability too. But I must trust Agbala, for this is what my duty is. Be gone such thoughts! Foolish Cheilo...let me prophesize once more before I go to the market...the lively market where I can see Ekwefi...perhaps my lovely daughter Ezinma will also be there. I shall bring them my bean-cakes to enjoy...The market which shall bring me distractions from foolish thoughts...I shall go...Agbala, mighty Agbala, what is to come?

Your blog post for this week will be to write a response to your pre-Spring Break essay, where you answered the question, "Is Okonkwo a hero" (you will get your essays back tomorrow). Has your opinion changed now that you've finished the novel? Why or why not? Feel free to include any thoughts concerning post-colonialism or cultural relativity.

Is Okonkwo a hero? My opinion before spring break was that he was somewhat a hero. He definately wasn't a hero in the few chapters of what we read in my eyes...however, that was looking at the defination of hero in a modern scope. If you look at how the Igbo people valued and measured one's prestige, it's easy to tell that there is a major difference.

Okonkwo had an abundance of yams, three wives, many children, and a high class title. "To top it off", even though he was this successfull, he was still quite young. He could be considered a hero to many of the Igbo people (just not by me).

To answer the question, my opinion has not changed. I cannot deem him to be a modern day hero but definitely one from the Igbo culture. I find many of his traits unfavorable as he acts on a conduct of strict masculine principles which ultimately lead to his downfall. His brash and violent attitude makes him a wife-beater and a child abuser; hardly the quality wanted by heroes. Yet, there is something about his moronical persistance towards up-keeping his image of the strong warrior that is admirable in a way. His fiery spirit and determination is what made him so successful and is inspirational to the other village members. They find his success which was built from virtually nothing as a reminder that hard work is rewarded. This belief is common in the Igbo culture and is reflected because there are stories of the tortoise being punished for his cunningness. Additionally, there is the custom of treating men with no titles as the undesirables of the clan.

In conclusion, my opinion has not changed. Okonkwo is the hero called"Roaring Flame" in Igbo times but his fire is sure extinguished in the modern era.

P.S guys, TMRW is SUPERHERO DAY! (spirit week)

Cycling Through Grief

Your blog post for this week concerns your independent novel study. Please identify and describe the central conflict, or conflicts, in your novel. Who, or what, is involved? How is it resolved (if you've gotten that far)? Does it remind you of a conflict from another work of literature, movie, television, or your own life?

The central conflict in my novel, The Lovely Bones, concerns the main character Susie Salmon and her surroundings on Earth. There are actually many conflicts in this book: father vs. mother, brother vs. mother, sister vs. sister and many more. The small conflicts gather to create one big conflict of how the Salmon family must deal the hardships of losing a loved one. Some examples of the smaller conflicts would include how Susie's younger brother Buckley starts to hate his own mother after she walks out on the family. Even Susie's mother is dealing with a conflict of her own at the time as she has troubles accepting her daughter's death. Her decision to leave the house is made from the desperate desire to escape the realm of memories that trigger depression in her. Another would be Lindsey, Susie's sister, having to deal with the community and everyone around her that sees her not as "Lindsey" but as the "sister of the girl who was murdered". Although on the exterior, the main conflict seems to be the family vs. Murderer and how Mr.Harvey will be caught, the real conflict lies elsewhere.

While there are man vs. man conflicts present in this book, the true conflict should be categorized as man vs self because the story really involves the idea of how each person connected with Susie has to deal with the grief. After some research, I found that there are five stages of grief:

- Shock and denial

- Anger

- Bargaining (asking for a deal with God or the Doctor)

ex: "I'll be a really good person from now on so please bring my loved one back"

- Depression

- Acceptance

Thus, the conflict is resolved when the family and friends of Susie reach the stage of "acceptance". They are able to accept that Susie is dead and cannot come back but is probably watching over them. They still feel some sadness but are not traumatized over it and are able to "get over it".

I'm sure that this process of grief is something everyone can relate to in one way or another. We all must experience losing loved ones in life and understand that it is important to accept the loss. This is a really sensitive topic that many might not be comfortable with.

Personally, the first "death" that I have dealt with is the loss of my great-aunt. I fondly remember her as she played with me in my childhood every time I visited Japan. She withered away as she caught a branch of Alzheimer's disease, forgetting everyone she loved and loved her back. Sometimes I ponder that maybe I never went through that grief cycle with her or that I quickly accepted her death as I did not go through those four other stages. (Or I'm still in the denial stage)

All in all, I wish for her to rest in peace and everyone a long happy life.

Thanks for reading!