Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Identify and discuss the cultural elements in Things Fall Apart
Identify and discuss the cultural elements in Things Fall Apart
The rise and fall of okonkwo as things fall apart
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
People deal with drastic changes in different ways but the difference of those who become heroes or failures is determined by if they choose to overcome or succumb to the difficulty of adapting. In Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, he emphasizes how much changes physically or mentally impact one's life as he tells the life of Okonkwo and his struggle to be successful in their cultural town of Umuofia as it gets invaded by white men. Although change starts as trivial or prideful thing it ultimately results in a negative effect throughout the novel with events such as Okonkwo pushing to become different from his father Unoka, his exile, and his son Nwoye's betrayal. Okonkwo strives to be opposite of Unoka who everyone perceived as a failure. …show more content…
At first Okonkwo packed up his things and left his town pridefully, he packed up his valuables and traveled to his mother's kinsmen Mbanta. He was welcomed by the tribe of Mbanta and was “given a plot of ground” to build his new home but Okonkwo was “greatly troubled” despite the generosity given to him(129). This shows the impact that culture has on Okonkwo as he leaves his home with no resistance. Okonkwo’s change in attitude from Umuofia to Mbanta shows the regret he has for his exile. As the year of his exile went on his regret and anger starts to show as Okonkwo discerns that his exile has affected his entire life. He knows that Umuofia has moved on and he has lost everything in his “seven wasted years” in exile. Despite leaving Umuofia pridefully Achebe's use of wasted signifies that Okonkwo deeply regretted his exile more than anything. This change has caused him to lose everything he has ever worked towards in life. Okonkwo's exile caused everything he strived for to be …show more content…
Nwoye could not apprehend the reasoning for the way the people of Umuofia listened to the Oracle without doubt or killed such innocent people. After his brother Ikemefuna's death Nwoye become troubled with “the twins crying in the bush” and the murder of innocent life just because a god said so(147). The use of the twins shows that Nwoye is starting to question his culture's way of life and why they obey their god with no resistance. Nwoye did not agree with the way he was expected to live and he found curiosity in this new religion the whites spoke of. Okonkwo was already displeased with Umuofia's choice to withhold war, despite him never being pleased with Nwoye this was the last straw . When Obierika Okonkwo's best friend went to visit Okonkwo “wished not to speak about Nwoye” for he was ashamed of having him ever be his son. Okonkwo was shocked of how much the once warlike town of Umuofia has changed.. It was so humiliating for him that not only Umuofia is now weak but his own blood betrayed him and choose to join enemy forces he disowned Nwoye. Nwoye was always perceived as a failure in Okonkwo's eyes and when he chose to convert to Christian Okonkwo wished to never had
...m his own. I felt that Okonkwo’s exile was very much needed for him, because it taught him the true meaning of an extended family, taught him some humility and how to cope with failure which was ostensibly dealt by his own hands. When Okonkwo returned to his original village his alienation hit him hard. His village was completely changed. The Europeans destroyed the Igbo framework that gave Okonkwo his validation. Okonkwo felt alienated from all that once made him a man. This can relate back to our everyday lives because it shows us how important home is and how without it one may not feel the will to live. This goes back to Achebe’s soul purpose of writing this novel, which was to educate the reader on the effects of the devastating European colonization upon Nigeria. The change was so much for Okonkwo to take in. So much so that it was enough to take his own life.
When the missionaries arrive in Umuofia, Okonkwo’s conflict between fighting back and adjust to the changing society becomes even more extreme. Throughout the book, when Okonkwo feels like he has power, he desires more control and leadership over his community. For instance, Achebe writes, “Even in his first year in exile he had begun to plan for his return. The first thing he would do would be to rebuild his compound on a more magnificent scale. He would build a bigger barn than he had had before and he would build huts for two new wives. Then he would show his wealth by initiating his sons into the ozo society. Only the really great man in the clan were able to do this. Okonkwo saw clearly the high esteem in which he would ...
Unfortunately, everything is not perfect. His son, Nwoye, seems not to be showing the characteristics of a real man. He prefers to stay with his mother, listening to women's stories, than to listen to his father's tales of battle and victory. Later, when missionaries come to the tribe, Nwoye is attracted to their Christian religion because of its unqualified acceptance of everyone, much like a mother's unqualified love. Of this, Okonkwo r...
