How Is Okonkwo A Struggle To Change In Things Fall Apart

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In Chinua Achebe’s masterpiece Things Fall Apart he portrays the evolution of Okonkwo, a tribal leader, struggle to get out of poverty, and the colonization of Africa. Due to the colonization of his country and the changes it had brought caused the tear in Okonkwo’s tribe leaving him with nothing, and leading to his fate. Okonkwo had started his life from the very bottom, and he clawed his way to the top of social status in his tribe. Okonkwo didn’t receive any help from his family, causing him to put very high expectations on all his children. Just like Okonkwo, his village had high expectations for all its people, but those expectations were not kept for long. The colonization of Okonkwo’s home was the final part to push Okonkwo over the tipping point. However, for one to see how the colonization of Africa destroys Okonkwo’s morals they would have to look from the beginning to see the big picture.

From the very beginning of Okonkwo's life he had suffered from poverty due to his father’s, Unoka, debts and addiction. “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had. He did not inherit a barn from his father. There was no barn to inherit” …show more content…

He started from the very bottom of his social reign and became one of the fierces leaders of his tribe. Not all of his problems were of social status, but with his own young. Okonkwo could have been more lenient with his interactions with others, and how he cares about being perceived by others. Although Okonkwo’s brashness would have saved his tribe. Okonkwo wouldn’t had fallen to his fate if he wasn’t pushed by the thought of his village being compelled to live in the tyranny of the empire. As it has been said “Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.” -Alexander

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