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Okonkwo is driven by the fear of weakness; being seen as feeble by the other men which escalated from his persistence to not be his father. Additionally when Okonkwo faces the attacked Ikemefuna he ignores his pleads. Achebe illustrates this through Ikemefuna cries, “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’ (1977:54). The confliction between personal and cultural consequences explores how Ikemefuna and Okonkwo feel fear differently in this situation. As a consequence the contrast between the characters fears highlights how Ikemefuna fears the men with the machetes and death, both of which he has no control over. On the other hand Okonkwo fears losing his sense of masculinity, an internal anxiety which he could regulate but chooses not to. Furthermore the representation of Okonkwo’s identity in chapter one and seven demonstrate how Achebe, created Things Fall Apart to ‘reveal the darker side of both traditions as well as the better side and leave us to draw our own …show more content…
He shows this through Okonkwo’s relationship with his father, Ikemefuna, Igbo society and his perception of masculinity. After researching the representation of identity in Things Fall Apart it can be assumed that the perception of gender through an individual and culturally hold the most significance. In the understanding of identity it seems that the two epitomise each other. For there to be identity through culture, the individual has to have a strong belief in the cultural traditions and vice versa. Therefore Achebe argues that identity is influenced by external factors such as their culture and influencing cultures which ultimately affect the individual and their understanding of
In the novel, Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is a sympathetic and unsympathetic character in regards to his family relationships with his adopted son, Ikemefuna, his daughter, Ezima, and his father, Unoka, as a result of he appears to genuinely care about his family; but, the pride within himself prevents his expression of such pride and concern openly. The protagonist, Okonkwo demonstrates his sympathetic character solely to himself, personally, and infrequently not in the eyes of others. During the plotting of Ilemefuna’s death, Okonkwo was hesitant to make the boy aware of his fate and also hesitant to take part in his death. “‘I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy,’ he asked Obierika” Okonkwo was aware that the adopted boy from an opposing tribe thought of Okonkwo, not only as an authority figure and high-ranking tribal member/warrior, but also as a father—his father. Until the death of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo continued to show Ikemefuna kindness due to feeling that “his son’s development was due to Ikemefuna.”
Culture makes us who we are. Each individual has their own culture from their experiences in life and is developed from societal influences. The various cultures around the world influence us in different ways which we experience at least once in our lifetime. There are occasions, especially in history, where cultures clash with one another. For instance, the English colonization in Africa changed their culture. Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, portrayed this change in the Igbo people’s society, especially through the character Okonkwo in the village of Umuofia; the introduction of Western ideas challenged him. In the novel Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe introduces to us Okonkwo whose character’s response to the
" Okonkwo eating his food absent minded, she should have been a boy he taught as he looked at his ten year old Daughter, passing her a piece of fish " (Achebe pg. 64). The interpretation taught of Okonkwo the tragic-hero , Achebe interpretation of his taught upon his daughter on his view of her as a tad less appealing towards him, the wish for strength , taught are truly illustrated with the image of the character . Achebe interpret portions of the novel “Things fall apart “Emphasize on the meaning with the lack of beliefs, respect, discouragement, weakness with true honour. The protagonist is relentless with himself about the women traits within him to hide his true emotions (The weakness shown throughout years of study towards women) “if I were you I would have stayed at home. What you have done will not please the earth. It is the kind of action for which the goddesses wipeout whole families “(Achebe pg. 64). Achebe sight on common goals between one another where primarily visible, His initial start
“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.
When fear is in the driver’s seat, many lash out. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, the protagonist, Okonkwo is fearful of change and being seen as unmanly. When these things are in question he physically harms his family and emotionally beats himself up. When change comes into his life he just thinks of the old ways. He is unwilling to change because in his mind the newer ways are womanly and cowardice. When his eldest son turns to the European Christians, this is the hardest blow to Okonkwo because this shows the people of the tribe that he cannot control his own family, which puts any of the possible positions into jeopardy. Interpretation of manliness and struggling to change are two major themes that relate to Okonkwo and the
The author clearly wants to convey his own cultural views about retaining one’s identity and cultural values. Achebe himself was very passionate about traditional African culture and world religions. He uses the structure of the novel Things Fall Apart to show the impact the white government had on the Nigerian people and the aftermath of their broken culture. Through the contrasts in the linear structure, the author warns the reader and makes them see how easily imperialism can occur.
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...
