Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

1491 Words3 Pages

Fear is like religion which can poison thoughts and bias views before overwhelming and ultimately taking over one’s innocence and morals. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s reprehensible actions are caused by his fogged view of right and wrong since his life is dominated by a lifelong fear of failure. Okonkwo’s profound fear of failure originated from his failures of his father Unoka, and Okonkwo’s life purpose is to be the opposite of Unoka and to achieve high titles. If Okonkwo’s Ibo culture prospers then the title hierarchy will remain and Okonkwo can eventually earn his respected place in his community. Fear takes over Okonkwo’s’ ability to process reason and responsibility, and loses sight of why his village makes certain decisions when changing events make things go astray. Okonkwo feels as though he must maintain a high and respected title in his community, and he does all he can to protect his ego. In addition, his fear of failure causes Okonkwo to impulsively react to events that pose a threat to his chance at high titles and success. Due to Okonkwo’s fear of failure, he dangerously strives for personal achievement and success, which causes him to irrationally react to drastic changes in his Ibo culture and ultimately leads to his downfall.
Throughout the novel, Okonkwo’s fear of failure pushes him to have a high and well respected ego in his clan. Although Okonkwo does all he can to protect his ego, some obstacles cause Okonkwo to lose sight of reason. Earlier in the novel, Achebe describes the customs and rules of the Week of Peace, a single, sacred week in the year where the Ibo culture honors the Earth Goddess for a healthy year for crops. Although Okonkwo knows about the reason of the week...

... middle of paper ...

...their toll. Okonkwo ignores his emotions various times throughout the novel just so that others would not see him as weak or lesser than what Okonkwo wants to be seen as, powerful, perseverant, elite, and ultimately successful. Furthermore, Okonkwo fails to listen to the reason behind the decisions made by his community and in turn reacts irrationally and irresponsibly to the situation. Overall, Okonkwo’s fear of failing suppresses his potential to enjoy life, rather than living life just to make others think highly of him. Okonkwo’s inability to subdue his lifelong fear of failure limits him to react irrationally to situations without processing what is happening with reason, and ultimately the mistakes Okonkwo makes throughout his life add up and lead to his conclusive demise, suicide.

Works Cited

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor, 1994. Print.

