How can an author use a fictional character to make a statement about culture? Chinua Achebe in his novel Things Fall Apart answers this question by telling a story of british colonization through an african point of view. In this work of historical fiction, Okonkwo wants his honor back after it is lost. But the British took over then he makes a plan to get it back when he returns, so when he cant get it back because the clan is scared to fight and the british has to much power finally he killed himself. Okonkwo illustrates that encountering a new culture can be bad even though the initial change may be good. Before the British came to the nine villages of umuofia, Okonkwo is a well-respected, strong Igbo warrior. Some may say Okonkwo is …show more content…
Okonkwo thinks of the british as a barrier that he cant get around so he has to go throw it. But as he tries to defeat them it is not going as he planned. One way Okonkwo refuses the british is by not doing anything that say and trying to let them see that he does not like they ways. “An umuofia man does not refuse a call” he said. “He may refuse to do what he is asked he does not refuse to be asked”(180). When Okonkwo killed the messenger he felt that umuofia should rage war on the invaders. So when they went and burnt down the church and got caught and later had to be bailed out of jail it changed the clans point of view on the whole situation. They felt that they already was defeated and they should just give up and find a way to live with the british. Okonkwo tried to change the others decision but it wasn't working. “He was not a fighter but his voice turned every man into a …show more content…
He is frowned upon by his family and the rest of the villages. “His anger turns on villagers who want to keep things peaceful instead of facing the need of war, even a war of blame”(188).when the clan turns on him he feels the only people left to go to his family. But when his own family turned him down he gets anger and then he feels that he has to defeat the british himself. “Are all sons the sons of umuofia with us here”(187). He tried to bring everybody back together but he couldn't change their minds. After while he gave up on them. He decided if anybody was going to turn against them and defeat them it would have to be them by
“They will take him outside Umofia, as is the custom, and kill him there. But I want you to have nothing to do with it. He calls you his father. (57)” This quote explains that Ogbuefi expresses concern for Okonkwo, because the Oracle explains how it would be wrongful of Okonkwo to kill Ikemefuna. “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak. (61)” This quote portrays that Okonkwo completely disregarded what Ogbuefi and the Oracle cautioned him about, because he was too concerned about his status of what others thought of him. “At last the man was named and people sighed “E-u-u, Ezeudu is dead.” A cold shiver ran down Okonkwo’s back as he remembered the last time the old man had visited him. (121)” At this point in the story, it appears that Okonkwo is starting to realize his wrongdoings, primarily because he takes religion and his spiritual life very seriously, in regards towards the Oracle. Okonkwo begins to lose trust within his family, especially with Nwoye. (As mentioned in the previous paragraph.) In the beginning of the book, Okonkwo relied on Ikemefuna to help Nwoye become more masculine and tough. After Ogbuefi warns Okonkwo about taking part in the murder, Okonkwo thinks about what could happen to him once the gods find out. Once again, Okonkwo lets his emotions
Some people might say that Okonkwo was just trying to protect the tradition and cultural of his tribal village but in actuality this is far from the truth. When Okonkwo cut down the guard, he made the swift assumption that his clansmen were as passionate about fighting colonialism as him and would follow him into war. When he found otherwise, he could not understand what had happened to his village. The next place he was seen was hanging from a noose in a selfish show of hypocrisy. In the end, Okonkwo's status among his tribe counted for nothing because his own despair over the colonization of his village led him to kill himself. His whole life Okonkwo strived to not to look weak like his father, but in the end he took the cowards way out, suicide. Suicide was a great sin against the Earth. Because he took his own life, Okonkwo, a great leader of Umuofia, had to be buried by strangers. All of his work and perseverance amounted to nothing because of what he had done.
He was in great conflict with the ideas of the white men and the missionaries. Okonkwo saw that their beliefs had not only changed the daily life of the Ibo, but it also changed the people themselves: “He mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women” (Achebe 183). The author uses strong diction to compare the men before and after colonization. This quote also portrays Okonkwo’s opinion towards the cultural collision. He values strength and masculinity immensely because of his fear of appearing weak like his father Unoka. When he describes that the men of Umuofia changed to be soft like women, this shows how much he dishonors the Western ideas and how it has taken over the village. He made an attempt to get rid of the Western influence by urging the tribe to fight like men, but they refuse to. He was determined and still attempted to furthermore encourage the people of Umuofia to revolt against the new culture. He realizes that his attempts to return the village back to the way it was before were futile. He knew that Christianity was tearing his people apart, but knew he was incapable of making change to help his people. Okonkwo then starts to feel hopeless and abandoned by his clan, which causes him to commit suicide by hanging himself: “Obierika… turned suddenly to the District Commissioner and said ferociously: ‘That man was one of the greatest men
The integrity of local cultures is compromised for that of the intruding colonizer. There is conflict between the existing traditions and beliefs in an area and the new civilization's rules and ideas. Each side believes that they are correct and the other is the amoral one. "We felt superior, for we were so much better behaved and we were full of grace, and these people were so badly behaved and they were so completely empty of grace. (Of course, I now see that good behaviour is the proper posture of the weak, of children)" (Kincaid 30). In A Small Place, Jamaica Kincaid states that the Antiguans believed that the English were terrible because of their manners and behavior. She follows that the good behavior of the Antiguans is actually a sign of weakness. Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart also portrays a struggle between two cultures. Okonkwo tries to act against the British colonizer by killing one of their messengers and stopping their influence; however, no one follows Okonkwo's lead. They all are confused as to how they should react to the powerful outsiders. In the eyes of Kincaid they would be considered weak. Okonkwo is the only one who tried to do something about the British, even if it was futile.
