Father-Son relationship in Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart is talking about the family of the Okonkwo. The beginning of the story is about Okonkwo and his father Unoka. The story is also about the relationship between Okonkwo and his children, Nwoye, Ikemefuna and Ezinma. The father-son relationship throughout three generation is the key point of the story.
Firstly, the father-son relationship between Okonkwo and his father Unoka is the main point is the story. The reason is that; this father-son relationship is the exact opposite. The characteristics of Unoka is lazy and miserly, he cannot take care of his wives and children, even dies with unpaid debts. He hasn’t given any things for Okonkwo. “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had. He did not inherit a barn from his father.
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Nwoye is not fit his expectations. “Okonkwo told him stories of the land – masculine stories of violence and bloodshed. Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell…” (chapter seven line23) He expectations of Nwoye are very high as he wants him to inherit his wealth and farming. Unoka make Okonkwo focus on Nwoye’s man power, and he is severe to Nwoye. Nwoye goes down his own path. The reason is that he cannot live with his father expectations for him.
The last father-son relationship in Things fall Apart is Okonkwo and Ikemefuna. Ikemefuna is a teen from the Mbaino tribe. His father killed the wife of an man, and in the resulting settlement of the matter, Ikemefuma is put into the care of Okonkwo. Although Ikemefuna is an adopted son in Okonkwo’s family, he gets the love by the family members. Ikemefuna is the perfect son in Okonkwo’s expectation “, so Okonkwo love him very much. However, he joined in killing Ikemefuna because he was afraid of being weak, like his
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
Nwoye is the person most effected by the culture collision in Things Fall Apart, prior to the white men’s insertion Nwoye is basically what would have been considered a favorable child in Ibo society; he is loyal to his family and he listens and respects his father. Okonkwo also believed that he was developing into an acceptable young adult, "Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son's development... He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his father's household when he was dead and gone."(Achebe 52) Pr...
At the beginning of the novel Okonkwo was a fairly wealthy and well-respected member of the Igbo society, but it had not always been that way for him. Okonkwo?s father, Unoka, had been a lazy man who would rather play his flute than take care of his crops. Unoka was said to be a charming man, and was able to borrow large amounts of money from his friends, but was never able to pay it back. As a result, Okonkwo has grown up very poor and ashamed of his lazy father. At one point in the book, Okonkwo remembers hearing one of his playmates calling his father an ?agbala,? which was the word for woman, but all described a man who had taken not titles (13). Okonkwo never forgets this, and actually develops a deep-seated fear that people will think that he is weak like his father. As I mentioned, Okonkwo became very well known, and his wealth and prestige rested solely on his own personal achievements. Okonkwo had received no inheritance from his poor father, no land and no money. As a young man, Okonkwo had been very successful wrestler, and as he grew older he became a well-known warrior. He was said to have brought home five human heads, which was a great achievement even for men who were much older that he was. At the beginning of the story, Okonkwo had obtained two titles, and had the respect of every man from all nine villages of Umuofia. Symbols of his wealth and prestige were his family and his compound. As I mentioned earlier, Okonwo had received no inheritance, and at the time of this story Okonkwo is still fairly young, and the fact that he had three wives, several children, and a very productive piece of land showed that Okonkwo was a very diligent worker. ?Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially...
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.
Then there is a staggering list of achievements. Okonkwo is a strong character but thinks only inwardly - especially towards his father - which will be discussed further in this essay. As a child Okonkwo was neglected by his father and even later in his life did not speak with him until of course his father was on his deathbed, this made him very angry. Okonkwo always saw his father Unoka as lazy. Okonkwo worked hard to remove any trace of laziness from his personality.
The protagonist, Okonkwo demonstrates his sympathetic character solely to himself, personally, and infrequently not in the eyes of others. During the plotting of Ilemefuna’s death, Okonkwo was hesitant to make the boy aware of his fate and also hesitant to take part in his death. “‘I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy,’ he asked Obierika” Okonkwo was aware that the adopted boy from an opposing tribe thought of Okonkwo, not only as an authority figure and high-ranking tribal member/warrior, but also as a father—his father. Until the death of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo continued to show Ikemefuna kindness due to feeling that “his son’s development was due to Ikemefuna.” (Achebe 3...
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. When he went out into Umuofia, he found that the villagers had very similar opinions towards his father. As...
In Thing Fall Apart, we see a conflict early in the story between Okonkwo and his father, Unoka. "Okonkwo was ruled by one passion - to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness a...
Nwoye is the frequent subject of his father’s criticism and remains emotionally unfulfilled. Ikemefuna comes to fill that void and Nwoye, in his adoration of his adoptive brother, begins to mirror him. Ikemefuna helps Nwoye grow and find his masculinity, which, in turn, helps Okonkwo shift to a gratitude toward his once rejected son. “Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son’s development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna.” , through this quote we are able to distinguish Okonkwo's feelings toward his son that were once belligerent, now exhibiting acceptance.
On the other hand, in Things Fall Apart, Ikemefuna comes to the village to satisfy a debt and he is placed into Okonkwo’s care. Okonkwo treats Ikemefuna like a son. When it’s time to complete the council’s order of killing Ikemefuna, Okonkwo goes with him on a final walk. In the end, it is Okonkwo who carries out the sentence to kill him. Okonkwo feels genuine remorse and “did not taste any food for two days” and “did not sleep at night” (63).
Throughout time, parents have been the ones that make their children the people they grow up to be. Everything from a parent’s presence to their attitude shapes the way the person their child develops and becomes. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Unoka’s laziness and status as the village beggar shape Okonkwo into be a harsh, cruel, hardworking man. Okonkwo grows up ashamed of his father, Unoka, which shapes Okonkwo to want to be the opposite. Okonkwo grows up in a family that “barely had enough to eat”, with a father that people “laughed at” (5).
When Nwoye converts to Christianity, Okonkwo immediately starts to yell, while his son just “stood looking at him and did not say a word” (Achebe 152). Achebe describes Nwoye as being “happy to leave his father” (152), which shows the two could never stand eachother. It is stated that the boy is weak and womanly, and as Okonkwo describes he is too similar to Unoka. The only time when he was truly satisfied with his son was when Ikemefuna came to stay, but after he died they reverted back to their former ways.
Ikemefuna was Okonkwo’s “adopted” son. Ikemefuna and a little girl were taken away from their families in a neighboring village after a man from his village killed a man in Umuofia’s wife. Ikemefuna was given to Okonkwo as a peace offering and he fit in quite well with his new family. Okonkwo’s other sons were greatly influenced by Ikemefuna, and Ikemefuna’s relationship with Okonkwo was closer than that with his biological father. After three years of living with Okonkwo, Ikemefuna was told that he was going home. In reality, the oracle had told Okonkwo that Ikemefuna was to be killed. As Ikemefuna was on his journey “home” his innermost thoughts give his opinion
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.
When Ikemefuna first arrives in Umuofia, he is housed with Okonkwo because Okonkwo is a great man in the village. He had reached his prime and was a man of wealth. Ikemefuna quickly befriended Okonkwo's eldest son and began calling Okonkwo "father." Soon, however, this seeming peace and civility in the village and the life of the villagers disappears. Okonkwo receives a message from the village elders that the boy, the town's innocence, must be killed off. The boy is lead off to the slaughter completely unaware of his fate, and with his "father" in the company of the killers. When a machete is drawn and the black pot atop Ikemefuna's head is cut down, the boy runs to the man he loved as father. It is he who, lacking the courage to confront the others with his love for the boy, draws his machete and...