The similarities between Okonkwo and Oedipus, of Things Fall Apart and of Oedipus the King are displayed on numerous occasions and are easy to recognize. Both men possess an egotistic nature and have an overwhelming sense of pride of their accomplishments, their successes of rising to power are short lived as they will lose along with their legacy as respected men, and Okonkwo and Oedipus were short tempered and were angered easily. The latter would contribute greatly to their downfalls. The tragedies of both Things Fall Apart and Oedipus the King link the protagonists regardless of the thousand year gap.
As highly regarded members of their community, Okonkwo and Oedipus never admitted to ever acting unjustly or being wrong and misjudging the input of others. For Oedipus, he was told on multiple occasions of how he would fulfill his dark fate of killing his own father and mating with his mother by a blind prophet and oracle, regardless of the applicable evidence of where Oedipus gets his name from and how he is not the son of the king of Corinth. Although others believed the words of the holy men, Oedipus dismissed them, satisfied that it would never come true because he thought he knew who his real parents were and was already making the caution to be wary of them. "Revealed at last, brother and father both to the children he embraces, to his mother son and husband both-he sowed the loins his father sowed, he spilled his father's blood!" ( Tiresias; 520-524).Okonkwo, is set in the traditional ways of his culture that he and his ancestors have followed for generations and naturally rejects any other way of life other than the Ibo culture. An example of such loyalty to his heritage includes attempting to beat down the beliefs into...
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...his father’s failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman, it could also mean a man who had taken to title. And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion – to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness.
You prophecies of the gods, where are you now? This is the man who Oedipus feared for years, he fled him, not to kill him-and now he's dead, quite by chance, a normal, natural, death, not murdered by his son. he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating
Revealed at last, brother and father both to the children he embraces, to his mother son and husband both-he sowed the loins his father sowed, he spilled his father's blood!
In Greek culture, there are many epic stories. Even though each story has different outcomes, every hero has certain features in common. Odysseus in The Odyssey and Oedipus in Oedipus the King are examples of epic heroes that are quite similar. Odysseus and Oedipus are alike in which they both are considered as godlike men. Furthermore, Odysseus and Oedipus also demonstrate their crude habits with their hubris behavior throughout their own prophecy. In addition to these similarities, the powerful gods also play an important role which drastically affects Odysseus and Oedipus’s fate.
“With a father like Unoka, Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. He neither inherited a barn nor a title, or even a young wife. But in spite of these disadvantages, he had begun even in his father’s lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future” (18). Most of his accomplishments were despite his father, whom Okonkwo loathed, but with whom I connected. In the novel, I relate more to Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, a much more laid back character. Like Unoka, I am in love with life, lazy, not worried about tomorrow, and deeply in debt.
Which brings us to our title character Oedipus. There was a prophecy at birth that he would take the life of his father and then shortly after he would take his mo...
Okonkwo remains stubborn even when Ezeudu tells him, “That boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death” (Achebe, 57). In the event that Okonkwo was really concerned with the moral value of not taking part in Ikemefuna’s death, then he would have attended the funeral. But, Okonkwo is more concerned about being more powerful than leaders of the other tribes. Oedipus shows similar behavior when he tells Teiresias “… it has no strength for you because you are blind in mind and ears as well as in your eyes” (Sophocles, 428 – 430). Oedipus doesn’t respect oracle’s information that is given to him and this shows that not only is he arrogant, but this addresses Oedipus’ hubris and ignorant behavior as he denies his fate. Both Oedipus and Okonkwo, are arrogant and refuse to be told to that they are wrong about anything and these tragic flaw in each character contributes to their responsibility in their demise. But, Oedipus always brings up his personal achievements when he became the leader of Thebes to show his pride. Meanwhile, Okonkwo relives his glory days when he defeated Amalinze, also known as the Giant cat to influence himself to show courage, strength, and that he is a powerful leader. Both these character are more same then different as both character show arrogance, pride, and desire to help, but
Even though the parents attempted to stop this tragic event from occurring, there was no way to avoid it. For on his travels, he met along the road, a party of men that were traveling as well, but they could not agree on whom had the right of way. This caused a brawl to break loose and many of the men died. Oedipus realized, after speaking with Jocasta, that by this description, that one of the men in the traveling party was really his birth father as well as king, which he had slaughtered by his own hands!
