Journal 12/3/13

I am doing a mood space, so my essay will be about what I'm planning to do and Ms. Harrison will be my audience. Location 692-715 (pp. 63-65) "Okonkwo did not taste any food...Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed." What does Okonkwo's reaction to the death of Ikemefuna say about his inner struggle with being a "real man?"

I think that the fact that Okonkwo is struggling with Ikemefuna's death shows his changing definition of what a "real man" is. In his culture, crying is associated with weakness and femininity, so he has to deal with the fact that people see him as weak. Okonkwo his afraid that the fact that he is crying and not eating in order to mourn Ikemefuna's death will be viewed as not manly and the women in his household and in general will stop listening to him. I think that this is the main, or at least one of the main struggles of the book; discovering and dealing with Okonkwo's changing definition of what it means to be a man.