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Things Fall Apart Analysis Essay
Things Fall Apart Analysis Essay
Things Fall Apart Analysis Essay
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In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, a cultural clash between Ibo culture and Western culture was assessed through fictional literature. Several characters reacted to this in their unique ways, either by accepting or rejecting European beliefs. However, the character Okonkwo, a proud, strong and well respected warrior in the Igbo Society had a significant reaction to the new culture. When the new, western culture comes to Igbo society, Okonkwo, of Clan Umuofia, responds by using violence as the only choice. This decision carried dire consequences, and lead to Oknonkwo’s death. Okonkwo’s violent reaction included the hatred of Christians, the new religion had challenged everything Okonkwo had believed in. Okonkwo was a strict …show more content…
Okonkwo declared that his people should not “reason like cowards” (Achebe, 159), he questions why his people have “lost the will to fight” (Achebe, 175), and declares that his people “must fight these men [Europeans] and drive them from the land.” (Achebe, 176). Okonkwo later murders a European messenger with a machete, “the messenger crouch to avoid the blow…Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his body.” Okonkwo would rather wage war instead of diplomacy, he has a warlike personality, combined with a near xenophobic hatred of European men and Christians, his reaction to new Western ideas leads him to kill missionaries and attempt to unite the clans to drive Europeans from the land. Okonkwo’s barbarism and abandonment of reason ultimately leads to Okonkwo’s self-murder, for the clans would not wage war against the …show more content…
Okonkwo’s reaction did not come without consequences, the final punishment for his actions was his clan refusing to go to war and him committing suicide by hanging. A second consequence of his violent reaction was the rift he had created between himself and his family, when he attacked his son, threatening to murder him; he was stopped by his uncle, who implied that Okonkwo had become insane. Perhaps the worst consequence of Okonkwo’s actions was the fact that he not only died by suicide and his clan had forsaken him, he died a disgrace like his father. Okonkwo became a bitter exile and spent his life not trying to become like his disgraceful father, when he returned from exile, he tried to rebuild his lost reputation. Instead, in full irony, he dies with a destroyed reputation and shares his father’s fate as a disgrace to his
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 has always resorted to violence when he is text with the problem. One such time is in Mbanta when Okonkwo claimed that “if his children are praying to the white man's God, he would wipe them off the face of the earth." (Achebe 146) Again this shows Okonkwo resorting to violence to solve his problem. His problem is this new culture and religion invading his land. This quote also shows that his negative response will not be limited to the invaders, but anyone who joins them, even his family. They will all be punished by him. The thought of his family joining the white man creates a drastic negative response in Okonkwo. Another reason for Okonkwo’s strict punishment was probably from Nwoye. Nwoye had defied Okonkwo and joined the white man’s religion. This enraged Okonkwo and he threatened Nwoye. He later disowned him as his oldest son. This no doubt contributed to Okonkwo’s response to the invading culture.
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.
... a meeting, Okonkwo, knowing that his clansmen would do nothing to drive the white men away form their villages, killed a messenger. He then went home and committed suicide.
In both books, “Thing Fall Apart” and “Krik? Krak!”, many characters are defeated but there are two characters which share the same pain. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe which takes place in 1900’s Nigeria, is a novel about a guy named Okonkwo who goes through different obstacles that lead to his downfall. Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart who commits suicide because he couldn’t deal being controlled by the white men. The second piece of literature, Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat which takes place in Haiti and New York is a Haitian-American Fiction and one of the stories concerns a character named Guy who lives a normal life with his family but doesn’t how he himself is like. Guy commits suicide because he does not believe he is a man. In both books Guy and Okonkwo both go through something that made them commit suicide.
The novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, reveals the dynamics of the Ibo tribe that eventually led to Okonkwo’s demise. Okonkwo was taught the values and ways of the tribe which prepared him for failure in a more modern society. The family structure that existed caused many struggles with his father and even his sons. Also, the Ibo tribe valued strength and status. Such ideals opened the door for conflict with the missionaries who are trying to enforce laws and civility. Altogether, Okonkwo was mislead and unwilling to learn another way of life. Although many things contributed to Okonkwo’s downfall, one must explore each reason separately in order to understand. Starting with Okonkwo's father.
