Okonkwo in “Things Fall Apart” utilises direct imperatives to instruct those subordinate to him. This is seen throughout the text, such as when Okonkwo orders one of his wives to ‘get me a pot’ and ‘to leave the child alone’. The language used by Okonkwo serves as a tool of subjugation, with the coarse use of direct imperatives and harsh remarks serves to overpower them to the point of them becoming his slaves. Hugh as a societal and familial patriarch is presented in light of a failing patriarch, such as the way in which he represents a static, inward-looking, self-satisfied way of life, whose response to modern outside influences is to ignore them. For example, he is in denial about the colonisation that’s taking place, to the degree that he is refusing it is even happening. In contrast to Hugh, Prospero controls the characters in the play and remains in firm control of the island, he is a learned scholar who has powerful magical abilities and uses his knowledge to keep control of the island and is feared and revered. Okonkwo as a familial patriarch would have been seen as a successful patriarch, due to his domination of those subordinate to him, such as his wives and children, ordering his daughter to ‘sit like a woman’ and nearly killing his wife, ‘is it true that Okonkwo nearly killed you with his gun?’ Thus, his constant efforts to maintain his status also serve to reinforce his power and status. Colonisers are considered the upmost authority and any authority below is answerable to the coloniser. Likewise, Prospero is the coloniser, serving as the main figure head, compared to Hugh and Okonkwo who as societal patriarchs, only encompass certain levels of authority. Thus, being answerable to a higher authority is a clea... ... middle of paper ... ...oth audiences and overall, it is clear that patriarchy is a dominant theme in both texts, and it beautifies the flow of each text in a uniquely definitive approach. The play, written in 1611, showed all the qualities that a Jacobean court audience would have admired. Prospero, much like King James I, is a learned man, in possession of natural authority and an understanding of magic. He was considered by E. Dowden in Shakespeare: His Mind and Art (1875), to be a ‘harmonious and fully developed will.’ And yet a modern audience struggles to consolidate their understanding of Prospero with the archetypal Shakespearean hero. In fact, E. Baughan wrote in a Daily News Review (Jan 8, 1926), he calls Prospero both an ‘insufferable bore’ and a ‘cruel egotist.’ It’s that latter description of the protagonist and hero Prospero that a modern audience is likely to relate to.
...the introduction of the English forces introduces another level of patriarchy. It is clear that patriarchy is a dominant theme in both texts, and it beautifies the flow of each story in a unique approach. Despite all the similarities and differences between characters, the success and failures comes down solely to the audience viewing it.
Because Okonkwo did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps as a lazy, gentle, and poor man, he decided to create his own legacy. Some may consider this honorable; but as Okonkwo’s character evolves, it is clear that he is crippled by his own desire to escape his father’s shadow. He envisioned his father as weak but his own mindset in turn has weakened him in many areas. This is the narrative in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. The generational traits impact the characterizations of each individual in such a profound way. Okonkwo may have hated the legacy his father left behind but there was no where for him to run away from the bloodline that flowed so heavily through him.
The fictional novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is about Okonkwo and his Ibo tribe, Umuofia, known now as Nigeria. This novel describes the beginning of the colonial transformation of traditional society seen in a political, economical and in a socio-cultural form. Furthermore, in this fictional story, the colonization process can be represented as it was used during the scramble for Africa, which took place in the late 19th and early 20th century (Akram-Lodhi, Colonization); back in that time colonization was justified. However, modern analysis have had demonstrate that the scramble for Africa was a colonial and imperialistic practice, these views helped to facilitate the end of colonization that began around 1950 (Hobsbawm 217). Although,
Okonkwo’s fear leads him to treat members of his family harshly, in particular his son, Nwoye. Okonkwo often wonders how he, a man of great strength and work ethic, could have had a son who was “degenerate and effeminate” (133). Okonkwo thought that, "No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man" (45).
Things Fall Apart is an attention-grabbing novel full of violence, aggression, and oppression. Its main protagonist Okonkwo, on the surface appears to be a true tribesman, and a revered leader with qualities that far surpassed many among his clan. However, the physical and psychological qualities of Oknokwos’ character mirrored an individual who was nothing short of a “king like” ruler and conquer. Okonkwo traits of being a self-seeking, abusive, and cold-hearted individual made him a man that preys on the weak and young, and people in general who falls outside of his definition of a man. Okonkwo character lacks many characteristics that represent real strength, disciple, and bravery as his life came to a disappointing demise reflective of the weakness he spent his whole life avoiding. Okonkwo character in all fairness fails to stage some real virtues of a true leader, but rather that of a ruler.
