Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, depicts the story of a man named Okonkwo, who undergoes many adjustments throughout the course of his life. After being one of the most respected men in his village of Umuofia, he is exiled for seven years. Within his exile, Okonkwo has to overcome his feelings about the situation he has gotten himself into. Upon returning to Umuofia, he has to adjust to the cultural shifts that have occurred during his absence. The way Okonkwo deals with the drastic changes exemplifies and builds up his character. The graphic memoir Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, is a coming of age story where Satrapi illustrates her life growing up during the Islamic Revolution. The circumstances Satrapi endures in her life are complementary …show more content…
Okonkwo receives his fate after the accidental murder, “The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan… He could return to the clan after seven years” (Achebe, 124). Due to Okonkwo’s pride for masculinity, he sees his exile to his mother’s land as a failure. He no longer has the drive for greatness like he did in Umuofia, “Okonkwo and his family worked very hard to plant a new farm. But it was like beginning life a new without the vigour and enthusiasm of youth, like learning to become left-handed in old age. Work no longer had for him the pleasure it used to have, and when there was no work to do he sat in a silent half-sleep” (Achebe, 131). He believes that all his achievements and goals have been taken away from him, “His life had been ruled by a great passion--to become one of the lords of the clan… And he had all but achieved it. Then everything had been broken. He had been cast out of his clan like a fish onto a dry, sandy beach, painting” (Achebe, 131). Okonkwo reacts poorly when he is faced with exile. He exemplifies his great embarrassment when he stops working to achieve greatness, which is what he was known for in Umuofia. Similar to Okonkwo, Marjane Satrapi is sent away against her will. Her home in Iran is no longer safe to live in, “You know what they do to young girls they arrest?...You know that it’s against the law to kill a virgin?...So a …show more content…
An old man, Uchendu, calls everyone together to speak with Okonkwo. He explains how Okonkwo should be proud to be in his motherland. Uchendu explains “Your mother is there to protect you. She is buried there. And that is why we say that mother is supreme. Is it right that you, Okonkwo, should bring to your mother a heavy face and refuse to be comforted?” (Achebe, 134). Uchendu wants Okonkwo to share the greatness of potential that he sees within women. This effort to change Okonkwo perspective begins to take a toll, “Okonkwo sent money to Obierika to build him two huts in his old compound where he and his family would live until he built more huts and the outside wall of his compound… Okonkwo began to prepare for his return” (Achebe, 162-163). Instead of being ashamed of his exile Okonkwo begins to build himself up. In order to get ready for his return, he puts plans in place regarding his hut, family, and status back in Umuofia. Marjane Satrapi has a shift in perspective within her new life which is similar to that of Okonkwo’s. Excitement of being on her own establishes hope within her new circumstance, “Now I had a real independent adult life. I was going to feed myself, do my own laundry… I headed straight for the supermarket to buy groceries like a real woman” (Satrapi, 159). After dismissing her sorrow of leaving her parents, Marjane looks at her life in
Not only was Okonkwo being displaced from his community an alienating experience but it was also an enriching one. Okonkwo's kinsmen in Mbanta receive him and his family kindly. Uchendu, Okonkwo's mother's younger brother, is now the eldest surviving member of that family. In the novel, Achebe states that, “Okonkwo was well received by his mother’s kinsmen in Mbanta. The old man who received him was his mother’s younger brother, who was now the eldest surviving member of that family. His name was Uch...
When the missionaries arrive in Umuofia, Okonkwo’s conflict between fighting back and adjust to the changing society becomes even more extreme. Throughout the book, when Okonkwo feels like he has power, he desires more control and leadership over his community. For instance, Achebe writes, “Even in his first year in exile he had begun to plan for his return. The first thing he would do would be to rebuild his compound on a more magnificent scale. He would build a bigger barn than he had had before and he would build huts for two new wives. Then he would show his wealth by initiating his sons into the ozo society. Only the really great man in the clan were able to do this. Okonkwo saw clearly the high esteem in which he would ...
He was in great conflict with the ideas of the white men and the missionaries. Okonkwo saw that their beliefs had not only changed the daily life of the Ibo, but it also changed the people themselves: “He mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women” (Achebe 183). The author uses strong diction to compare the men before and after colonization. This quote also portrays Okonkwo’s opinion towards the cultural collision. He values strength and masculinity immensely because of his fear of appearing weak like his father Unoka. When he describes that the men of Umuofia changed to be soft like women, this shows how much he dishonors the Western ideas and how it has taken over the village. He made an attempt to get rid of the Western influence by urging the tribe to fight like men, but they refuse to. He was determined and still attempted to furthermore encourage the people of Umuofia to revolt against the new culture. He realizes that his attempts to return the village back to the way it was before were futile. He knew that Christianity was tearing his people apart, but knew he was incapable of making change to help his people. Okonkwo then starts to feel hopeless and abandoned by his clan, which causes him to commit suicide by hanging himself: “Obierika… turned suddenly to the District Commissioner and said ferociously: ‘That man was one of the greatest men
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.
