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Things Fall Apart Analysis Essay
Things Fall Apart Analysis Essay
Things Fall Apart Analysis Essay
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In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, a cultural clash between Ibo culture and Western culture was assessed through fictional literature. Several characters reacted to this in their unique ways, either by accepting or rejecting European beliefs. However, the character Okonkwo, a proud, strong and well respected warrior in the Igbo Society had a significant reaction to the new culture. When the new, western culture comes to Igbo society, Okonkwo, of Clan Umuofia, responds by using violence as the only choice. This decision carried dire consequences, and lead to Oknonkwo’s death. Okonkwo’s violent reaction included the hatred of Christians, the new religion had challenged everything Okonkwo had believed in. Okonkwo was a strict …show more content…
Okonkwo declared that his people should not “reason like cowards” (Achebe, 159), he questions why his people have “lost the will to fight” (Achebe, 175), and declares that his people “must fight these men [Europeans] and drive them from the land.” (Achebe, 176). Okonkwo later murders a European messenger with a machete, “the messenger crouch to avoid the blow…Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his body.” Okonkwo would rather wage war instead of diplomacy, he has a warlike personality, combined with a near xenophobic hatred of European men and Christians, his reaction to new Western ideas leads him to kill missionaries and attempt to unite the clans to drive Europeans from the land. Okonkwo’s barbarism and abandonment of reason ultimately leads to Okonkwo’s self-murder, for the clans would not wage war against the …show more content…
Okonkwo’s reaction did not come without consequences, the final punishment for his actions was his clan refusing to go to war and him committing suicide by hanging. A second consequence of his violent reaction was the rift he had created between himself and his family, when he attacked his son, threatening to murder him; he was stopped by his uncle, who implied that Okonkwo had become insane. Perhaps the worst consequence of Okonkwo’s actions was the fact that he not only died by suicide and his clan had forsaken him, he died a disgrace like his father. Okonkwo became a bitter exile and spent his life not trying to become like his disgraceful father, when he returned from exile, he tried to rebuild his lost reputation. Instead, in full irony, he dies with a destroyed reputation and shares his father’s fate as a disgrace to his
Okonkwo has always resorted to violence when he is text with the problem. One such time is in Mbanta when Okonkwo claimed that “if his children are praying to the white man's God, he would wipe them off the face of the earth." (Achebe 146) Again this shows Okonkwo resorting to violence to solve his problem. His problem is this new culture and religion invading his land. This quote also shows that his negative response will not be limited to the invaders, but anyone who joins them, even his family. They will all be punished by him. The thought of his family joining the white man creates a drastic negative response in Okonkwo. Another reason for Okonkwo’s strict punishment was probably from Nwoye. Nwoye had defied Okonkwo and joined the white man’s religion. This enraged Okonkwo and he threatened Nwoye. He later disowned him as his oldest son. This no doubt contributed to Okonkwo’s response to the invading culture.
Okonkwo’s response to the cultural collision between Western culture and Igbo culture was an extreme on the negative spectrum of the idea. Others in the clan reacted much more positively. However Okonkwo’s lack of understanding of care and compassion built his up his anger and hatred towards everything. This extreme anger, or hermatia, inevitably caused the down fall of the tragic hero
In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe writes how the arrival of the Christian missionaries in Umuofia intensify Okonkwo's internal conflict between changing as a new person and commit to the new changes by following the missionaries religion (which in the Igbo culture, it’s consider as being weak) vs. going his own way and follow the Igbo religion and be "manly". Okonkwo was a respected and honored man who had a lot of prosperity, but sadly his choice at the end of the book was to commit suicide. His choice had an negative impact on his clan because people look up to Okonkwo as an exemplary to the Igbo clan. Okonkwo find himself unable to adapt to the changing times as the white man comes to live among the Umuofians. As it becomes clear that you need to change to adapt to the changing society or fight for how it was before, Okonkwo realizes that he no longer can compliance the missionaries’ regulations and can’t do nothing about it, realize he can no longer can be able to function within his changing society.
