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Character summary of okonkwo
Okonkwo's character analysis
Okonkwo character analysis essay
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Achebe wants different view and different opinions about Okonkwo and his behavior but there are good and bad things that about Okonkwo that makes the reader reconcile him. In the beginning of the book, it talks about Okonkwo’s feeling for his dad. He was not particularly happy with his father because he wasn’t rich nor was he hard working. He disapproved of his father and wanted to be the opposite of him. Okonkwo became the best wrestler in his village and has three wives and barns of yams to show his prosperity. Not wanted to show weakness like his father and prove to others that he is indeed a man, he would lead his house with a heavy hand meaning he would beat his wives and children to do the things he wanted them to do and control them
Okonkwo is on two ends of a stick. Sometimes he can be shown to be a caring, sympathetic character, but others he is shown as a ruthless person that is very unsympathetic person. Okonkwo is a man of action that would rather solve things with his fists rather than talking it out. He is a great wrestler hailing from the Umuofia clan that has thrown Amalinze the Cat. Okonkwo is also a very good farmer, where he has been able to grow two barns worth of yams. He is someone that doesn’t know how to control themselves when they get angry as he will then resort to violence. Okonkwo’s family relationships make him a sympathetic character because of his caregiving nature and hospitality and he is shown to be an unsympathetic character because of his
When different cultures interact, a shock will always occur. Change because of clashing cultures is inevitable, but how a person responds to change varies on different levels. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, characters are introduced to an outside force of the Western world. Many of them, especially the main character, Okonkwo, attempt to remain with their original cultural beliefs, but some decide to listen to other stories. Among the changing characters is Nwoye, Okonkwo’s son. In Achebe’s novel, Nwoye’s positive change in understanding and motivation after the introduction of Western religion has the greatest impact on the book due to its effect on other characters in the book, especially Okonkwo.
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 ...
What if a person were to have all the success and riches a man could ever have in his life, but be constantly paranoid about the possibilities of the future? In Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, the readers see the protagonist’s thoughts as he struggles with many misfortunes, ironically due to his defensive actions to prevent the possibility of losing his reputation. Okonkwo, the protagonist, is a valued leader of the Igbo people whose life “falls apart”, when he brings a boy called Ikemufuma into the family. However, later he is forced to kill Ikemufuma even after forming a bond, because his tribe specifically “the elders” ordered him to. But in his depression he finds himself accidently shooting another boy, so he ends up being exiled
In the book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo changed from the beginning of his story to the end of the story. Okonkwo was a confident, independent, fearless warrior, with the fear of becoming like his father. It was when his tribe won’t make war with the white missionaries Okonkwo feels betrayed and hopeless. Even though Okonkwo pursues he is fearless , brave and strong he fears change and becoming weak just like his father.
In these few chapters that we read, we have already learned a lot about Okonkwo, his life, and how he shows sympathy to some, but to others he is heartless. Okonkwo is other wise known as an unsympathetic person. Okonkwo is a clan leader of umuofia who holds many titles and is well known among his people. Okonkwo's daily life consists of tending to the three yam farms he has produced and to make numerous offerings to numerous gods and to help himself and his family. Okonkwo's personality is hard driven, since his father did not provide for him and his family Okonkwo had to start man hood early and this led him to be very successful in his adulthood, Okonkwo is an unsympathetic character who only shows sympathy rarely because he believes it's a sign of weakness Okonkwo's family relationships make him a sympathetic character because when his children show signs of manliness or do their jobs right he shows sympathy towards them. He is an unsympathetic character because whenever he get a little mad he has to take his anger out on something and that is usually vented by beating his wife's.
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.
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.
In the book ‘Things Fall Apart’ i choose the protagonist okonkwo he is a tragic hero. Okonkwo was well known for his wrestling and defeating the Cat when he was young. He grew up hating his dad because his dad was a coward and he was weak his dad’s name was Unoka. Okonkwo didn’t grow up like any normal kid. His fame rested on solid personal achievements as a young man at the age of 18. Okonkwo’s culture is the igbo culture he doesn’t believe in any other culture he thinks that is the right culture and that there are many gods.
Because his father borrowed from others without means of returning, lived off of others, and never made a stable life for himself and his family, Okonkwo does the opposite in his life. Normally a son would inherit his father’s barn, but because his father was unmanly and “had a miserable harvest” (Achebe 16), “there was no barn to inherit” (16). Okonkwo “hate[d] everything that his father Unokoa had loved” (13) because all that his father did was weak. He makes a stable life for himself and his family by producing yams and stocking up his barn. Okonkwo’s idea of manliness is also more aggressive than the clan. When he is suggested to not take part in the killing of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo not only was there, but he “cut him down” (61) because of the fear “of being thought weak” (61). Whenever Okonkwo thought he or a member of his family was being thought of as weak, he would either beat them, physically, or himself, emotionally, up. He is more aggressive and intolerant of unmanliness because of the fear of becoming like his
Okonkwo is portrayed as a respected individual in many ways. He was a well known person through out the 9 villages and beyond. His successes were based wholly on his personal achievements. For example, he was a warrior and wrestler who gained respect through his athletics. Manliness was a characteristic that was greatly valued by the people of the village. Since Okonkwo was a wrestler and a warrior this showed that he was a fierce fear-free individual. And because he hadn't lost one fight or any battles this was more reason for the people of the village to love him. He was also respected because of his wealth. Okonkwo had three wives and m...
Okonkwo associates many of his tribal influences with masculinity. Right away in the book, Achebe affiliates strength with manliness. “As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalizine the Cat” (3). He is honored because he had enough strength and agility to overthrow the cat. Okonkwo feels to be successful and manly, one also must show no emotion. He thinks emotion is for the weak and for woman, and he does not want to be either of those. “Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show affection was a sign of weakness,-the only thing worth demonstrating was strength” (28). Okonkwo treats Ikemefuna with this idea. He becomes very fond of the child, but never outwardly shows his affection. If he showed his affection he was afraid he would be looked down upon in his tribe. Although his father enjoyed little things like music and dancing, Okonkwo had no desire to share his father’s enjoyment. He desired power and wealth. He wants to construct and maintain a big house for his many wives and even more children. “Okonkwo was clearly cut out for great things. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages. He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of ...
Although the reader feels remorseful for Okonkwo’s tragic childhood life. It is another reason to sympathize with a man who believes he is powerful and respected by many when in reality, he is feared by his own family and that is another reason that leads Okonkwo to his downfall. He started positive, motivated but down the line, Okonkwo treats his wife and children very harshly. When the author mentioned, “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children” (pg.13).
Okonkwo had dreams, some of his dreams were fulfilled while others weren’t. Okonkwo's dreams were to be successful and better than his father which happened because he was one of the greatest, well known and respected men in the tribe of Umuofia. His other dream was for his son Nwoye to be just like him which didn’t happen since Nwoye was not happy with the way he was being treated and he went and joined the white men church in spite of his father.
“That is what chills your spine, when you read an account of a suicide: not the frail corpse hanging from the window bars, but what happened inside that heart immediately before (Simone de Beauvoir).” Questions arise about Okonkwo’s suicide while reading Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart; Did Okonkwo take the coward 's way out, or was it an act of self-assertion? And why did Okonkwo’s death show a certain degree of irony?