Umuofian Society
What is observed about Umuofian
Society :
The wives are in charge of cooking for the family.
Evidence :
Okonkwo's wives cook meals for him everyday.
How is it similar to Singaporean Society :
In most Singaporean families, the mother is a housewife and she cooks all the
meals for the family.
What is observed about Umuofian
Society :
A person is not judged by the type of parents they have.
Hence, a person
whose parents are poor and of low rank, can easily rise and gain fame and
fortune.
Evidence :
Although Okonkwo's father was looked down as an agbala (woman ; also used for a
man who has taken no titles), Okonkwo was able to persevere and through his
hard work, he was able to gain fame, fortune and titles which his father was
never able to receive.
How is it similar to Singaporean Society :
In Singapore,
there are many families whom are poor.
However, some of the children from
these families are able to obtain a high level of education.
When the children
grow up, they are able to get a high - salary job and become rich within a
short period of time ; something which their parents could not be.
Moreover,
many of the children from poor families are able to start their own company,
become a celebrity, or even become a leader in other countries.
Despite the
lousy environment in which these children are in from birth, they are able to
persevere and their hard work in studies pays off in the near future.
What is a SIMILARITY between Singaporean Society and Umuofian
Society?
A similarity between Singaporean Society and that of the
Umuofian Society is that both societies judge its people’s worth based on
what the people are capable of, talented in and not based on their family
background or other factors like amount of money in the bank.
In the Umuofian Society, a very good
example of such a similarity would be the main character himself, Okonkwo.
Though his father, Unoka, was very much a useless and lazy man who is still
heavily in debt after he was buried, Okonkwo’s worth in the society was not
judged based on the failure he has as a father ; rather, he was judged by his
own strength and power, and Okonkwo had proven to be a very powerful man as
he won Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling match and became a well - known wrestler
across the tribe ; even other people from the other tribes feared and
respected him at the same time, he had also proved to be a much more
successful man than his father when he lead Umofia to numerous wars that was
won.
He was well - respected by his society, and given the prestigious place of
an egwugwu, indicating the various titles he must have gained to be able to
get a hold of such a place.
From this, it can indeed be seen that the Umofian
Society do not judge people based on other factors like their background, but
instead, on the person himself ; if the Umofian society had judged a person
based on their background, then Okonkwo would not be such a successful man in
the book.
I find this very similar to our
Singaporean society, as it is indeed true that a person’s worth is judged not
by factors like wealth, but instead, by the person’s capabilities.
Taking the
schools in Singapore
for example, a student’s placing in the school would be judged based on the
results the student had obtained, his capability and not the student’s wealth
or any other factors.
A student being rich or having a famous background
would not aid him in his climb to the very top of the school ; only through
pure effort and hard work would he then be able to clinch the top place.
That is only a small part of the big
picture, because if we take a look at the big picture, a better evidence to
support such a similarity of the Singaporean society and the Umofian society
of sharing the similarity of a people’s worth is judged based solely on the
person himself, would be Singapore herself.
Singapore is a multiracial
society, whereby people of different skin colours and beliefs coexist
peacefully together on this small piece of land that is a little red dot on
the world map.
Singapore
not only houses its own citizens, but also other foreign talent to sustain
its economy.
If Singapore
truly judge people based on their background or their skin colour and not
their own capabilities and talent, I believed that there would have been
riots and revolts everyday in Singapore,
for it was not fair to judge a person’s worth with such a perspective.
Moreover, if Singapore society had truly judged people by other factors,
Singapore would not have been such a success now ; she is recognized as a
country though she was just a small red dot, and we, the citizens are able to
live in harmony and progress as a nation despite having different skin
colours.
It is only through the judgment of people’s worth based on the
individual’s capabilities is the society then able to keep moving on with so
many different talents, and help the nation progress as a whole to strive for
greater heights.