In both books, “Thing Fall Apart” and “Krik? Krak!”, many characters are defeated but there are two characters which share the same pain. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe which takes place in 1900’s Nigeria, is a novel about a guy named Okonkwo who goes through different obstacles that lead to his downfall. Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart who commits suicide because he couldn’t deal being controlled by the white men. The second piece of literature, Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat which takes place in Haiti and New York is a Haitian-American Fiction and one of the stories concerns a character named Guy who lives a normal life with his family but doesn’t how he himself is like. Guy commits suicide because he does not believe he is a man. In both books Guy and Okonkwo both go through something that made them commit suicide.
Though the corrupt court messengers were in the wrong for what they had done, Okonkwo had no right to do what he did either. Okonkwo failed to realize that two wrongs don?t equal a right, he thought that he could solve everything with brute violence and war, but he paid for his mistake with his life. Okonkwo made a fatal mistake by being so quick to war and to diplomacy. Okonkwo?s life mission was to be everything his father wasn?t, a real man who shows no weakness and also has a high position in the village.
Okonkwo is often described as being similar to characters in Greek tragedies. Okonkwo knew that the end of his clan was coming, and that they would do nothing to prevent it from happening. He took his life out of desperation. He had struggled his whole life to become a respected member of his community, and suddenly his world is turned upside down and changed forever because of an accident. Okonkwo sees that he is fighting a losing battle, so he quits. Suicide was one of the biggest offenses that could be committed against the earth, and Okonkwo?s own clansmen could not bury him. Okonkwo?s death symbolizes the end of patriarchy in Umuofia. The last page of the book is from the point of view of the white Commissioner, who notes that he wants to include a paragraph on Okonkwo?s life in his book entitled The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of Lower Niger. Okonkwo?s struggles, triumphs and defeats are all reduced to a paragraph, much like his culture and society will be reduced.
Okonkwo is “a man of action, a man of war” (7) and a member of high status in the Igbo village. He holds the prominent position of village clansman due to the fact that he had “shown incredible prowess in two intertribal wars” (5). Okonkwo’s hard work had made him a “wealthy farmer” (5) and a recognized individual amongst the nine villages of Umuofia and beyond. Okonkwo’s tragic flaw isn’t that he was afraid of work, but rather his fear of weakness and failure which stems from his father’s, Unoka, unproductive life and disgraceful death. “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness….It was not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.” Okonkwo’s father was a lazy, carefree man whom had a reputation of being “poor and his wife and children had just barely enough to eat... they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back.” (5) Unoka had never taught Okonkwo what was right and wrong, and as a result Okonkwo had to interpret how to be a “good man”. Okonkwo’s self-interpretation leads him to conclude that a “good man” was someone who was the exact opposite of his father and therefore anything that his father did was weak and unnecessary.
“An abominable religion has settled among you. A man can now leave his father and his brothers.” (Achebe, 167). At first the whole population was thrown awry. Then they gradually convert and accept the missionaries more. “Everybody in the assembly spoke, and in the end it was decided to ostracize the Christians. Okonkwo ground his teeth in disgust.” (Achebe, 159). One could see the obvious disagreements Okonkwo had with hs tribesmen and his status in the clan began to have less
Okonkwo always looked down on his son, Nwoye, for his son’s likeness to Okonkwo’s father, Unoka who symbolized laziness to Okonkwo. From the start of his life, Nwoye was always scared of his father for his father’s abusive behavior. With the missionaries’ arrival, Nwoye drew into Christianity’s appeal, but when Okonkwo discovered his son’s interest in Christianity, Okonkwo beat him. After Okonkwo’s beating, Nwoye “walked away and never returned” to Okonkwo (107). Nwoye hated his father for beating him, and when he couldn’t take his father anymore, he ran away. Christianity promised relief to the abused Nwoye and redemption from his
In chapter 7, it quotes, “Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” During this time Okonkwo’s tribesmen were set out on hurting Ikemefuna but Okonkwo felt he was being looked upon as a weak person so he took the action of killing Ikemefuna after being told not to. The author, Achebe, shows characterization by showing what kind of person Okonkwo can be, which is disobedient, and heartless. Because of his actions he has now affected his actual son back home. This comes to show how others can be affected by your actions. Another point we can analyze from this is that he took action because he thought his peers would look at him as being “weak” which should not matter as long as you know your self worth. The author also wants us to understand that when you hold an abundant amount of authority you still have to understand your consequences despite if you like them or not and those repercussions may affect those around you to. In chapter 13, Okonkwo has to move himself and his family to another location after his tragedy of killing Ezeudu’s son. As quoted, “The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a classman and a man who committed it must flee from the clan.” The plot has now taken a turn which engages you more because, even
Things Falls Apart was published in 1958, two years after Nigeria achieved its independence. On October 1, 1960 Nigeria gained independence through constitutions that were legislated by the British government. This new constitution established a federal government system with an elected Prime Minister and a ceremonial head of staff. So, in Things Fall Apart, Achebe wanted to show outsiders how the life of a Nigerian. The story takes place in a tribal village of Umuofia, where those who practice Ibo. The Ibo, also known as Igbo, worshipped gods who they believe protected them, advised them, and chastised them. The Ibo were represented by priests and priestesses. The gods helped guide the community and individuals. Each villager had its own personal god, or chi, that influenced his/her actions.
