Okonkwo In Things Fall Apart

Many times, we find ourselves not liking people. We may not like the way they are but we still understand the reasoning behind their actions. In “Things Fall Apart”, Okonkwo’s wife and son are treated differently in ways but still receive the same punishments. Okonkwo’s family relationships make him a sympathetic character. I personally understand Okonkwo’s motives for his actions. He was not just handed a perfect life, he earned it.
To begin, in the novel, Okonkwo treats Oijubo with maturity. On page 29, it says, “...he beat her heavily.” This shows that Okonkwo had a good reasoning to beat her. She left her responsibility, her kid, to another wife of Okonkwo without any warning. Nonetheless, she left him there to get her hair done, an invalid reason to just leave her son under the care of someone else. It can be seen as an abandonation since she just left him there. Beating her may not have been the best way of getting his message to her of having to be responsible but, it is understandable of why he felt the need to beat her. This is different from the way Okonkwo treats his son Nwoye because, he treats his wife as an adult she is and expects more from her. He is not as lenient with her like. The way he treats her is the same as the way she treats Nwoye because he beats them both. This tells me about Okonkwo as a character that he expects

His reasoning behind his beating is explicit. He shows much care when he does. When you really care about someone, you correct them and not just let them keep making the same mistakes over and over again. Okonkwo is the head of the family and shows in numerous ways how he just wants his family to be and do great things. He started all the way from the bottom and if it weren’t for his hard work, they’d all still be in the same place. He just wants them to be good and not show signs of weakness as it reminds him of his