It challenged his identity by losing his high title in the clan due to the change in the village as well as new customs. He responded to the clash of cultures by attempting to encourage others to fight in his mission to get rid of the Western influences in the Ibo community. Because he failed to do so, he lost hope and refused to accept the new culture which caused him to hang himself. The conflict between Okonkwo and his clan’s decision to change their way of living was portrayed through characterization and plot development. Achebe gives the people of Africa a voice with Okonkwo’s character who stayed true to his roots. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe reveals to us Okonkwo’s response as the cultural collision of the English and Ibo challenged his sense of
Since Nwoye cried, Okonkwo beat him. Nwoye wishes he could see his mother and he wants to be with her. When Okonkwo goes to exile, he goes to his Mother's village. He respects his mother and this is where he finds forgiveness for what he did. "Do what you are told, woman," Okonkwo thundered, and stammered. "When did you become one of the ndichie of Umuofia?" And so Nwoye's mother took Ikemefuna to her hut and asked no more questions. As for the boy himself, he was terribly afraid. He could not understand what was happening to him or what he had done.”(Page 5 ebook) Ikemefuna was scared of Okonkwo so he found what was his closest mother figure and looked to her for comfort. “Okonkwo was a very strong man and rarely felt fatigue. But his wives and children were not as strong, and so they suffered. But they dared not complain openly. Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth.” (Page 5
there was a young lad who had been captivated his name was Nwoye Okonkwo’s first son.” This means that the first time Nwoye heard about the new religion something intrigued him and had gasped his full attention more than his born culture. Also the idea that Nwoye was not interested in the only 1 God idea but the poetry and hymns of the new religion. The words these missionaries spoke began to make Nwoye's mind race with questions and ideas like the death of Ikemefuna, and the twins buried in the evil forest and his all around
Have you ever been told the way you've done things is all wrong? Well that's how Okonkwo felt through exile. Okonkwo way to handle situations changed because of colonization, and because of it he wasn't the man he used to be nor his tribe. Okonkwo is changed in many ways just of which define him as a person. Before colonization Okonkwo is a dedicated tribesmen who puts all his hard work into earning his titles and manliness.
When the structure of Umuofia began to change, Okonkwo found himself incapable of adapting like the rest of the villagers. He was determined to live a life that could not survive the changing world, and his dreams crumbled. Throughout the novel, Achebe demonstrates that the lack of being able to adapt to change will leave you lost in society. Since his childhood, Okonkwo has always been ashamed of his father, Unoka. Unoka was rarely able to feed his children, which made Okonkwo scared and embarrassed.
There are multiple examples of Okonkwo’s lack of adherence to Umuofian customs, i.e., beating his wife, Ojiugo, during the Week of Peace (28-31); beating his wives and children for the most minuscule of reasons; and speaking out whenever he should remain silent. However, the one custom that he breaks that causes the most hardship for himself and, it can be argued, his family, is the killing of his adopted son, Ikemefuna. Although the murder is prescribed by the Oracle of the Hills and Caves and is condoned by the village elders, neither the Oracle nor the other men of the village expect Okonkwo to partake in the killing; in fact, Ogbuefi Ezeudu, a well-respected warrior and elder of the tribe, suggests that Okonkwo remain behind when the other warriors lead Ikemefuna to slaughter. “. . . Umuofia has decided to kill him,” Ezeudu says,...
Before British Colonization Nwoye was dedicated to his father Okonkwo until he killed Ikemefuna. Nwoye did everything Okonkwo asked of him because he was scared of the consequences he would suffer if he did not listen or respect Okonkwo. Once Okonkwo murdered Ikemefuna, Nwoye became afraid of him. Ikemefuna was the closest thing Nwoye had as a brother, taking that away from Nwoye made him lose respect for Okonkwo. “Then something had given way inside him. It descended on him again, this feeling, when his father
“But there was a young lad who had been captivated. His name was Nwoye, Okonkwo’s first son. It was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him. He did not understand it. It was the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow. The hymn about brothers who sat in the darkness and in fear seemed to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul - the question of the twins crying in the bush and the questions of Ikemefuna who was killed. He felt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. The words panting earth. Nwoye’s callow mind was greatly puzzled (147).”
His name was Nwoye, Okonkwo’s first son”. Nwoye was mesmerized by the poetry in the Christian religion. Everything was making sense about the twins and Ikemefuna being killed (147). Christianity had a positive impact on Nwoye because it made him stand up for himself. In the book, Okonkwo becomes suspicious of Nwoye because he’s been gone a lot and finally confronts him.
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.
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.
Nwoye grows tired of his father and is called by the Christian faith and converts. Nwoye’s internal struggle with himself between change and tradition ultimately led him to convert against his father’s wishes. Okonkwo is extremely resistant to change, so he does everything in his power to prevent his family from converting; “‘If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck’” (Achebe 105). Okonkwo uses fear to keep his other children from the Igbo culture.