“Then everything had been broken.”(Achebe, page 131). Things Fall Apart is a complex story with complex events. The white men were christians while the Igbo people had their own religion. When the white men came, problems arose between the two groups and between the clan itself. This cultural collision impacted many Igbo people but different characters reacted differently. Okonkwo, who recently returned from being exiled, tries to make up for his mistakes but falls into old habits. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe exhibits the ways that when met with a cultural collision narrow-minded individuals may respond with violence and fear through reactions of the protagonist.
The above passages were taken from the end of chapter three, part one. After finishing reading this book and then going back through it, I found these passages very ironic in regards to how the story eventually ended. Okonkwo believed that because he was such a fierce fighter, he could conquer anything life threw at him. However, it was his fierce, proud, fighting attitude that was his demise in the face of uncontrollable circumstances in the end. Okonkwo believed that war and brute fighting would fix everything. He was a proud and stubborn man constantly struggling to improve his standing in the tribal community. Okonkwo also had intense pride for his tribe and way of life. He believed it was the right way of life and not to be questioned. Everyone was supposed to fear war with Umofia due to their fierce warriors and greatness in battle. When the white men not only did not fear them, but openly threatened the tribal way of life, Okonkwo prepared to handle the situation the only way he knew how. He wanted to got to war against the new white invaders, chasing them from tribal lands and ending the threat of different ways of life.
...s return to Umuofia at the end of his exile when he returns home. The white men send their a messenger to the village. Okonkwo is still enraged about Nwoye's conversion. He sprang to his feet as soon as he saw who it was. He confronted the head messenger, trembling with hate, unable to utter a word. The man was fearless and stood his ground, his four men lined up behind him. “In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. . . . Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man's head lay beside his uniformed body” (204).
When the missionaries arrive in Umuofia, Okonkwo’s conflict between fighting back and adjust to the changing society becomes even more extreme. Throughout the book, when Okonkwo feels like he has power, he desires more control and leadership over his community. For instance, Achebe writes, “Even in his first year in exile he had begun to plan for his return. The first thing he would do would be to rebuild his compound on a more magnificent scale. He would build a bigger barn than he had had before and he would build huts for two new wives. Then he would show his wealth by initiating his sons into the ozo society. Only the really great man in the clan were able to do this. Okonkwo saw clearly the high esteem in which he would ...
As you see, Okonkwo was a deprived man after hearing about the whites expanding their beliefs and customs to Umuofia. Being unable to contain it, he had no choice but to give in. Okonkwo wanted to go to war and fight the invading Europeans, but he soon realized that he was the only one hungry for war. “I shall fight alone if I choose” (Achebe 201). Being the only one seeking for revenge, he had no choice but to behead the head messenger who was trying to end a clan meeting. Letting the other messengers escape, Okonkwo’s visual was the truth. “He knew that Umuofia would not go to war” (Achebe 205). Everything that he stood for was now distant. His once powerful and running clan was now weak and resistant to fight off enemies. What was the point to live when everything else had failed him and he could do nothing to resolve it? He struggled with the changes occurring in the tribe. He was known as a very strong and honorable tribesman, but when the whites arrived promoting Christianity and other tribe members began to change as a result, even his own son, he could not bear the change. While viewing the others as weak, like his father, he tries to remain strong against change however he is the only one. Killing the messenger was the last attempt to try and save the tribe from the influence of the white man. Seeing the others not join in his action, he loses hope and in desperation ends his life
Overall, Okonkwo is a crucial part to the story Things Fall Apart, for he represents African culture, and helps demonstrate how colonization can change everything. Through this book we see how colonization changed history, and how it is important for groups, tribes, societies to stay together in times of invasion, in order to protect their own customs and traditions; and how crucial a sense of unity would've been for the Umuofian tribe. Okonkwo was the sense of unity of the tribe, doing everything he could could to protect it. His collection of honorable titles, his love for his tribes culture, his drive and passion, and even his booming pride all contribute to his district character, a true hero in my eyes.
This idea is epitomized through Okonkwo - whose status as “one of the greatest men”, mirrors the prowess of the Igbo culture -, who, by a tragic turn of events is forced to kill his adopted son, Ikemefuna, in fear of “being thought weak.” From thereon, Okonkwo’s tale of woe progressively descends into melancholy, ultimately culminating in his death. The continuously tragic progression of events for Okonkwo, is symbolic for the decline of the Umuofia, as like Okonkwo, it reached the peak of its greatness, after which its circumstances continuously declined, ultimately concluding in its demise.
Okonkwo’s desire for respect motivates his quest to preserve the practices of Ibo culture, while Obierika preserves the practices of the Ibo culture with a more humanistic perspective. Achebe uses the differing approaches of Okonkwo and Obierika in maintaining the cultural doctrines of the Ibo people to reveal his sympathy for Obierika over Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s motives for maintaining the customs of the Ibo originate with fear. Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna while “dazed with fear,” drawing “his machete [to] cut him down” because, “he was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe 61). Though Okonkwo attempts to appear strong to the people of Umuofia, his fearful motivation speaks to a hidden internal weakness. Okonkwo’s focus on eradicating the taint of “his father’s weakness and failure” and his yearning for respect drive him to kill Ikemefuna instead of the more proper motive of simply effectuating what the Ibo conside...
One example of the struggle between tradition and modernity is in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. Throughout the novel, Achebe’s protagonist, Okonkwo, has trouble dealing with change in his tribe. This is particularly in the tribe’s
However, some of the Umuofian people resist change and a conflict between the white missionaries and the Umuofia people begin to arise.
Anyone who has with them the tools to create can be an artist. In the world of art there is no right or wrong, merely different styles, inspirations, and instruments that artist implement in the creation process. During the time of the Romans, however, it is clear that certain forms of art were held in higher consideration than others. This is a time where sculptures and figure painting thrive as the most popular outlet for artists to display their skills and technique. In Ovid’s