Drumming

When I was in grade school before I had even considered what I wanted to play in band I went to the Pops concert to watch my sister play. Two of the drummers had really cool drum set parts and it really impressed me on how crazy you could be on a drum set and yet still have a rhythm and beat. Then during the intermission of the show the two drummers went up onto the stage and all of the lights went out. Then I heard four clicks, the black lights came onto the stage and the two drummers had black light paint on their arms, sticks, and also two five gallon buckets that they had upside down. They started to play and their hands were a blur of fluorescent light. Their sticks were a blur as the sound of an amazing drum beat washed over me. The two drummers played the same beat and then one would do a solo and then the other would do a solo. They were both swaying back and forth to the beat of the drumming as they were playing. Then they started to do just the original beat again and then they started to go faster and faster. They got so fast that I wondered how they could move their hands that fast. Then they both stopped at the same time, they did one more repetition of the beat and then they clicked their sticks on each others. Then the black lights went out and the stage went dark. I sat and watched, amazed as those two drummers changed my life forever. I will never forget the amazing show that they put on for us. That performance influenced me to start drumming in fifth grade and also to aspire to one day be as good as they where. Every time I try something new with drums and can't think of anything cool, I think of that night for inspiration. Drumming will always be part of my life even if it is just me being a spazz and beating on things with my fingers. I dedicate my spastic moments of drumming to those two drummers who changed my life from that moment on.

Achebe Final Writing

I believe that Okonkwo was a victim because of how the missionaries and converted tribe members treated him and his way of life, and also because of the pressures that the Ibo culture imposed on him.

The missionaries and concerted tribe members treated Okonkwo and his way of life with disrespect when in chapter 22, page 186 Enoch tore off a mask of one of the tribes spirits. The missionaries disrespected Okonkwo in chapter 23 when they invited the leaders of the clan to their compound telling them they only wanted to listen and then imprisoned them until a fine was paid by the rest of the clan.

I think that the pressure that the Ibo culture imposed on Okonkwo also made him a victim. When in chapter 24, page 204 Okonkwo kills a messenger and then knows that the village will never go to war so he hangs himself. Okonkwo knows that hanging himself is a sin in his clans beliefs but he has been pressured by himself to always be a man of action. The pressure from himself and the clan is to much for Okonkwo so he hangs himself even though it is a disgrace because he has been pressured so much that he thinks that ending his life is the only way out.

I think that Okonkwo is a victim in this story because of how much pressure has been put on him from so many different sources and also because of the missionaries and converts mistreating and not acknowledging his and his tribes way of life and traditions. I believe the Okonkwo could have handled the pressure and disrespect better. Instead of ending his life there are countless other ways to handle the situation, all of which in my opinion is a more honorable way the handle his problems.