In Things Fall Apart, during Okonkwo 's seven years exile, he went back to his motherland. "It 's true that a child belongs to its father. But when a father beats his child, it seeks sympathy in its mother 's hut. A man belongs o his fatherland when things are good and life is sweet. But when there is sorrow and bitterness he finds refuge in his motherland." (Things Fall Apart 48) Okonkwo accidently killed a clan member, his personal rank changed from a respected warrior to an exile. And his societal conditions also changes, sine he is being punished, he cannot live in his own clan, he is forced to moved, a societal change occurred around
William James, a famous American philosopher, once stated, “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives”. This quotation effectively illustrates how change in one’s attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs can alter the environment in which one lives. This concept is clearly demonstrated throughout the novel Things Fall Apart, authored by Chinua Achebe, by establishing a connection through the development of its characters and the change in traditional African tribal villages seen in the Nineteenth Century. It will be established how various characters demonstrated by the author throughout the novel exemplify how change in one’s attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs can alter the environment in which one lives addressed by William James’s quote above. First, by analyzing Achebe’s development of Okonkwo’s character through his initial character description and the emergence of outsiders, it is evident that he is portrayed as an old fashioned character that is less responsive to change. Secondly, through examining Nwoye’s character, Okonkwo’s son, it becomes apparent that the youth in the novel are more open-minded, easily persuadable and more adaptive to societal changes. Lastly, uncovering the meaning behind the arrival of European missionaries, it becomes apparent that Achebe defines this group as being a “disease”, poisoning the society in which Okonkwo lives. The author look’s at individuals as being critical and influential figures in shaping the environment to which they belong, beginning with Okonkwo.
Forced to get out of Umuofia, Okonkwo and his family leave to another village where his mother lived before she died. While the years go on, Okonkwo feels as if he did not become the strong and powerful person he wanted to beome because the people he was surrounded by all this time were weak. When the time comes for him to return to Umufia, he finds everything different and he is not able to do anything because he has no
Chinua Achebe wrote the novel, Things Fall Apart, which represents a life of an African man named Okonkwo, who lives in the village of Ibo in Nigeria. Instantly, meeting Okonkwo was during his wrestling fight against Amalinze the Cat, who was undefeated for seven years. This wrestling match is how Okonkwo became recognized, respected and famous throughout the villages. This was always his goal since his father put so much shame on his family as he grew old. His father, Unoka, was a musician when he was young, but then grew into a man that did not care for any responsibilities and died in debt. Okonkwo is a very intimating man who takes great pride in his reputation.
Okonkwo is not all that he may seem; as there is more than what meets the eye. Okonkwo is the primary protagonist within the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo is a cruel yet kind man who has everything yet has nothing, which in turn creates a sympathetic character. A character such as Okonkwo has many facets; or masks if you will. Then we have his many influences: the Ibo culture; his father Unoka and of course his own personality. 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.
Okonkwo’s desire for respect motivates his quest to preserve the practices of Ibo culture, while Obierika preserves the practices of the Ibo culture with a more humanistic perspective. Achebe uses the differing approaches of Okonkwo and Obierika in maintaining the cultural doctrines of the Ibo people to reveal his sympathy for Obierika over Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s motives for maintaining the customs of the Ibo originate with fear. Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna while “dazed with fear,” drawing “his machete [to] cut him down” because, “he was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe 61). Though Okonkwo attempts to appear strong to the people of Umuofia, his fearful motivation speaks to a hidden internal weakness. Okonkwo’s focus on eradicating the taint of “his father’s weakness and failure” and his yearning for respect drive him to kill Ikemefuna instead of the more proper motive of simply effectuating what the Ibo conside...
The struggle between custom values and conversion is a universally applied theme to Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. The fable like, tragic tone of the work was set off from the very first page. The verb FALL APART has 4 senses to lose one's emotional or mental composure, go to pieces, break or fall apart into fragments, and to become separated into pieces or fragments. These are all exemplified in the novel Things Fall Apart. Okonkwo is a tragic hero in the traditional sense. His fate was decided for him and was unavoidable. Okonkwo’s inability to act rationally and express his feelings in a anthropological manner leads to his inescapable demise. Okonkwo exhibits the characteristics of a tragic hero not only by encompassing an unexceptional flaw. Okonkwo not only developed this flaw because of his erroneous equivalence of masculinity with being filled with relentless fury, vehemence, and impetuousness, but also because he leads to his own self-annihilation.
Chinua Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, is a story about a society on the verge of a cultural change. The main character, Okonkwo, is driven throughout the story by fear and a drive for success. He relied on the village of Umuofia to stay the same because he used the structured culture to feel safe and appreciated. He lives in a constant state of fear because he wants to find his own meaning in life. When the structure of Umuofia began to change, Okonkwo found himself incapable of adapting like the rest of the villagers. He was determined to live a life that could not survive the changing world, and his dreams crumbled down. Throughout the novel, Achebe demonstrates that the lack of being able to adapt to change will leave you lost in society.
...s insistence on proving himself, as represented in the killing of Ikemefuna and his other discreditable actions, are results of his constant need to impress. His desires to prove himself, become a respected member of the tribe, and maintain his image as a strong warrior all combine with an inability to adapt to a changing world in the latter half of the book. “Okonkwo [is] deeply grieved” (183) by the arrival of the Europeans and the changes they bring to Ibo culture. Thinking that he can be the one to lead the effort to drive the Europeans out of the land and restore the traditions of the tribe, he commits yet another rash act; whenever he does not get the results he expects, he commits his last transgression against tribal tradition: suicide.
Okonkwo was ashamed of him and did everything possible to never end up like his father. When the narrator stated, “With a father like Unoka, Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. But he threw himself into it like one possessed. And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death” (pg. 18). The.
The character of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was driven by fear, a fear of change and losing his self-worth. He needed the village of Umuofia, his home, to remain untouched by time and progress because its system and structure were the measures by which he assigned worth and meaning in his own life. Okonkwo required this external order because of his childhood and a strained relationship with his father, which was also the root of his fears and subsequent drive for success. When the structure of Umuofia changed, as happens in society, Okonkwo was unable to adapt his methods of self-evaluation and ways of functioning in the world; the life he was determined to live could not survive a new environment and collapsed around him.