We participated in a role play activity- each student talked on the forum as a character for Things Fall Apart, a novel by Chinua Achebe.
What did you learn about
your character and other characters from participating in the role-play?
My character was Unoka, the
father of Okonkwo, who was categorized as a female identity in the novel,
before his horrible death in the Evil Forest. He was seen as peaceful, carefree
and not being able to do much, as least that’s what the other characters thought
of him. They disrespected him, and didn’t believe he could do a lot for the
village. This was seen as the ultimate dishonor, not contributing in any way
and being completely selfish. I noticed that other characters treated Unoka
like he was a woman, and disrespected him in many ways.
Why did certain characters
act the way they did during our experience in the Village of Umuofia?
Most characters had a specific
role, whether it was in the novel itself or as a member of the village. For
example, some of the colonizing characters, like Mr. Brown, tended to be nicer
to others and would like people to get along. In contrast, Okonkwo, who caused
fear in his opponents would constantly degrade others, and use insults. This
might be because his role in the village is to be fierce, as well as his role
in the novel. Okonkwo is highly respected among the village people, and due to
this his identity has been formed to be strong, tough, and fearless of others.
How was your experience
similar to and different from the novel?
Well, my experience was
entirely different from the novel. This is because I could see the human
interactions that would come to life by the people role-playing each character.
Every role was overreacted, and this brought to light some interesting
perspectives. For example, Okonkwo became even more of a warrior, and his
violent nature took a few turns during the discussions. As well, other people
playing my character, Unoka, made him seem like easy-going, not caring about
anything type of person. He would often ignore most questions, and he was
depicted as somebody who wanted to play the flute most of the time, instead of
doing anything productive.
How has your experience in
the Village of Umuofia “virtual reality” changed or enhanced your understanding
of the novel and the historical events on which it is based?
What mostly eluded my
understanding of the novel were the historical events that happened during that
time. I had trouble spotting the events that happened during the time period
that the novel appeared in, historically speaking. This activity made other
students role play certain characters, that due to their interactions and
conversations with each other, I could understand better where and when the
language takes place. Also, I realized that the language used in the novel was
a key factor, especially because of the translation to English conflicts.
Overall, I think this activity was fun and entertaining, and it really helped
me understand more about the historical context of the story.
