Chinua Achebe tells a story set around the 1890’s about Okonkwo who is a well respected and wealthy warrior in the Umuofia clan who is disappointed about the past that his father Unoka left him to hear and ponder about. Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, left debts unpaid upon his death, was cowardly, and as was said earlier in other words a wild spender with his money. Okonkwo isn’t exactly following the footsteps that his father achieved, but he on other hands was a strong warrior, a farmer, and also a provider for his family. Ikemefuna is a young boy that Okonkwo takes care of whom his village won from another tribe. He forms a strong connection with Ikemefuna but isn’t really the type to show much of affection and would much rather stay away from …show more content…
He likes to take good care of the basic needs that he can provide for his family but with such a heavy hand and strong character. All his wives fear of him because of the demanding control he has to make sure everything is pretty much in order like it should be because of his fear of failure. He doesn’t want to end up like his father was towards his lifestyle. “But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness.”(Achebe 10). Okonkwo was a very strong minded and some what independent man who never wanted to see himself fail the way that his father did. He saw how many people throughout the village viewed his father and how he wanted to overcome that by making himself a better man for himself and his clan. He did anything to make sure he was looked as a strong man who never gave up. He described “his passion to hate everything his father once loved.”(Achebe 10). He saw his father as a weak minded man because he never achieved himself a title of high ranking like Okonkwo thought was necessary. He overcame his fear by showing everyone that he is very strong and determined but he will always be scared of becoming a failure. He feared for his youngest son, Nwoye, because he came off to be very lazy and some what like Okonkwo’s father which he didn’t want any of his family to be like what so
From birth Okonkwo had wanted his son, Nwoye, to be a great warrior like him. His son instead rebelled and wanted to be nothing like Okonkwo. Okonkwo would not change so that his son would idolize him, as he had wanted since his son's birth. He chose not to acknowledge his son's existence instead. This would weigh heavily on anyone's conscience, yet Okonkwo does not let his relationship with his son affect him in the least bit.
Because Okonkwo did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps as a lazy, gentle, and poor man, he decided to create his own legacy. Some may consider this honorable; but as Okonkwo’s character evolves, it is clear that he is crippled by his own desire to escape his father’s shadow. He envisioned his father as weak but his own mindset in turn has weakened him in many areas. This is the narrative in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. The generational traits impact the characterizations of each individual in such a profound way. Okonkwo may have hated the legacy his father left behind but there was no where for him to run away from the bloodline that flowed so heavily through him.
Okonkwo’s first and most distinctive flaw is his fear of failure. Many people would agree that this flaw is driven by the fear of becoming his father, but Okonkwo takes this fear too far. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was known for being a very lazy and carefree man. He also had notoriety of being “…poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat.” (Achebe 5). A big tradition in Umuofia is having a father who is supposed to teach his children right and wrong. In Okonkwo’s case, these lessons had to be self-taught. Okonkwo had to commit to his own understandings of what defined a “good man” and to him that was the exact opposite of his father. Because of his fear to be seen as weak, Okonkwo even murders a child that calls him father. Ikemefuna was sent to live with Okonkwo because someone was murdered in a nearby village. An example of Okonkwo’s ill-hearted actions are shown in the following quote: “As the man drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow. He heard Ikemefuna cry, ‘My father, they have killed me!’ as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” (Achebe 61). The fact that he kills Ikemefuna shows that his reputation is more important than the life of a child. Okonkwo’s fear permits him to receive more respect from his tribe, but only because it inclines him to do better than anyone else.
Okonkwo is “a man of action, a man of war” (7) and a member of high status in the Igbo village. He holds the prominent position of village clansman due to the fact that he had “shown incredible prowess in two intertribal wars” (5). Okonkwo’s hard work had made him a “wealthy farmer” (5) and a recognized individual amongst the nine villages of Umuofia and beyond. Okonkwo’s tragic flaw isn’t that he was afraid of work, but rather his fear of weakness and failure which stems from his father’s, Unoka, unproductive life and disgraceful death. “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness….It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.” Okonkwo’s father was a lazy, carefree man whom had a reputation of being “poor and his wife and children had just barely enough to eat... they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back.” (5) Unoka had never taught Okonkwo what was right and wrong, and as a result Okonkwo had to interpret how to be a “good man”. Okonkwo’s self-interpretation leads him to conclude that a “good man” was someone who was the exact opposite of his father and therefore anything that his father did was weak and unnecessary.
