Friday, February 4, 2011

Things Fall Apart

I read the book Things Fall Apart in one of my AP English classes, during high school.  I remember so little of it, that when I googled it more confusion came back than nostalgia.  Words like "archetypal African novel" and references to Yeats struck me as something new, rather than something I learned years ago.  Obviously this book's impact on my life remains to be determined.

Regardless, the title stuck with me and resonated this week.


These mittens carry so many good memories and fun times in their threads.  Now my thumbs are cold.




Mike's favorite shirt sprung a small hole.  This conversation piece now leads us to a different discussion.  To keep or toss?

The cats know we registered for a new couch.  They took it up on themselves to help us towards our goal.

Achebe's acclaimed novel explores many themes, one being change. The struggle between change and tradition is constant.  The main character's need to feel in control and his fear that other men will sense weakness in him drive him to make decisions, whether consciously or subconsciously, that he regrets as he progresses through his life.



Things fall apart.
People may pass judgment, but we ourselves can bring structure back.

"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity."
-William Butler Yeats



((Egypt in my heart and on my mind.))


2 comments:

  1. Hey lady! Love those mittens. Super cute. So sad they got a hole in them though.

    As for the shirt - you could make a pillow. One of my favorite shirts found a nice hole and some random stain on the sleeves after the wash so I made it into a pillow. The How-To is actually my blog post today! :]

    Hope things are going well for you. <3

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  2. Girl... I so feel this post. The thing to remember, for me at least, is that if I didn't fall apart and come undone every once in awhile, then I wouldn't be put together so well every other time. (Actually there's a book I've read that I can't really remember the plot of but the name has always stuck with me: "She's come undone.")

    I believe: You're in the last home stretch til the wedding; you're in the last home stretch of a school year; your fantastic rehearsal dinner dress was stolen; Mike is busy with school - and that's just the easy-to-spot, surface stuff; nevermind traffic, bad hair days, keeping ontop of laundry, making sure pets are fed and happy, etc.

    You deserve to fall apart, and if that's what needs to be done, then let it happen! You will pull out of it and life to laugh another day.

    I wish I could say my own "falling apart" was due to some monumental thing that just took me out, but it wasn't. It's from the day in and day out grind. I feel like a pumice stone - just worn down.

    So take a deep breath with me and let's bring some structure and control back. :)

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