Theme Of Ambition In Things Fall Apart

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Elvis Ahn Period 5 10/1/15 Things Fall Apart Theme Paper In Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”, the main character, Okonkwo, lives a life full of ambition to be the best in his village. This ambition is also driven by his determination to be more successful and respected than his late father, who was known as a debtor and a coward. The book revolves around Okonkwo’s life and aspirations, which includes his rise to fame and his downfall. With that being said, Okonkwo demonstrates that ambition can be beneficial to the interests of an individual, however, an excessive amount of ambition ultimately leads to one’s failure. The narrator informs readers about the negative reputation of his father, Unoka, in order to set a contrast and reasoning Despite the fact that Ogbuefi, a respected orator within the village, told Okonkwo not to partake in Ikemefuna’s murder, Okonkwo disregards it and kills Ikemefuna himself. As Ikemefuna is dying, “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him (Ikemefuna) down. He was afraid of being thought weak” (61). Since Okonkwo’s ambitions are based on his fear of being weak or failing, killing Ikemefuna was the right thing to do. His stubborn mindset of not wanting to be viewed as weak caused him to do something that he did not plan on doing or want to do. Cutting Ikemefuna down happens to be an immediate reaction, as Okonkwo’s ambition and desire to be the strongest suddenly gets to him. He does not get the chance to fully comprehend the actual situation, causing him to impulsively kill Ikemefuna, who Okonkwo was quite fond of. His fondness of Ikemefuna is shown when “Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son’s development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna” (52). The killing causes Okonkwo to spiral into a great depression, as “Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna” (63). Okonkwo falls into a period of regret and sadness; he killed someone he adored. This depression is detrimental to Okonkwo, as he loses sleep and his appetite. Due to Okonkwo’s ambitious mindset of not being perceived as weak, he makes an After Okonkwo gets banished from his original village, he goes to his motherland. There, he learns that white missionaries have arrived in his original village, and have begun converting villagers to Christianity. He becomes so blinded with being the best and being better than his father that he does not want to be weak by conforming to the missionaries’ ways. He is so resistant against the new religion that when his son, Nwoye, comes home from a Christian school, Okonkwo “… suddenly overcome with fury, sprang to his feet and gripped him (Nwoye) by the neck” (151). This only shows how much resentment Okonkwo has for the recent conformations. He is nothing less than disappointed that his son would fall under the influence of the Christian faith. If nearly killing his son because he became “weak” and started believing in a new religion is the necessary step in getting Okonkwo’s point across, then so be it. Furthermore, Okonkwo’s ambition and goal to be the best in his village blinds him from seeing the finer things in life. He is so enveloped with the thought of succeeding, that he becomes stubborn in accepting new ideas and things. He wants things done his way. It only shows the lengths that he is willing to go to show that he will not be weak and conform, which is something his father would

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