Crises of Self-Image in Things Fall Apart: The Reasons for Okonkwo's Actions
796 Words | 2 Pages
Despite his love for the culture in which he was born, Okonkwo, an esteemed member and warrior of the Ibo peoples of Africa, has a difficult time complying with the traditions of his tribe. Although he respects the tribe’s customs and the decisions of the elders, Okonkwo often makes rash decisions that bring him and his family unnecessary troubles. He strives to gain the tribe’s respect, as well as to compensate for his father’s “failed” life by portraying himself as the perfect man and warrior; however, his efforts toward honor seem to always end in dishonor. In a way, the reasons for his behavior come from deep within Okonkwo himself, not the culture of which he is a part. Compensation for character flaws turns in overcompensation, which places him out of touch with his community. In short, his sense of, and obsession for, self-image acts as a catalyst for his actions throughout the book.
Read More
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
1373 Words | 3 Pages
Akunna on one of Mr. Brown's visits. " We also believe in Him and call
Read More
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
659 Words | 2 Pages
Okonkwo was well known through out the nine villages because of his achievements in the tribe. Okonkwo had a great fear of becoming like his father. This had a rather large impact on his life and how his personality. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was a lazy man whereas Okonkwo was a hard worker, Okonkwo ruled his house with a heavy hand and he was a man of war.
Read More
Pride in Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe
636 Words | 2 Pages
In the novel Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, the main character, Okonkwo, has a lot of pride. There is a well-known aphorism, ?Pride goes before a fall.? Through Okonkwo?s hard work, he became a great man, with a sense of pride and haughtiness. He then suffered a loss of pride, which ultimately led to his down fall and even his suicide. So, through Okonkwo?s actions, Achebe suggests that excessive pride can lead to down fall.
Read More
Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe
1351 Words | 3 Pages
In the novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, women play the roles of oppressed homemakers that are perceived as weak and defenseless second-class citizens, as the educators of children, and as spiritual leaders in traditional Ibo culture. Through the life of Okonwo, the main character of Things Fall Apart, the roles of women in traditional Ibo culture are presented through various events that take place in the village of Umuofia. In traditional Ibo culture, women were to stay at home and tend to her husbands’ needs and satisfy them. Women were viewed as property of their fathers and were then sold to the suitor that was willing to pay her bride-price. A woman had no identity of her own, the status and position of her husband defined her. Women were considered inferior to men and were not to challenge or question their authority. When Nwoye’s mother or Okonwo’s senior wife questioned how long was Ikemefuna to stay with them, Okonwo was stunned at her questioning him and furiously responded, “ Do what you are told, woman ,” When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?”(14). And so Nwoye’s mother took Ikemefuna to her hut and asked no more questions. In observance with the Ibo view of female nature, the clan allowed wife beating. The novel describes two instances when Okonwo beats his wives. The first instance is when Okonwo beats his wife, Ojiugo for not coming home to prepare his meal. He beat her severely and was punished but only because he beat her during The Week of Peace. Any other time people would not have come over to see why a woman was screaming, but this was during the Week of Peace, and to beat someone during The Week of Peace was unheard of. The second instance is when he beats his second wife, Ekwefi for ...
Read More
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
865 Words | 2 Pages
... his words that he committed a great evil; we live in peace with our fellows to honor our great goddess of the earth without whose blessings our crops will not grow. You have committed a great evil (Achebe 30). Okonkwo displays another fit of anger during the feast of the new yam, when he almost killed his second wife with a gun because she cut a few leaves off the banana tree to wrap some food. Without patience to discern her explanation; she was beaten mercilessly and almost got killed. Okonkwo lacked a sense of affection towards his family, which can be linked to his fear of weakness. He repudiates any show of emotion or patience in order not to appear weak. His household lived in a perpetual fear, he never gave them the opportunity to get close to him without been scared of him, and this really had a great effect with the relationship he had with his household.
Read More
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
2074 Words | 5 Pages
...y had let the other messenger escape. They had broken into tumult instead of action" (Achebe 205). Everything he lived for and believed in was going to be taken away by the white men. They had control over everything. He did not want to see that happen so he took his own life. Yet, this is ironic because, in doing so, he was committing an act which was considered one of the worst actions a member could do in the Ibo society. Throughout the story we see how strong Okonkwo's personal beliefs were and how much they meant to him. Beliefs, both personal and those of the society someone is born into, play a major role in their life. This story is an example of what happens when those beliefs are taken away and others are forced upon a person. Everyone needs to believe in something, and things fall apart when they no longer can.
Read More
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
966 Words | 2 Pages
In the book, Things Fall Apart, there are a couple of folktales that are extended throughout the book. These folktales contributes to and comments on the central narrative of the story. Animals and folktales were important to the Igbo people. They used animals in fables and stories to demonstrate their beliefs and rituals. With all rituals, animals and symbols play a crucial role in Igbo society. The fable of the Tortoise and the Birds has uncanny similarities with Okonkwo and his rise and fall. The tortoise’s strength and cunningness eventually gets to be too much, which ends up crushing him. And Okonkwo’s inability to adapt to change leads to his demise. Both the tortoise and Okonkwo’s seek to be strong in society and they both want to be known as important. That is why I believe that the fable, The Tortoise and the Birds, is the closest fable to the central narrative of the story.
