Growing up, we have all experienced something that is either the cause of our character transformation or has helped our past self-become who we are today. In Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe, gave us a glance into the 1890’s in Africa focusing on the protagonist Okonkwo, and transformations based on relationships, deaths, tragedies and more. Okonkwo had his dad who gave him the realization and awareness that being negligent, and having empathy towards others, is the reason why many do not succeed in high wealth, what most matters in a village like Umuofia. Believing that Okonkwo's success was due to his fear of ever appearing weak like his father, he took charge of his actions and became one of the greatest men in Umuofia. Not …show more content…
Okonkwo was respected, greatly acknowledged, he was a wealthy farmer, he had 3 wives and many children. His oldest son, Nwoye was sadly different and not on the same track as Okonkwo, scaring him that he might own a son whose mentality is alike to Unoka. “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” (Achebe 13). Okonkwo desperately attempted to not have any of Unoka in his son and create a better man instead. Not only did Okonkwo severe and sharp behavior further him from his son but when the chance for Nwoye to escape came, he took …show more content…
While Okonkwo was away at his motherland, Umuofia was getting visits from Christian missionaries attempting to recruit new believers. Of course, the villagers thinking of the Christian Missionaries as foolish they went ahead handing them land with the thought they were harmless and their gods would protect any harm that was meant for Umuofia. Okonkwo could not do much about the new religion and faith that was arising in his home, it did not affect as much either, that was until his son decided to accompany a different belief. “To abandon the gods of one's father and go about with a lot of effeminate men clucking like old hens was the very depth of abomination. Suppose when he died all his male children decided to follow Nwoye's steps and abandon their ancestors? Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospect, like the prospect of annihilation” (Achebe 153) Okonkwo then knew that he had to return to his land as soon as possible to abolish the intruders. The minute Okonkwo returned to his village, he arose madness towards the Christian belief. “When Okonkwo and Obierika got to the meeting place there were already so many people that if one threw up a grain of sand it would not find its way to the earth again. And many more people were coming from every quarter of the nine villages. It warmed
Okonkwo was the son of Unoka, and Unoka was know in all of Umuofia as a poor coward who never paid back his debts. From the day Unoka died, Okonkwo vowed to never be like his father. Instead, Okonkwo was the complete opposite being described as wealthy but frugal, brave, violent and stubbornly opposed to music and anything else that was perceived “soft” such as, conversation and emotion. In regards to his wealth he married 3 wives and his 3 wives bore him 7 children all together. Of his 7 children he favored Ezinma his only child with Ekwefi his second wife, and did not approve or agree with his oldest son Nwoye’s actions. Okonkwo more than anything valued manliness, his own and others. During the time in this book when Ezinma is taken by
Chinua Achebe’s “Things fall apart” is a story about a man named Okonkwo who is successful and physically strong. However, Okonkwo is emotionally unavailable and afraid that he will be seen as weak and that others will compare him to his father. The book’s peak is when Okonkwo does something considered immoral by killing a boy who he had taken in and raised as his own for three years, because he did not want to be seen as weak. Okonkwo is ruled by one obsession and that is to hate everything that his father had loved. Okonkwo’s birthright was fear, fear that he would become like his father. His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness. The irony in the story is that Okonkwo’s life ends much like his father’s had ended. Both father and son died in ways that were considered appalling with Unoka dying from swelling and Okonkwo taking his own life. Okonkwo struggles to do everything differently than his father which results in Okonkwo bringing pain to his family, becoming an arrogant person, and ending his life in a way that is considered an abomination to the tribe.
Nwoye converting was the first cause of Okonkwo’s decline of pride in Umuofia. After the death of his foster brother Ikemefuna caused by Okonkwo, Nwoye started to resent his father. He starts to converse with the Christian missionaries and in anger Okonkwo beats him and threatens to kill him. Nwoye runs to the church for refuge and begins to study the Christian ways and follow their traditions (151-153). Okonkwo is very disappointed and sees his father Unoka coming out in Nwoye. Okonkwo has a deep hatred for his father and anyone or anything that is anything like him. So when Nwoye starts to act against how Okonkwo believes a man should act he does not take kindly to it. Later Mr.Brown goes to Okonkwo to inform him of his son’s accomplishments among the christian faith and how his son will soon become a teacher at a school (182-183). Okonkwo responds to this with violence and warns Mr.Brown that if he comes back he won’t be leaving on his feet . He is ultimately very disappointed in his son and starts to lose faith in both his son and his
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).
