Okonkwo's True Identity In Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe

Chinua Achebe once said, “If you don't like someone's story, write your own.” Call him “a man of his words”as that's exactly what he’s done in the writing of this novel, Things Fall Apart. In response to the colonization of Nigeria in the late 1800’s and the efforts by the Europeans to dehumanize the indigenous people of West Africa, Chinua Achebe wrote the novel solely in the perspective of the natives; showing colonization from their point of view and really highlighting their true identity (not how the Europeans had perceives it). The story takes the reader through the life of a man by the name of Okonkwo, who lives with his family in the region of Umuofia (near the Niger River in Nigeria). Upon the appearance of the Europeans, the region

is thrown into conflict, struggling to maintain the indigenous people’s true identity. One character at the midst of all these events is Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye. In “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, the cultural collision between western ideas and Igbo culture ultimately forms Nwoye’s sense of identity. His childhood interactions shape him into a person in which upon uncovering the religion of Christianity, Nwoye finally discovers his true sense of identity.
In Nwoye’s early years he struggles to understand who he truly is. As the oldest son of Okonkwo, he has the expectation to develop into a man like his father someday. So Nwoye is taught to act with authority over his mother and his siblings. He is also subjected to hearing stories from his father about violence and war. Yet he is always less interested about the stories of masculinity as “Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories his mother used to tell” (Achebe, 53). Although Nwoye understands that it is expected of him to act as a dominant male figure (acting with masculinity and violence), this isn’t what he ultimately desires to be as he still likes spending time with his mother the most (listening to his mother’s stories that are relatively more peaceful and less masculine). This shows that Nwoye doesn’t really feel a sense of belongingness to this persona his father has crafted for him. But his father’s actions have also developed Nwoye’s sense of identity because in part of developing a person’s sense of character he/she must be able to recognize the identities (imposed on him/her) that don’t fit to that person. So with this in mind, he continues to live life as he is expected to (only because he has to), but with a new idea of what is there to come in the future.
Ikemefuna is the eldest son of Okonkwo, adopted from his true mother and father at a very young age.

At first he is shy and timid among his new family. But as time passed, Ikemefuna grows stronger and stronger. Okonkwo becomes fond of Ikemefuna, so much that he sees him as the perfect son. He is a great leader, intelligent, courageous, strong minded; everything that Okonkwo desires for in a son. Also as time goes on, Nwoye and Ikemefuna’s bond strengthens. This coincided with Nwoye developing more into a manly figure like his older brother as “nothing pleased Nwoye now more than to be sent for by his mother or another of his father’s wives to do one of the difficult and masculine tasks at home, like splitting wood, or pounding food. On receiving such a message through a younger brother or sister, Nwoye would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles. Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son’s development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna”(Achebe, 52). This shows the significant impact of a brotherly bond. More than anything it strengthens Nwoye character as it teaches him the importance of a relationship in finding more about one’s sense of identity. So all is looking well between Nwoye and Ikemefuna until the day the brotherly bond brakes when Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna. His father’s actions further fuel the development of Nwoye’s sense of Identity as now he has more incentive than ever to be different from his father in the

future.
Many years after after Ikemefuna’s death, the regions of Umuofia have transformed dramatically. Nwoye now is in his young adulthood as he begins to witness the arrival of the white men in the villages. Along with their arrival they brought upon a mysterious new religion to the natives, singing and praising about the great god who brought love to everyone. Many of the villagers dismisses these white missionaries as heretics, but not Nwoye. This new religion captivates him as although he doesn’t understand it, it's “the poetry of the new religion, something felt in the marrow. The hymn about the brothers who sat in 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 question of Ikemefuna who was killed. He felt a relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. The words of the hymn were like the drops of frozen rain melting on the dry palate of the panting earth”(Achebe, 147). The religion gives Nwoye a feeling, unlike any other he’s felt during his childhood with his father. The hymn seems to have not only given him understanding about the questions that floated through his mind for all these years but more importantly the understanding about this religion, which could unlock his true potential. So Nwoye begins to pursue his faith, developing a bond/relationship with the church (like how he does with Ikemefuna). Then the day came when “he went back to the church and told Mr. Kiaga that he decided to go to Umuofia where the white missionary had set up a school to teach young Christians to read and write...he was happy to leave his father. He would return later to his mother and his brothers and sisters and convert them to the new faith”(Achebe, 152). In Nwoye leaving behind his own family to go learn more about this religion, it really shows his true colors. Christianity has driven him to uncover his true sense of identity, as a believer of the faith with the willingness to continue spreading the words of god. In turn, Nwoye’s actions here in the plot reflects the meaning of the novel as a whole. It highlights the main idea in that the response of the introduction of western culture to the Igbo people is really a two-sided affair as although many of the natives have a negative reaction, they is also large number of people that accepts and embraces western ideas (such as Nwoye).
The cultural diffusion of western ideologies/religion into the Igbo culture significantly influences Nwoye’s sense of identity. His years as a youth develops him into a person who embodies the ideals of Christianity, establishing his sense of identity. Including the character of Nwoye in the plot it demonstrates the indigenous people’s contrasting views at the time on colonization where there are the people that are rather submissive and assimilates themselves into western culture (like Nwoye) and the people that are resistant and dejected the new culture (like Okonkwo). This shows first hand the true impact western colonization has on African cultures. In more universal terms, its shows in a way the “natural law” behind the significance of conflict, in that with any effect that exists (positive or negative), there will always be an opposite.