Unknown Story
Storyboard Text
- Chapter 1
- As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with the kings.
- Chapter 11
- That is why Tortoises shell is not smooth
- Chapter 14
- Here was a man whose chi said nay despite hisown affirmation.
- The author uses figurative language like proverbs in the story. There was about one proverb, or more in each chapter. The author uses these to either give advice or just explain what the Igbo people believed about the early colonization of Umuofia (now known as Nigeria). The author also uses proverbs to help the reader gain a better understanding or go deeper into what was actually occurring back then in the Igbos everyday life. This proverb could mean that if a child respects greatness they could eventually become great. It's saying that a child has to work hard to become a wealthy, well known person in the Igbo culture.
- Chapter 16
- my buttocks
- Language, especially folktales are a huge part of the Igbo culture. They tell folktales in the story to help teach young children morals and lessons, including the tortoise story. The story is about a group of birds and a tortoise. The tortoise couldn't fly so the birds gave him feathers so he could fly with the birds. The tortoise became cocky and greedy and once he got to the big feast he ate all of the food, including the food that he wasn't supposed to eat. The birds ended up taking his feathers from him so when he tried to fly back down to earth, he fell and cracked his shell. The lesson taught to the young children was if you become greedy and cocky, there are consequences.
- Chapter 21
- the leaders of the land in the future would be men and women who had learned to read and write.”
- A huge part of the Igbo people was their “chi.” Chi was the individual god that each man had. The Igbo people believed that if a man worked hard, so did his chi but, the same thing for a man who did not work hard…. His chi would give him back luck and misfortune. This is another proverb that basically says that a man's actions define his destiny. The author probably included this because earlier in the story Okonkwo had always had good luck meaning his chi always said yes as well but, later in the story we find out that Okonkwo has bad luck from “wronging the gods.” This proverb is put in the story to show the true Igbo values.
- Chapter 25
- When the Europeans came to Umofia, language caused a lot of conflict and misunderstandings between the Igbo people and the Europeans. This quote shows that the different languages between the 2 make it hard for them to communicate and get along. The Europeans probably thought the Igbo were being rude when they were saying “buttocks” and the Igbo were probably wondering why they were saying that.
- “Many people laughed at his dialect and the way he used words strangely. Instead of saying ‘myself’ he always said ‘my buttocks.’”
- The Europeans used language against the Igbo people saying that if kids did not learn to read and write someone would come take them in the future. This caused major conflict in the story because the Igbo people believed that if a student went to school they were going against the Igbo religion but in reality the Europeans were trying to educate the young Igbo people even if they didn't mean to go against their language.
- The Europeans had absolutely no respect for the Igbo language. They thought the Igbo language was weird and never tried to respect it. This was a major reason the Igbo people and Europeans had so much conflict. The language of the Igbos showed that they weren't these crazy savages that the Europeans thought them to be but, since they never tried to understand their language or culture the Europeans always thought of them that way.
- “One of the most infuriating habits of these people was their love of superfluous words, he thought.”
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