Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?
Created: 08/26/16
Replies: 19
Join Date: 10/15/10
Posts: 3442
Join Date: 07/10/14
Posts: 72
Join Date: 02/18/15
Posts: 497
I agree with carolf, he had simply had enough of the war. The bombers were closer and closer and he just wanted it to end. Staying above, he knew he would probably die, but that was better than the alternative of capture or continuing to live and watch his family die or starve to death.
Join Date: 04/07/12
Posts: 250
Join Date: 06/16/11
Posts: 410
I think the man just gave up. The war seemed endless, their life was chaotic. He could see no future for them and no longer cared about the present as it was such a mess. He was just too depressed, frustrated and unhappy to care anymore if he lived or died. Even his beloved wife and child were not enough to make him care.
Join Date: 06/29/15
Posts: 143
Join Date: 05/29/15
Posts: 460
Join Date: 06/16/11
Posts: 17
I also believe that he had lost hope and was paralyzed by a sense of futility in trying to fight for a normal life for himself and his family in the face of that war. He probably also simply lacked the strength to face the effort of survival and the rebuilding of the life he had worked so hard to achieve once the war ended. At the time of his death, it seemed clear that Nigeria would most likely triumph over Biafra, but the likely fate of the Biafrans was very unclear. It all just became too much.
Join Date: 01/22/11
Posts: 95
I agree with the other posts that he just gave up. He had no more strength to go on. It brings up the question that I also am intrigued by: What makes some people give up, and others fight thru such adversity and still push on and on. You can see that in so many situations. Is it something in a certain personality, or is it something we learn, or model. Certain personalities seem weaker to handle adversity.
Join Date: 01/22/11
Posts: 95
I agree with the other posts that he just gave up. He had no more strength to go on. It brings up the question that I also am intrigued by: What makes some people give up, and others fight thru such adversity and still push on and on. You can see that in so many situations. Is it something in a certain personality, or is it something we learn, or model. Certain personalities seem weaker to handle adversity.
Join Date: 01/01/16
Posts: 434
Join Date: 02/11/16
Posts: 60
This for me was one of the most important parts of the story - obviously because it dramatically impacts on Ijeoma and her mother and makes their separation possible, but also because of its thematic significance.
The need for change is a big theme in Under the Udala Trees and when change seems impossible, believing in the possibility of change is what keeps people going. Ijeoma's father lost the ability to believe in change and that's why he stayed in the house - he had lost hope. Ijeoma survives because she never loses hope, and at the end of the book, she is still hopeful for change in Nigeria. It seemed very terrible to me that he stayed in the house.
Join Date: 08/11/16
Posts: 27
Ijeoma's father has given up hope for the war to end and life to return to the way it use to be. He probably was suffering from depression and guilt of not being able to provide for his family. It was a conscious choice, I believe, to end his life. Something all to common when there is no hope.
Join Date: 12/06/12
Posts: 55
Ijeoma's father, in my mind had given up hope. He did not want to continue to see his life being torture through not being able to provide for his family and seeing what could happen to him during the war if he was caught. I felt very sad for his family. What did Ijeoma's father think how that was going to help by him not being there for them?
Join Date: 08/11/16
Posts: 27
JAKL1 - I know!! Sometimes taking the easy way out is best for the person who does it. The ones that are left behind are the ones who suffer. Maybe the thought of others doesn't cross their minds when they are in such a depressed state.
Join Date: 06/13/11
Posts: 272
Join Date: 05/14/15
Posts: 49
I felt that he chose to stay in the house because he could not accept the reality outside; to leave the house and enter the shelter would mean that the war had really come and things he hoped wouldn't happen have happened. And it broke him. His works has changed, was completely up-ended, and he couldn't adapt.
Join Date: 12/04/11
Posts: 63
Join Date: 12/03/11
Posts: 276
I agree with the other posters that Ijeoma's father had given up hope and his way of expressing that was to refuse to go to the bunker. He had had enough! As a narrative device, his refusal works as a way to advance the plot. If her father hadn't died, Ijeoma's mother might not have sent her away, and without that, there is no story.
Join Date: 06/16/16
Posts: 19
I understand the rationale that the other evaluators are stating about this question, however, I cannot get past the feeling that Ijeoma's father was self-centered in his decision. It was self-destruction ...a coward's way out of a tough man's problem. His wife..his child...his family..needed him...yet, he put himself before them. Mothers and Fathers in similar circumstances put their child...their loved ones...before themselves..often falling on the sword fighting for their welfare. His decision left his family so destitute and abandoned with long-reaching fingers into the shaping of their lives. As the author creating the plot and characters, I understand how this part of the story is needed. But, when transferring that into the lives of the readers, the message I received was not pity for him...he took the easier way out for him...not his family. Actually, I found myself quite disappointed ..bordering on anger....with his actions and where they took Ijeoma and his wife. Just another viewpoint on the character of the father.
Reply
Please login to post a response.