Achebe ends his story of Okonkwo with Mr. Smith thinking about the book he is going to write. He has just seen Okonkwo hung body and thinks that it could be useful in his book which he titles The Pacification of the primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger; ironically the majority of Umuofia had been pacified except for Okonkwo. Mr. Smith at first think he could use a chapter to explain how Okonkwo had killed a messenger and then proceeded to hang himself, but decides the story is only worth a paragraph. Achebe has dedicated an entire book to Okonkwo; there is much more that happened to Okonkwo in his life than simply killing a messenger and hanging himself; however, Mr. Smith is only going to share this with the westerners who will have no choice …show more content…
The two cultures are dissimilar; it is easy for misunderstandings to occur because one sees wrongness in the other. “He (Mr. Smith) saw things in black and white. And black was evil. He saw the world as a battle field in which children of light were locked in mortal conflict with the sons of darkness” (184). Mr. Smith has a different regime than Mr. Brown; Mr. Brown was more amicable and understanding of the previous culture and was therefore more tolerable. Mr. Smith is unrelenting and wants to force his ways and religion upon Umuofia. “He was greatly distressed by the ignorance which many of his flock showed” (184). While many people have converted they still remember their old culture, and hang onto it. They cannot completely do away with their previous religion. Chaos has persisted and begun in Umuofia because “he (Mr. Smith) does not understand our (Umuofia’s) customs just as we do not understand his. We say he is foolish because he does not know our ways and perhaps he says we are foolish because we do not know his” (191). Neither culture respects each other because of their differences. The Christians are forced to build their church in the evil forest; while they do not know this it shows how the Africans wanted to end their time in Africa right away. The Christians were also at fault. “One of the greatest crimes a man could commit was to unmask an egwugwu in public, or to say or do anything which might reduce its immortal prestige in the eyes of the uninitiated. And this is what Enoch did” (186). Mr. Smith harbors Enoch in the church, since he is a part of the church now. However, for the Umuofians, Enoch has committed a grievous crime, and for them to maintain order they must serve justice upon Enoch. But Mr. Smith does not allow this to happen, which creates an even greater abhorrence between the Westerners and the Africans. The two are in a constant battle between each other because they cannot come to
"Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all." (Aristotle). In Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is living proof of Aristotle's statement. Although he is arguably the most powerful man in Umuofia, His personal flaws of fear of failure and uncontrollable anger do not allow him true greatness as a human being.
Throughout the book Things Fall Apart, three main topics help Achebe get his argument across to the reader. First, Okonkwo’s rough relationship with his family. Evidence from the book support that Okonkwo did abuse his wives and children. Whether this was acceptable or not at the time, the result of his actions led to major distrust within Okonkwo’s compound. In addition, Ogbuefi Ezeudu cautions Okonkwo about Ikemefuna through his interpretation of the Oracle of the Hills and the Caves. Ogbuefi Ezeudu talks with Okonkwo the night before he was planning to kill Ikemefuna, explaining that what he is doing is wrong. Yet again, Okonkwo’s paranoia gets the best of him. This event fueled the fire for Nwoye’s distrust for Okonkwo, as well as his wives. Achebe’s third argument conveys that the spread of Christianity throughout the region and Okonkwo’s fear of change led him to hang himself. Nwoye was drawn to the new religion almost as soon as it arrived in the Ibo villages. However, he knew that his father was refusing to accept it. Thus, Nwoye moved back to Umofia to enroll in the Christian school set up by Mr. Kiaga. Okonkwo was also supporting the mob that burned down the first church, in efforts to drive the Christians away from Mbanta. Though proven unsuccessful, Okonkwo shot and killed one of their messengers. This allows the reader to infer
Achebe chose to write his novel realistically. He includes the beauty of the Ibo's culture, as well as the gruesome. He recorded that a man might help kill his own adopted son for fear that he would be "thought weak." He also revealed that newborn twins were thrown away. Along with the "great depth" comes tragedy, but all of the details were required to make an accurate presentation of the subject. The writer must understand that the truth is not selective to the pleasant facts. The District Commissioner believed that it was important that he "be firm in cutting out the details" and decreed that a paragraph would suffice for the explanation of Okonkwo. However, Achebe, in essence, wrote an entire novel about this character. It is arrogant to believe that the complete understanding of a human being can be accomplished so easily.