Read More
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
741 Words | 2 Pages
Okonkwo is not all that he may seem; as there is more than what meets the eye. Okonkwo is the primary protagonist within the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo is a cruel yet kind man who has everything yet has nothing, which in turn creates a sympathetic character. A character such as Okonkwo has many facets; or masks if you will. Then we have his many influences: the Ibo culture; his father Unoka and of course his own personality. Then there is a staggering list of achievements. Okonkwo is a strong character but thinks only inwardly - especially towards his father - which will be discussed further in this essay.
Read More
Things Fall Apart Okonkwo Analysis
733 Words | 2 Pages
Here the irony is undeniably present. To commit suicide is to offend the Earth, as believed by the people of Umuofia. It is said that to kill oneself “is an abomination for a man… his body is evil, and only strangers may touch it” (207). Suicide is regarded as a grave sin and a shameful way of dying, and any man who commits suicide is seen as a failure and weak. Okonkwo is just that: a failure and weak. Okonkwo spends his whole life trying to be seen as a success and continuously performs act of strength even though he sometimes has to pay a price for it. In the end he pays the highest price of all, which is his life, and all his efforts to be successful become useless. He is now a shame and a failure in the eyes of his clan, just as his father had been.
Read More
Things Fall Apart
1974 Words | 4 Pages
Okonkwo is often described as being similar to characters in Greek tragedies. Okonkwo knew that the end of his clan was coming, and that they would do nothing to prevent it from happening. He took his life out of desperation. He had struggled his whole life to become a respected member of his community, and suddenly his world is turned upside down and changed forever because of an accident. Okonkwo sees that he is fighting a losing battle, so he quits. Suicide was one of the biggest offenses that could be committed against the earth, and Okonkwo?s own clansmen could not bury him. Okonkwo?s death symbolizes the end of patriarchy in Umuofia. The last page of the book is from the point of view of the white Commissioner, who notes that he wants to include a paragraph on Okonkwo?s life in his book entitled The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of Lower Niger. Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs and defeats are all reduced to a paragraph, much like his culture and society will be reduced.
Read More
The Power of Fear in The Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
590 Words | 2 Pages
Achebe uses internal conflict within his protagonist to demonstrate the power of fear. Okonkwo’s fear of becoming like his lackadaisical father is an internal conflict between Okonkwo. “Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.” (Achebe 13). Okonkwo tries to live his life antipodally from his father. Unlike his father, Okonkwo is a hard worker with little debt and a driven personality. His internal fear leads to his decision to beat his wife during the week of peace and to take part in the mandatory action of killing his bel...
Read More
Okonkwo's Failure
990 Words | 2 Pages
Okonkwo’s determination to succeed in life and to not fail leads to his fatal downfall in the end of the novel. His inability to adapt to colonization and his failure to follow the morals of many of the morals of the Ibo culture also are an important key leading to his downfall. Okonkwo was willing to go to war against the missionaries, with or without the clan. He made it clear that he believed the missionaries were in the wrong for trying to change Umuofia. Since the clan wanted no part in the war with the missionaries, Okonkwo took action into his own hands and murdered the head messenger. During the killing of the messenger, Okonkwo had a moment of realization: “He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape. They had broken into tumult instead of action” (Achebe 205). Okonkwo finally understands that he doesn’t have support from his fellow clansmen anymore and he feels as if he loses his place in society. Instead of backing up Okonkwo and his decision to murder the messenger, the clan stood in both confusion and disorder and questioned, “ ‘Why did [Okonkwo] do it?’ ” (Achebe 205). Okonkwo’s impulsiveness causes the clansmen to question Okonkwo’s violent actions against the messenger. Throughout the entire novel, Okonkwo struggles to accept the missionaries and the changes that they
Read More
Character Analysis Of Okonkwo
1034 Words | 3 Pages
It is another to sympathies for a man who believes he is powerful and respected by many when in reality, he is feared by his own family and that is another reason that leads Okonkwo to his downfall. He started positive, motivated but down the line, Okonkwo treats his wives and children very harshly. When the author mentioned, “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children” (pg.13). This is not power but a weakness when Okonkwo uses power to rule his own house, detaching himself from the emotional connection with this family rather than being frightening to live with. The sign of “gentleness” as like his father means weakness to Okonkwo even with his own family. Especially his wives, when the narrator demonstrated the lack of emotion to his wife, “Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his young wife, went to plait her hair at her friend’s house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal… He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo’s return. And when she returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace…But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half –way through, not even for fear of a goddess” (pg.29-30). Okonkwo does not even fear the goddess and the Week of Peace and ends up beating his wife to show that he owes
Read More
Essay on the Downfall of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
816 Words | 2 Pages
Okonkwo takes his life as he sees himself a lone warrior in a society of weaklings. This isolation is truly imposed by his decision of how to handle the conflicts which he encounters. His unitary channeling of emotions, cultural inflexibility, and tendency to seek physical confrontation are compiled into a single notion. The idealized vision of a warrior by which Okonkwo lives is the instrument that leads to the climax of Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart: Okonkwo's demise.
Read More

Open Document

Wait a second!

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

Crises of Self-Image in Things Fall Apart: The Reasons for Okonkwo's Actions