In conclusion, as the play progresses, Prospero constructs the hierarchy in such a way as to return things to their "natural" state. Any type of usurpation, whether attempted or successful,
When you think of the word “culture” what comes to mind? Many elements can contribute to
The relationship between Prospero and Caliban is a perfect demonstration of the dependence relationship between a coloniser and the native of whichever colony he set his eye upon. Colonialism was a subject easily related to by Shakespeare's contemporary audience; with James on the throne the British Empire was beginning to thrive and would soon become the largest in not only the 17th Century world, but one of the largest in history. At the time 'The Tempest' was first preformed, 1611, Britain had begun to lay claim to North America and the smaller Caribbean isles, a fact the King was no doubt proud of and, similarly to his addition of the supernatural (a subject that fascinated James), aiming to impress Shakespeare chose to make colonialism a central theme in 'The Tempest'.
The Importance of Things Fall Apart & nbsp; & nbsp; The novel "Things Fall Apart", by Chinua Achebe, was an eye-opening account of the life and eventual extinction of an African tribe called the Ibo. It focuses on one character, Okonkwo, who at a very early age set out on a quest of self-perfection. Coming from a family ruled by a man who was lazy and inconsistent with everything he did, Okonkwo vowed to never accept the fate of his father. Okonkwo and his family have suffered through many hard times in their lives, but usually managed to come out on top. Through terrible crop seasons and bad judgement calls, Okonkwo usually prevailed, until the day came when he was faced with a situation that could not be resolved by his strength and character alone.
In Things fall Apart, labels and titles signify power, and where you stand as a person, or leader. Okonkwo really values his position in his tribe and in society, and the titles he has rightfully earned, unlike his father. Okonkwo feels hatred, anger, and embarrassment towards his father Unoka, who was referred to as "Agbala," a title used for women as well as men that have not taken any title. Okonkwos' fathers failure is what truly drives him to be as powerful and as respected as possible, and with this power comes many respectable titles and honors. With three wives and many children, Okonkwo earns great titles and also great respect, he is recognized as a powerful and wealthy man who worked hard to transform himself from a man with nothing to a man with everything; wealth, power, respect, yams, wives, children, everything that is valued in Umuofian tribe.
Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is a powerful novel about the social changes that occurred when the white man first arrived on the African continent. The novel is based on a conception of humans as self-reflexive beings and a definition of culture as a set of control mechanisms. Things Fall Apart is the story of Okonkwo, an elder, in the Igbo tribe. He is a fairly successful man who earned the respect of the tribal elders. The story of Okonkwo’s fall from a respected member of the tribe to an outcast who dies in disgrace graphically dramatizes the struggle between the altruistic values of Christianity and the lust for power that motivated European colonialism in Africa and undermined the indigenous culture of a nation.
Albert Chinualumogu Achebe was born on November 16, 1930 to Isaiah Okafo and Janet Achebe in the very unstable country of Ogidi, Nigeria. He was exposed to missionaries early in his childhood because Ogidi was one of the first missionary centers established in Eastern Nigeria and his father was an evangelist. Yet it was not until he began to study at the University of Ibadan that Achebe discovered what he himself wanted to do. He had grown apalled to the "superficial picture" of Nigeria that many non-Nigerian authors were providing. That is when Achebe resolved to write something that viewed his country from "the inside". (Gallagher, Susan, The Christian Century, v114, 260) His first novel, Things Fall Apart, achieved exactly this. Things Fall Apart is based on Nigeria's early experiences with the British. It is the story of an Ibo village and one of it's great men, Okonkwo, who is a very high achiever being a champion wrestler, a wealthy farmer, a husband to three wives, and a man with titles. Okonkwo's world is disrupted with the appearance of the first white man who tries to inflict his religion on the Umuofia natives. Okonkwo, a high tempered man, later kills a British employed man and eventually takes his own life.
Throughout history, there have been many instances of people struggling to identify and cope with change and tradition, and this is no different in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.
...epresents every person that has been colonized by Europe, and their attempt to civilize the savages. Their method of civilizing and to maintain a firm grip on their savage labourers was language. It was their means to communicate and control the people who they didn’t consider as themselves and a means to discriminate against it. This is reason why Caliban resists and rebels against Prospero and disparage the language he has been taught. To him it is the loss of freedom and the agency through which he is being discriminated against.
In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is portrayed as a respected and determined individual whose fatal flaw eventually works against him. Throughout the novel the readers are shown that Okonkwo has many of these Characteristics because he is obsessed with the idea of becoming just like his father. This becomes his flaw in the novel that puts him into exile and makes it hard for him to adjust to the changes that were made with in his village.