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 had dreams, some of his dreams were fulfilled while others weren’t. Okonkwo's dreams were to be successful and better than his father which happened because he was one of the greatest, well known and respected men in the tribe of Umuofia. His other dream was for his son Nwoye to be just like him which didn’t happen since Nwoye was not happy with the way he was being treated and he went and joined the white men church in spite of his father.
Okonkwo is often described as being similar to characters in Greek tragedies. Okonkwo knew that the end of his clan was coming, and that they would do nothing to prevent it from happening. He took his life out of desperation. He had struggled his whole life to become a respected member of his community, and suddenly his world is turned upside down and changed forever because of an accident. Okonkwo sees that he is fighting a losing battle, so he quits. Suicide was one of the biggest offenses that could be committed against the earth, and Okonkwo?s own clansmen could not bury him. Okonkwo?s death symbolizes the end of patriarchy in Umuofia. The last page of the book is from the point of view of the white Commissioner, who notes that he wants to include a paragraph on Okonkwo?s life in his book entitled The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of Lower Niger. Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs and defeats are all reduced to a paragraph, much like his culture and society will be reduced.
Everyone in the past, present, and future strive for success. People of all ages and generations aspire to be successful in one way or another. One of the most prominent ways to define success is having lots of money and lots of respect. The desire for money and titles can tear a life apart. In, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo’s desire for status is a negative force that is ruling his life.
Social Injustice has been happening for a long time. Many people have experienced it in many different ways. Whether it is getting dirty looks because of your skin color, or being judged for your beliefs, everyone has dealt with social injustice in one way or another. The book Children of Blood and Bone gets the theme of social injustice across effectively. As the story unfolds, readers are immersed in a world where diviners and maji are marginalized and oppressed.
Okonkwo, the main character in Achebe’s novel, begins as an individual who holds great power in the Umuofi...
Things Fall Apart, a novel by Chinua Achebe, is a story which goes into great depth with its character development. The descriptions of the characters in this book go beyond first impressions and delve deeply into the minds of the people being described by explaining their thoughts and the experiences of their lives. Okonkwo is perhaps the most interesting example of these descriptions throughout the novel. He is a very successful man who is driven by fear and shame. Without fear there can be no courage, but when one does not choose to be truly courageous, fear can overcome them and lead to hopelessness and despair as things begin to fall apart.
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.
Okonkwo’s determination to succeed in life and to not fail leads to his fatal downfall in the end of the novel. His inability to adapt to colonization and his failure to follow the morals of many of the morals of the Ibo culture also are an important key leading to his downfall. Okonkwo was willing to go to war against the missionaries, with or without the clan. He made it clear that he believed the missionaries were in the wrong for trying to change Umuofia. Since the clan wanted no part in the war with the missionaries, Okonkwo took action into his own hands and murdered the head messenger. During the killing of the messenger, Okonkwo had a moment of realization: “He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape. They had broken into tumult instead of action” (Achebe 205). Okonkwo finally understands that he doesn’t have support from his fellow clansmen anymore and he feels as if he loses his place in society. Instead of backing up Okonkwo and his decision to murder the messenger, the clan stood in both confusion and disorder and questioned, “ ‘Why did [Okonkwo] do it?’ ” (Achebe 205). Okonkwo’s impulsiveness causes the clansmen to question Okonkwo’s violent actions against the messenger. Throughout the entire novel, Okonkwo struggles to accept the missionaries and the changes that they
It is important to note that Achebe was a product of both traditional Igbo society and the colonizing British culture. Therefore, the narrative is influenced by two strikingly opposed philosophies. The tragic hero, Okonkwo, may have been crafted to express, not only the Igbo philosophy of harmony, but the outsider interpretation of a seemingly paradoxical belief system. Achebe's representation of Okonkwo may symbolize the collision of these two conflicting philosophies.
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
Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, uses the changes in African tribal culture brought about by European colonization to illustrate the evolution of the character Okonkwo. As Okonkwo leads his life, his experiences, personality and thought are revealed to the reader. The obstacles he faces in life are made numerous as time progresses. Okonkwo's most significant challenge originates within himself. He also encounters problems not only when in opposition to the white culture, but in his own culture, as he becomes frustrated with tribal ideals that conflict with his own. The last adversary he encounters is of the physical world, brought upon himself by his emotional and cultural problems. The manner through which Okonkwo addresses his adversaries in Things Fall Apart creates the mechanism that leads to his eventual destruction.