Manhood

Each man has his own definition of manliness. In, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo thought that man is a "man" if he is physically strong, not lazy, has a control of his family, and basically everything that his father wasn't. In the story, A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Lee thought that since he was the "man" of the family, all the decisions that he made were the right ones, and that whatever he did was the best for his family, even though that was not the case.

I personally think that manliness is when a man is able to defend his family, when he is able to accept responsibility for his mistakes, and when he has the power to overcome the obstacles that come in life.

Indian Proverbs

Proverb: 

What does a monkey know of the taste of ginger?

Source: 

http://www.worldofquotes.com/proverb/hindu/1/index.html

Meaning: 

Someone who can’t understand can’t appreciate.

How it could have applied to my life: 

During my sophomore year, I was asked to do a project for National History Day, and my group and I decided that we were going to make a website. Well, this website that we made, took us all the way to the state for the National History Day competition. One thing that I had noticed, while advancing to state, was that not many people appreciated what my group and I did, and I kind-of became frustrated because of this, because we had to do a lot of hard work and for the hard work there was barely any appreciation.

After reading this proverb, it helped me realize that those “who cant understand can’t appreciate,” because people that I had become frustrated with were just not able to do understand what my group and I had done to make it to the state, and so they were not able to appreciate the work we had done.

Proverb: 

The drums sound better at a distance.

Source:

http://www.abillionstories.com/supported-languages/hindi/hindi-proverbs

Meaning: 

We tend to like things that we don’t have.

How it can be applied to my life already:

Whenever I compare the things that I have to the things that I do not have, I “tend to like things that [I] don’t have.”  For instance, when I had an Android phone, I always thought the iPhone was much better than the phone that I had. I thought that my phone was trash. When I was finally able to get rid of my Android phone, I got the phone that I had been admiring for the past two years. After I got the iPhone, it just took me one week to start thinking how much better an Android phone is compared to the iPhone. For me, I always tend to like the things that I don’t have, no matter how new it is or how costly it was. I do not know why, but this always happens to me.

Proverb: 

Dig your well before you’re thirsty.

Source:

http://www.worldofquotes.com/proverb/hindu/1/index.html

Meaning:

 Start doing the things that you know that you are going to have to do, and don’t wait until the last second to do them.

How it has applied to my life already: 

As many of my peers may know, I am over-achiever. I like to finish things as soon as I possible. I do this, because I do not like waiting until the last-minute to finish something, and have to worry about whether I did it right or not. For instance, this year when I was given the coat-of-arms to make for myself, and I had about two weeks to do it. I started and finished everything I had to for the coat-of-arms on the first few days, so that I might not forget and also that I might not have the time to do it on some other days.

I finish most of the work that I am given, the same day or within a couple of days that is given, unless its something takes sometime to do. I choose not to take the risk of finishing something when the deadline is nearing. I really do believe in the proverb. I preach to others that they have to “dig [their] well before [he/she] is thirsty,” because then they would not have to worry about forgetting to do something that they had to do, and also that they would not have to panic when the deadline nears.

Culture

Hitting Budapest by NoViolet Bulawayo:

The culture I envisioned, as I read this story, was very violent and something that I would not have liked growing up in. Just in one day, the kids in the story had seen a suicide, one of their friends had gotten raped, and they suffered from starvation. This story had me envisioning the cruel things that many innocent people have to live through in Africa. It made me think that Africa was a place where people lived horrible lives and had to suffer due to the careless acts conducted by others.

About the Author:

NoViolet was born and raised in Zimbabwe. This story that she wrote, had received the 2011 Caine Prize.

More than one story can tell:

I believe that Abani is correct that, there is more to African culture than one story can tell. One story cannot tell everything that the African people believe and do. One story maybe can tell one or two aspects of African culture, but it takes many stories to learn all about the African culture. People who base their belief on African culture on one single story are very narrow-minded and really are missing out on the rest of the African culture that can be learned.

Things Fall Apart: 

All of this is important before we read "Things Fall Apart," because it tells us that when we read the book, we should not just base our thinking on African culture, based on just this one book. A person can form his/her opinion of the African culture after reading many books that reflect the culture of Africa.