Change. Change is not easy to handle, let alone accepting it, letting change eat at you and your culture. The book, Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, is a gripping novel about an African tribe thad tries to overcome or accept change. When people already have something imputed into their brains, it’s a major challenge to change that with an alienated culture nothing like their own. When Okonkwo dealt with change in his life, he was pushed off of the edge, and was willing to fight for what he believes in. Fighting for your culture is a noble and right thing to do, and here 3 reasons why.
From the very beginning he had distinguished his masculinity from all the others in the village. He wished to prosper in the way great Igbo people always had. Okonkwo’s form, ideas, and life, all represent the African tradition and memory. The western culture and memory ruined everything that Okonkwo held dear. This was seen as early as Okonkwo’s banishment from the tribe. Okonkwo had brought his gun to a festival that was honoring the marriage of a girl in the village. That gun accidently exploded and killed a clansman. This was seen as the ultimate disgrace and he was banished for seven years from the tribe. The gun, which was a western tool, had caused Okonkwo to be separated from his people. While Okonkwo was away, Christian missionaries started to settle down among the tribesman of several different villages including Mbata, where he was staying. Okonkwo was very much against this, but he had been banished so he did not have a say. Eventually, as colonialism’s appetite increased, they set up administration buildings and courts to solidify their control over the people. The people feared the white men because of what happened in Abame, “… And they began to shoot. Everyone was killed, except for the sick and the old…” (Achebe 81). Many people did not want the white man there, but they were afraid of being killed. The new courts were enforcing the laws of Great Britain, and punishing people for doing things that just years earlier, would have been deemed
...clansmen come to decide what they should do, Okonkwo has already chosen war. As the messenger arrives to order an end to the meeting, Okonkwo is once again driven by his rage and kills the messenger. He realizes that the others were not prepared to fight, and he comes to understand the consequences of his actions. Instead of being executed, Okonkwo decides to take his own life.
While there were many possible motives for his suicide, the most prominent was the fact that Okonkwo would never gain back his power that he lost while in exile. If it weren’t for Okonkwo accidentally killing a clansmen, he would have never been exiled by his unstable, altered culture. In addition to his loss of power, Okonkwo feels defeat once he realizes that his clansmen will never go to war against the British. These two claims eventually lead to Okonkwo’s final downfall; suicide. As a result of Okonkwo’s unwillingness to follow through with the colonization, his sense of identity was lost, as he himself could not begin to find it anymore. While most people of the Ibo culture remained quiet and followed through with the colonization, Okonkwo was very iron-willed and wanted everything done his way. In the end, things do in fact fall apart. People change and regimes become altered, all unable to be undone by others. Chinua Achebe portrays Okonkwo as a very vulnerable, yet invulnerable character both at the same time. Okonkwo is a perfect example of a character who values their pride so much, that they will go to the extreme to hold on to it. He was faced with a new challenge that ultimately ended his