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.
Power has motivated human beings since the beginning of time. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart a respected citizen of the Umuofia Clan, Okonkwo, is driven to be as masculine as possible and wants his sons to follow in his footsteps. At the age of just eighteen, Okonkwo gains power by conquering the undefeated Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling match. It is through these actions that he thirsts for more power. Okonkwo gains many wives, has many children and provides plenty of goods to his family; making his life magnificent. However with his greed, Okonkwo executes many more violent actions that will make it difficult for him to gain back his power and ultimately lose his family. Every aspect of his life demonstrates that one must not take what one has for granted.
In the novel, Okonkwo is describing his past and his father, Unoka, who is someone he would never become. Then, he runs off talking about Nwoye.”... He 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 [has developed] into a sad-faced youth,”(23).
Nwoye and Okonkwo relation is complex having many different stages but just like Okonkwo and his father it become pieces. Nwoye and Okonkwo relation at the beginning was ruled by fear;Okonkwo had little to no problem using violence to reprimand his son to do work when he(Okonkwo) thought his son was being lazy. Leaving Nwoye feeling like a sad faced youth as he doesn’t know how to make his father happy since Okonkwo was a strong man that didn’t appear feminine. ”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
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.
In Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, the main character, Okonkwo, lives a life full of ambition to be the best in his village. This ambition is also driven by his determination to be more successful and respected than his late father, who was known as a debtor and a coward. The book revolves around Okonkwo’s life and aspirations, which includes his rise to fame and his downfall. With that being said, Okonkwo demonstrates that ambition can be beneficial to the interests of an individual, however, an excessive amount of ambition ultimately leads to one’s failure.
By enduring his banishment from Umuofia, Okonkwo manifests extensive misery. By being a strong leader in both Umuofia and his motherland, Okonkwo displays his perseverance and high esteem. Nevertheless, his fierce leadership is driven by his detestation of his father and trepidation of failure. Through his sufferings and leadership, Okonkwo personifies the epitome of a tragic
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,
During the “missionary takeover”, Okonkwo loses his son, Nwoye, due to his conversion to Christianity. He disowns Nwoye, because Nwoye is now greatly influenced by the white missionaries’ religion and even leaves his father for it as well. “Why, he cried in his heart, should he, Okonkwo, of all people, be cursed with such a son?” (Achebe 146). As the missionaries begin to increase their power in Umoufia, villagers (such as Nwoye) perceive their religious beliefs as untrue and completely powerless. Okonkwo takes note of this happening, and wants to end it immediately.
Okonkwo has had a long battle with his status throughout his lifetime. He is a strong willing warrior ready to fight for what he believes in, but he tends to lean towards violent responses and creates problems in his relationship with family and friends. “When he walked, his heels hardly touched the ground and he seemed to walk on springs, as if he was going to pounce on somebody. And he did pounce on people quite often” (Achebe 3). Okonkwo is passionate about fighting and power. He always needed to be involved in an activity and never wanted to
In Chinua Achebe’s masterpiece Things Fall Apart he portrays the evolution of Okonkwo, a tribal leader, struggle to get out of poverty, and the colonization of Africa. Due to the colonization of his country and the changes it had brought caused the tear in Okonkwo’s tribe leaving him with nothing, and leading to his fate. Okonkwo had started his life from the very bottom, and he clawed his way to the top of social status in his tribe. Okonkwo didn’t receive any help from his family, causing him to put very high expectations on all his children. Just like Okonkwo, his village had high expectations for all its people, but those expectations were not kept for long. The colonization of Okonkwo’s home was the final part to push Okonkwo over the tipping point. However, for one to see how the colonization of Africa destroys Okonkwo’s morals they would have to look from the beginning to see the big picture.