Fear of failure and weakness dominates Okonkwo throughout his life. At first this fear motivates him to rise to success by working diligently and doing everything his father did not do. However, even when Okonkwo establishes an honorable reputation, fear of failure continues to overwhelm him and drives him to perform acts that lead to his suffering. One example of this is when the men of Umuofia decide that Ikemefuna must be killed and Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna even though he is told not to partake in the killing of Ikemefuna. Okonkwo panics when Ikemefuna turns to him and cries for help, and without thinking, Okonkwo slays Ikemefuna with his machete. Okonkwo does this because in the split second where Ikemefuna runs to Okonkwo for protection, Okonkwo is overpowered with fear of being seen as weak and kills Ikemefuna. This is an unwise act on behalf of Okonkwo, and as a result, he suffers emotionally in the next few days. He enters a stage of depression and cannot eat or sleep as all he can think about is what he has done to Ikemefuna. It is at this point that things start t...
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...
The character of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was driven by fear, a fear of change and losing his self-worth. He needed the village of Umuofia, his home, to remain untouched by time and progress because its system and structure were the measures by which he assigned worth and meaning in his own life. Okonkwo required this external order because of his childhood and a strained relationship with his father, which was also the root of his fears and subsequent drive for success. When the structure of Umuofia changed, as happens in society, Okonkwo was unable to adapt his methods of self-evaluation and ways of functioning in the world; the life he was determined to live could not survive a new environment and collapsed around him.
Before the arrival of the Europeans, Achebe did a excellent job portraying how the life of Igbo was before they were forced to oppose their own culture. To support this theme, Achebe included detailed descriptions of social rituals within each family, the justice system, religious practices and consequences, preparation and indulgence of food, the marriage process and the distributing of power within the men. Achebe shows how every man has an opportunity to prove himself worthy to achieve a title on the highest level, based merely on his own efforts. One may argue that the novel was written with the main focus on the study of Okonkwo’s character and how he deteriorates, but without the theme that define the Igbo culture itself, we would never know the universe qualities of the society that shaped Okonkwo’s life. The lives of the Igbo people was no different to the actual lives of the Ibos people back in the early days of Africa. Just like in Things Fall Apart, in actual African tribes there was never a ruler. “Very interesting thing about these villages is that there is no single ruler or king that controls the population. Decisions are made by including almost everyone in the village” (AfricaGuide). Using the theme, Achebe educated readers on by mirroring real African life in her
In the historical fiction, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe illustrates a scene in third person omniscient where Ikemefuna, a son of a murderer, gets executed by Okonkwo; however, the focus of the passage would be different if it were written using the first person point of view. To start off, Okonkwo attacks Ikemefuna with his machete, but he only does this because he does not want to be weak to the other men around him. Achebe depicts, “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought of as weak” (Achebe 61). When Okonkwo said he was afraid of being weak, Okonkwo clarified that he had a positive emotional connection with Ikemefuna and never wanted to kill him.
Okonkwo sees his father’s gentleness as a feminine trait. He works hard to be as masculine as possible so that he will be the opposite of his father and overcome the shame his father brought to his family. Okonkwo deals with this struggle throughout the entire book, hiding the intense fear of weakness behind a masculine façade (Nnoromele 149). In order to appear masculine, he is often violent. In his desire to be judged by his own worth and not by the worth of his effeminate father, Okonkwo participates in the killing of a boy he sees as a son, even though his friends and other respected tribe members advise him against it. (Hoegberg 71). Even after the killing of Ikamefuna, Okonkwo hides his feelings of sadness because the emotions are feminine to him. He goes so far as to ask himself, “when did you become a shivering old woman” (Achebe 65), while he is inwardly grieving. The dramatic irony of the secret fears that Okonkwo has will open the reader’s eyes to how important gender identity is to him. This theme is also presented among Okonkwo’s children. He sees his oldest son, Nwoye, as feminine because he does not like to work as hard as his father (Stratton 29). When Nwoye eventually joins the Christian church, Okonkwo sees him as even more feminine. On the other hand, Okonkwo’s
Over the course of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo finds his own struggle between traditions vs. changes. Moreover, Achebe shows over his course through the novel, whether change is a good thing or not. The abstract of Things Fall Apart shows, how Africans had a system of evaluating the self inspires many of the clan’s outcasts in order to embrace Christianity before the Europeans arrived as the novel states, “Okonkwo was deeply grieved… He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling separately, and he mourned for the [warlike] men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women" (183). This shows a great example of tradition since he mourned for the belligerent men of Umuofia.
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.