In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Obierika and Okeke bring a peace to the community and themsel and religious lives around them, while Okonkwo and Enoch strike fear and confusion into the communities around them. Okeke and Obierika are from two different worlds but their balanced character makes them similar to one another. Okeke is of Igbo descent but has begun to work as a translator for the Christians.
Okonkwo wanted to become one of the greatest men in the Ibo tribe, but three unfortunate events occur bringing him closer to his end. Okonkwo was a proud, industrious figure who through hard work was able to elevate himself to a stature of respect and prominence in his community. The one major character flaw was that he was a man driven by his fear to extreme reactions. Okonkwo was petrified of inadequacy namely because his father was a complete and utter failure. This fear of shortcoming made him hate everything his father loved and represented: weakness, gentleness, and idleness. Who was Okonkwo, well Okonkwo was a hero and also he...
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...
In the book “Things Fall Apart”, evidence of a social structure was apparent within the Igbo community. This rigid social structure served as a purpose to balance the life of the people within the society, as well as promoting the downfall of the clan. The social structure was important in keeping a centralized society and preventing any sign of corruption within their clan. The social structure had advantages in keeping a balanced and equal society, supporting a division of labor, providing a surplus of food, individual huts, a communal society, and the development of some kind of government. In contrast, this social structure led others to reject to cooperate with the new religion and aided the lack of unity among the people. It also promoted a more patriarchal society, the inferior rank of women, and the lack of strong bonds between family members.
Okonkwo was ashamed of him and did everything possible to never end up like his father. When the narrator stated, “With a father like Unoka, Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. But he threw himself into it like one possessed. And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death” (pg. 18). The.
The Importance of Things Fall Apart & nbsp; & nbsp; The novel "Things Fall Apart", by Chinua Achebe, was an eye-opening account of the life and eventual extinction of an African tribe called the Ibo. It focuses on one character, Okonkwo, who at a very early age set out on a quest of self-perfection. Coming from a family ruled by a man who was lazy and inconsistent with everything he did, Okonkwo vowed to never accept the fate of his father. Okonkwo and his family have suffered through many hard times in their lives, but usually managed to come out on top. Through terrible crop seasons and bad judgement calls, Okonkwo usually prevailed, until the day came when he was faced with a situation that could not be resolved by his strength and character alone.
Nwoye grows tired of his father and is called by the Christian faith and converts. Nwoye’s internal struggle with himself between change and tradition ultimately led him to convert against his father’s wishes. Okonkwo is extremely resistant to change, so he does everything in his power to prevent his family from converting; “‘If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck’” (Achebe 105). Okonkwo uses fear to keep his other children from the Igbo culture.
In life, conflict is simply unavoidable. No matter how hard we try to stay out of conflict, it is inevitable. Even with extremely difficult conflict, people can get through it if they have the right attitude, and make an effort to do the right thing. However, those who lack the knowledge of successfully resolving conflict will be unable to put an end to it. Three major types of conflict include man versus fate, man versus self, and man versus society.
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.
We think women don’t take any big roles at the beginning of the novel but, we are just barely scratching the surface. In the novel, Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe the women are marginalized. Many events happen in the novel that portray how the women were an absence to anything going on. In the novel to have many wives was important because it made the men seem more successful. If they had children it would make them partially successful which at the time was important for them to gain that name.
Weddings are one of the greatest celebrations in any man and woman’s, or the family's life. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, the wedding for any member of the village is one of the most celebrated things. Every woman from the village takes part in the preparing for the wedding feast to make sure there will be enough for all the villagers who are all invited. The wedding is a sacred bond between a man and his new wife, and it is very important part of their lives in the village. In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, he shows us how wedding ceremonies brings people together, bring out the tribal traditions and bring the community together as one.