A relationship between a father and son can be very confusing, especially to a young woman. In the book, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, there are several relationships that Okonkwo has with his children. Throughout the book, Okonkwo fails with three relationships between his sons and daughter. This proves that even Okonkwo himself, a “strong man” in his village, is a “weak man”. Okonkwo’s relationship with Ikemefuna is interesting. Okonkwo adopted the boy and raised him as his own. Okonkwo adored Ikemefuna and favored him among the rest of his sons. And Ikemefuna adored him right back. Okonkwo thought that his own son was more of a man that his biological son, Nwoye. Ikemefuna started to call Okonkwo “father,” yet when the village elders …show more content…
Nwoye was the biological son of Okonkwo’s who did not live up to Okonkwo’s expectations of who his son should be. Nwoye was gentle instead of being tough like Okonkwo wanted. Okonkwo thought of Nwoye’s gentleness as a sign of weakness, one he related to his father, who he also saw as a weak man. The one thing Nwoye wanted most was to prove to his father that he was, in fact, ready to enter manhood. “He [Okonkwo] wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his father’s household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestors” (page 32). Okonkwo wanted a sire who would be capable and ready to lead his family when Okonkwo was ready to die and leave this world. He wished for his son to be strong enough to replace him, if not stronger. Yet Okonkwo did not share his feelings about his son, he kept them inside. He thought that by not sharing his feelings, he was being a strong man, stronger than his father, who before him had been very kind and open about his feelings. Because of Okonkwo’s unwillingness to become like his father, this lead Nwoye to dream about his father thinking of him more than a weak son. Nwoye felt alone, waiting to finally be recognized as the strong man he is. “They go through their adolescent rituals day after day for a lifetime, waiting for a father to anoint them and treat them as good enough to be considered a man” (Pittman). Since Okonkwo never shared his dream for …show more content…
A father should be vocal and express his true feelings rather than keep quiet in fear of being less of a man. Okonkwo was his own antagonist, not letting his emotions take control of his life, in fear of becoming like his father. He does not only show his weakness through his mistakes, he demonstrates how his thoughts of how a strong man should be varied from person to person. Okonkwo thought that he was the strong man of his village, but took the weak man’s exit when he commits suicide, which brings around the full circle of how men can be both strong and weak through their
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.
In these few chapters that we read, we have already learned a lot about Okonkwo, his life, and how he shows sympathy to some, but to others he is heartless. Okonkwo is other wise known as an unsympathetic person. Okonkwo is a clan leader of umuofia who holds many titles and is well known among his people. Okonkwo's daily life consists of tending to the three yam farms he has produced and to make numerous offerings to numerous gods and to help himself and his family. Okonkwo's personality is hard driven, since his father did not provide for him and his family Okonkwo had to start man hood early and this led him to be very successful in his adulthood, Okonkwo is an unsympathetic character who only shows sympathy rarely because he believes it's a sign of weakness Okonkwo's family relationships make him a sympathetic character because when his children show signs of manliness or do their jobs right he shows sympathy towards them. He is an unsympathetic character because whenever he get a little mad he has to take his anger out on something and that is usually vented by beating his wife's.
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.”
Their beliefs are completely opposite each other because of Okonkwo's need to fulfill his own pressures and ideal image, which he burdens himself with. Certain characteristics he holds which his father does not is seriousness, determination, and brutality. Okonkwo cannot move on from his past, instead he forces his future to be effected by his past, which results in his emotional separation from others around him. Oknonkwo describes his father as "lazy, improvident and quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow.
by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo depicts his masculinity in many different ways, even if it hurts the people closest to him. He feels it is necessary to display his manliness so he does not end up like his father Unoka. “He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had no patience with his father” (4). Okonkwo correlates virility with aggression and feels the only emotion he should show is anger, leaving him no way to cope with the death of his culture.
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.
Nwoye is the frequent subject of his father’s criticism and remains emotionally unfulfilled. Ikemefuna comes to fill that void and Nwoye, in his adoration of his adoptive brother, begins to mirror him. Ikemefuna helps Nwoye grow and find his masculinity, which, in turn, helps Okonkwo shift to a gratitude toward his once rejected son. “Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son’s development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna.” , through this quote we are able to distinguish Okonkwo's feelings toward his son that were once belligerent, now exhibiting acceptance.
" 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
Okonkwo’s fear leads him to treat members of his family harshly, in particular his son, Nwoye. Okonkwo often wonders how he, a man of great strength and work ethic, could have had a son who was “degenerate and effeminate” (133). Okonkwo thought that, "No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man" (45).
Okonkwo’s fear of becoming like his lackadaisical father is an internal conflict between Okonkwo and his father. “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, ideally from his father.
Nwoye – In the eyes of Okonkwo, his oldest son, Nwoye, is weak and lazy from an early age. He dislikes his father because he beats him so often to make him more masculine. After the death of Ikemefuna, Nwoye becomes very depressed and later converts to the Christian faith, which makes Okonkwo disown him.
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).
What if a person’s relationship with his father determined if he lived or died, or if he would ever see his mother or siblings again? For the children of Okonkwo in Things Fall Apart it did. Things Fall Apart takes place in Nigeria in the early nineteenth century. The novel focuses on the life of Okonkwo, a man famous for winning a wrestling match against the greatest wrestler in all the local villages, when he was just eighteen years old. Okonkwo’s family consisted of his three wives and ten children, they lived in a village called Umuofia. Okonkwo didn’t have very good relationships with most of his children, and most people in general. Okonkwo had different relationships with all of his children because they were all individuals, their relationships with their father constructed all of their futures in diverse ways.
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
This passage shows the reader that Nwoye is extremely different from many members of his family and the other members of the village. After Okonkwo learns that his son is interested in the new religion he is furious. Okonkwo has always been disappointed in his son. He believes that Nwoye is not as strong as a man of their clan should be. When Okonkwo was Nwoye’s ...