In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is a tragic hero. Aristotle’s Poetics defines a Tragic Hero as a good man of high status who displays a tragic flaw (“hamartia”) and experiences a dramatic reversal (“peripeteia”), as well as an intense moment of recognition (“anagnorisis”). Okonkwo is a leader and hardworking member of the Igbo community of Umuofia whose tragic flaw is his great fear of weakness and failure. Okonkwo’s fall from grace in the Igbo community and eventual suicide, makes Okonkwo a tragic hero by Aristotle’s definition.
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...
When Oedipus was born he was taken to an Oracle, this was custom for the rich. The Oracle was to tell his fate. The Oracle said that when Oedipus grows up he will marry his mother and he would also kill his father, "... Why, Loxias declared that I should one day marry my own mother, And with my own hands shed my father's bool. Wherefore Corinth I have kept away far, for long years; and prosperd; none the less it is most sweet to see one's parents' face..."(p36 ln1-6). When his parents herd this they gave Oedipus to a man and he was to get rid of the baby by leaving it in the forest, but an servant of Polybus, the king of Corinth, finds the baby and brings him to the king. The king falls in love with the baby and takes him in as one of his own.
In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the life of Okonkwo depicts his journey of the desire to not be like his father, the desire to obtain a high title in his tribe, and provide for his family and grow and learn about the belief in the tribe. In the process of Okonkwo’s life, he takes on authority through his family, the tribe, and his belief, but it continues on how his wants and views take him elsewhere and the result of loss. In Oedipus the King by Ian Johnston, the life and prophesy of Oedipus and that one secret is the death of few and the impact of many throughout the kingdom from past, present, and future. A hero may not be the first word to describe Okonkwo and Oedipus, but as two prominent male characters they represent and demonstrate
Oedipus was born with a terrible Prophecy. From the start it was foreseen that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother. His parents, Laius
become rich and famous, a privilege that was unseen before in his family. Age was also an extremely important and greatly valued among his people, but success was honored. "As the elders said, if a child washed his hands he could eat with kings. Okonkwo had clearly washed his hands and so he ate with kings and elders" (8). This was Okonkwo's drive in life and so he remained successful and worked twice as hard to prove to others that he was not the same man as his father. Unfortunately, this was not a mutual feeling in the clan, and Okonkwo, in trying to make up for his father's mistakes, took on the responsibilities of an older man as a young boy which led to him having the mindset of an elder in the community.
The foundation of Okonkwo’s fear of failure and weakness stems from the qualities possessed by Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, and his inability to succeed during his life. As a young boy, Okonkwo had always known and resented that his father was essentially the definition of a failure. Throughout Okonkwo’s childhood, he was constantly reminded of the fact that his father was unsuccessful: “... even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him his father was agbala” (Achebe 13). The word agbala has two different meanings, one referring to a woman and the other meaning a man who has taken no titles in the clan. Titles are an important part of the Ibo culture because they show a man’s achievement and success in the clan.
Oedipus The King, by Sophocles, is a play about how Oedipus lives up his fate that he will kill his father and marry his mother, both of which are extremely bad in the Greek society, even though he thinks he is getting away from it. Despite the Greek notions of supreme power of the gods and fate, Oedipus' downfall is primarily the result of King Laius' and his own actions and attempts to defy the gods, consequently Sophocles says that prophecies from the gods of someone's fate should not be ignored. Prophecies from the Oracle of Delphi are told to King Laius and Queen Jocasta, and to Oedipus.
Although the reader feels remorseful for Okonkwo’s tragic childhood life. It is another reason to sympathize with 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 wife 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).
Here is a story where Oedipus the King, who has accomplished great things in his life, discovers that the gods were only playing with him. He has everything a man of that time could want; he is king of Thebes, he has a wonderful wife and children, and great fame through out the lands. He has lived a good life, but in the end everything is taken from him.