Universal Justice In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

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Justice, or receiving a punishment based off of a past action, usually requires some form on debate on its ministry. However, the Igbo believe a basic form of justice exists and a past action is responsible for future consequences. In the case of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, the protagonist, Okonkwo, eventually receives his karma, or universal justice, for all of his past actions. Therefore, Okonkwo's fear of others seeing him as weak and his violent personality lead to his own ultimate demise, aligning with the Igbo idea of universal justice. A prominent fear of others seeing him as weak ultimately causes Okonkwo's demise, lining up with the Igbo concept of universal justice. Instead of staying home as he was warned, Okonkwo accompanies …show more content…

When Ojiugo returns home too late to make dinner from getting her hair plaited during the Week of Peace, Okonkwo "beat her very heavily...[, and f]orgotten that it was the Week of Peace" (29) because he "was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess" (30). In extremely superstitious societies, like Umuofia, fearing a greater power, such as a goddess, typically keeps people in check. By completely disregarding any sort of respect, Okonkwo violently deals with a minor issue. As brutality is often his solution, universal justice sees that he ends up humiliated multiple times for his misjudgements. Later, as Nwoye struggles with the art of yam planting, Okonkwo swears, "I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands. And if you stand staring at me like that... Amadiora will break your head for you!" (33). The very threat of personally strangling his son shows that Okonkwo shows no fear in sharing any aggressive thought that passes his mind. Strangling Nwoye will not fix any problem with his behavior, despite Okonkwo's ideas. So, as Nwoye grows farther and farther from Okonkwo and his family, universal justice sees that Okonkwo dies with a rope around his neck, a very similar punishment to what he would

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