Nwoye And Okonkwo's Relationship In Things Fall Apart

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In the song “Runaway,” Ed Sheeran sings “Well dad just don’t expect him back this evening. It could take a bit of time to heal this.” Ed Sheeran’s lyrics exemplify Nwoye and Okonkwo’s relationship. Chinua Achebe, the author of the novel Things Fall Apart, explains the causes that bring Nwoye to escape the prison he called home. Achebe includes the intense nature of Nwoye and Okonkwo’s relationship in order to clarify how their relationship shapes Nwoye. From the beginning of the novel, Okonkwo rebukes Nwoye for being callow an avoiding arduous work. Even at the age of twelve, Nwoye causes “his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness,” (Achebe 13). Not only did Okonkwo fear to be like Unoka, his father, but he also dreaded that Nwoye would end up like Unoka, …show more content…

Nwoye faces his father Okonkwo in their most important fight scene. Fear strikes Nwoye when Okonkwo “suddenly overcame with fury, sprang to his feet and gripped Nwoye by the neck,” (Achebe 151). Certain interactions depict a lack of compassion in their relationship, especially when Nwoye betrays Okonkwo’s trust. Nwoye can no longer handle the derisive manner of his father and leaves his family. He finds happiness with the church, no longer controlled by Okonkwo’s temperament. After Nwoye’s departure, he threatens his other five sons: “he will only have a son who is a man,” (172). Okonkwo will do anything to ensure that his other sons end up like himself and not like his incipient father or Nwoye. The loss of one son creates a sense of insecurity as Okonkwo attempts to gain the loyalty of the younger five. Nwoye’s departure shapes Nwoye as this traitorous and effeminate character in the story and Okonkwo as a weaker and much more insecure character. Yet, Achebe also portrays a more audacious side of Nwoye as he retaliates social norms and his own father’s

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