Things Fall Apart Indirect Character Trait

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Recommended: Feminism in Things Fall Apart

Rana Atassi
Mr. Woods
MYP Honors World Literature A2
9 March 2018
Things Fall Apart Indirect Character Trait Essay Imagine having your whole country fall apart before your eyes… well, that is what happened to a compelling tribe pioneer in Umuofia, Okonkwo. Since his early ages, Okonkwo's humiliation about his father, Unoka, has driven him to succeed. In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Achebe captures many characteristics about the igbo culture and its people. Okonkwo lives with his wives and children and had obtained many titles, unlike his father. Okonkwo worked his way up from nothing in his countries social classes and became a respected man. Although, Okonkwo was a man of many successes he was balancing many obstacles in his life. Many readers tend to be confused as to how to describe Okonkwo’s personality. Okonkwo's indirect traits, being: fear of femininity, aggressiveness/ anger, and hard work/ dedication all play a role in the role/ purpose that okonkwo …show more content…

You can only tell how Okonkwo is feeling by his actions for example, the death of Ikemefuna, “he did not sleep at night… he was so weak” (achebe 63), although, Okonkwo loves Ikemefuna and favors him over anyone of his sons Okonkwo refused to show any sign of weakness in front of any other men; this can be exemplified by the theme Masculinity and Femininity. Another instance of weakness is when Okonkwo was deeply grieved and mourned for the clan, “he [Okonkwo] mourned for the warlike men… who has become soft like women”. Okonkwo not only loathes weakness/ the act of femininity from a male, he grieves for men that display such representation of it. Okonkwo does in fact have his weak moment but he refuses to show it, unlike his father, Okonkwo sees himself as strong and masculine, Okonkwo's shocking deformity is that he is frightened of looking weak like his

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