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Under the Udala Trees


Raw, emotionally intelligent and unflinchingly honest--a triumph.
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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

Posted Aug. 26, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?


Posted Sep. 05, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
carolf

Join Date: 07/10/14

Posts: 72

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

He has simply given up hope that the war will end in the near future. He has heard of the terrible ways that men are tortured and cannot face that fear becoming a reality.


Posted Sep. 05, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
reene

Join Date: 02/18/15

Posts: 497

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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.


Posted Sep. 05, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
juliep

Join Date: 04/07/12

Posts: 250

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

I agree, he did give up. I don't blame Ijeoma's mother for being angry with him, but then who knows how any of us would react in wartime?


Posted Sep. 06, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joyces

Join Date: 06/16/11

Posts: 410

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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.


Posted Sep. 07, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
louisee

Join Date: 06/29/15

Posts: 143

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

I also agree with the other posters that Ijeoma's father had given up hope. He didn't think things would get better and he wasn't able to make things better for his family.


Posted Sep. 08, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
dianaps

Join Date: 05/29/15

Posts: 460

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

I believe he had become depressed with the war and just gave up. He could see an good end to it all.


Posted Sep. 10, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
jeant

Join Date: 06/16/11

Posts: 17

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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.


Posted Sep. 11, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
kate

Join Date: 01/22/11

Posts: 95

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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.


Posted Sep. 11, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
kate

Join Date: 01/22/11

Posts: 95

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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.


Posted Sep. 12, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Maggie

Join Date: 01/01/16

Posts: 434

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

I think that he felt he could not save his wife and child and just gave up. He did not want to live in a world where he could not protect his family. Unfortunately this was a cowards way out.


Posted Sep. 12, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
KateB

Join Date: 02/11/16

Posts: 60

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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.


Posted Sep. 13, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lauriew

Join Date: 08/11/16

Posts: 27

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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.


Posted Sep. 14, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
JAKL1

Join Date: 12/06/12

Posts: 55

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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?


Posted Sep. 15, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lauriew

Join Date: 08/11/16

Posts: 27

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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.


Posted Sep. 15, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Peggy H

Join Date: 06/13/11

Posts: 272

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

I agree that he was depressed. I also think that this was a lead in to the story as Ijeoma misses her father but can't help,but think that the man of the family has deserted her.


Posted Sep. 16, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
alissac

Join Date: 05/14/15

Posts: 49

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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.


Posted Sep. 17, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
sharalynnep

Join Date: 12/04/11

Posts: 63

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

He simply gave up. He probably knew deep down if he stayed in the house he would probably be killed but he just didn't care..


Posted Sep. 21, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
juliaa

Join Date: 12/03/11

Posts: 276

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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.


Posted Sep. 21, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
rebeccal

Join Date: 06/16/16

Posts: 19

RE: Why does Ijeoma's father not leave the house and go to the bunker with his wife and child?

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.


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