Community Changes Lives

The idea of one fighting against a community to stand up for traditions and what he believes is right is promenately shown in Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart. The main character, Okonkwo, is praised and honored during the beginning of the novel but ends up killing himself to show his community that he would rather die than have his morals, beliefs, and traditions ripped away by the foreigners’ religion. His morals and beliefs included his desires to keep his traditions and hold a sense of community. The ideas Okonkwo died for resonate with me in a way only a few books have. It has made a serious impact in on my actions and my decisions to help others in my community.

Before reading this novel, I would help out my community whenever I could if the opportunity presented itself. Just like for service learning, I would never have gone out of my way to help younger students receive a better education, but because of Service Learning, I had the opportunity to help my community by doing something that is always exciting and self-rewarding. In regards to Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s sense of leading and being part of his community drove him protect the traditions of the community instead of changing with his community. Okonkwo’s ideas have always been with him no matter what ever since he was born. The true desire and obligation to help the community no matter the cost was the impulse Okonkwo was born with. Unfortunately, I was not born like that, but I have discovered a likeness for serving others and priding myself on being a part of my community.

This strong sense of community that I have recently discovered has given me a joy that brings a smile not only on my face but also on the faes of others. After reading Things Fall Apart, my obligation to help others and improve my community has grown exponentially bigger. I have noticed myself helping classmates more and more when they need help and helping my neighbors in any little task to make their lives easier. Okonkwo strives to find any major task to help the Ibo people thrive. “Okonkwo represents the Umuofia’s sense of community and is full with pride and confidence” (Things Fall Apart essay 2). Okonkwo’s pride in his community impacts my life enough for me to completely change my thoughts every day and instead of focusing on my own struggles and successes, I focus on the mistakes of others and trying to improve their lives.