Analysis Of Nwoye's Point Of View Of Okonkwo

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Chinua Achebe wrote this novel from the perspective of Okonkwo, but this passage in particular is more from Nwoye’s point of view and is told through a third person omniscient narrator. It takes place in the middle of a larger topic involving the manliness of Nwoye and Ikemefuna, and is located in paragraphs three and four of chapter seven, in part one. Here, Nwoye and Ikemefuna are sitting in Okonkwo’s obi listening to “masculine stories of violence and bloodshed” (TFA, location 574). Nwoye is pretending to be interested in the stories to please his father, but he prefers the womanly stories his mother told. There isn’t dialogue in this passage, rather, it is used to provide description about Nwoye. The primary point is to provide the reader insight into Nwoye’s thoughts. There is conflict within the character between the side of him that wants to be a man and please his father, and the side that feels true to him, the one that dislikes violence and enjoys the childish stories that a mother tells to her children. There is also some foreshadowing in this passage and it sets up future conflict with his father. Right now, Nwoye is pretending to be someone he is not in order to keep his father …show more content…

In location 824 of TFA a character says, “…what is good in one place is bad in another place.” If this is true, it could also be said that what is good to one person is bad to another person. Okonkwo is a strong, proud, violent man trying to raise his son to be the same, but by his nature, Nwoye is gentle. What is good for Okonkwo is bad for Nwoye. This passage fits into the larger piece because is explains Nwoye’s actions and reactions to everything for the rest of the story, and it serves as foreshadowing of his future actions. It explains his despair upon learning of Ikemefuna’s death and his decision to betray his father and join the

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