As you see, Okonkwo was a deprived man after hearing about the whites expanding their beliefs and customs to Umuofia. Being unable to contain it, he had no choice but to give in. Okonkwo wanted to go to war and fight the invading Europeans, but he soon realized that he was the only one hungry for war. “I shall fight alone if I choose” (Achebe 201). Being the only one seeking for revenge, he had no choice but to behead the head messenger who was trying to end a clan meeting. Letting the other messengers escape, Okonkwo’s visual was the truth. “He knew that Umuofia would not go to war” (Achebe 205). Everything that he stood for was now distant. His once powerful and running clan was now weak and resistant to fight off enemies. What was the point to live when everything else had failed him and he could do nothing to resolve it? He struggled with the changes occurring in the tribe. He was known as a very strong and honorable tribesman, but when the whites arrived promoting Christianity and other tribe members began to change as a result, even his own son, he could not bear the change. While viewing the others as weak, like his father, he tries to remain strong against change however he is the only one. Killing the messenger was the last attempt to try and save the tribe from the influence of the white man. Seeing the others not join in his action, he loses hope and in desperation ends his life
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...
In chapter 7, it quotes, “Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” During this time Okonkwo’s tribesmen were set out on hurting Ikemefuna but Okonkwo felt he was being looked upon as a weak person so he took the action of killing Ikemefuna after being told not to. The author, Achebe, shows characterization by showing what kind of person Okonkwo can be, which is disobedient, and heartless. Because of his actions he has now affected his actual son back home. This comes to show how others can be affected by your actions. Another point we can analyze from this is that he took action because he thought his peers would look at him as being “weak” which should not matter as long as you know your self worth. The author also wants us to understand that when you hold an abundant amount of authority you still have to understand your consequences despite if you like them or not and those repercussions may affect those around you to. In chapter 13, Okonkwo has to move himself and his family to another location after his tragedy of killing Ezeudu’s son. As quoted, “The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan. It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a classman and a man who committed it must flee from the clan.” The plot has now taken a turn which engages you more because, even
Unlike others tales of the colonialism, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart tells the perspective of the natives in their slow defeat from the white man. Okonkwo, the hardworking main protagonist, finds relief in following the old Igbo traditions, but with the arrival of the Christian missionaries, Okonkwo’s clan, Umuofia, slowly adopts the new religion destroying Okonkwo’s dream of living the tradition Igbo lifestyle. With the growth of the church, outcasts and men who opposed the traditional lifestyle converted to the religion, but Okonkwo and the men surrounding him learns to resentment the religion for changing their way of life. While many of the Igbos despise the new religion, a closer look reveals that the traditional Igbo ideals of
While there were many possible motives for his suicide, the most prominent was the fact that Okonkwo would never gain back his power that he lost while in exile. If it weren’t for Okonkwo accidentally killing a clansmen, he would have never been exiled by his unstable, altered culture. In addition to his loss of power, Okonkwo feels defeat once he realizes that his clansmen will never go to war against the British. These two claims eventually lead to Okonkwo’s final downfall; suicide. As a result of Okonkwo’s unwillingness to follow through with the colonization, his sense of identity was lost, as he himself could not begin to find it anymore. While most people of the Ibo culture remained quiet and followed through with the colonization, Okonkwo was very iron-willed and wanted everything done his way. In the end, things do in fact fall apart. People change and regimes become altered, all unable to be undone by others. Chinua Achebe portrays Okonkwo as a very vulnerable, yet invulnerable character both at the same time. Okonkwo is a perfect example of a character who values their pride so much, that they will go to the extreme to hold on to it. He was faced with a new challenge that ultimately ended his
From the very beginning he had distinguished his masculinity from all the others in the village. He wished to prosper in the way great Igbo people always had. Okonkwo’s form, ideas, and life, all represent the African tradition and memory. The western culture and memory ruined everything that Okonkwo held dear. This was seen as early as Okonkwo’s banishment from the tribe. Okonkwo had brought his gun to a festival that was honoring the marriage of a girl in the village. That gun accidently exploded and killed a clansman. This was seen as the ultimate disgrace and he was banished for seven years from the tribe. The gun, which was a western tool, had caused Okonkwo to be separated from his people. While Okonkwo was away, Christian missionaries started to settle down among the tribesman of several different villages including Mbata, where he was staying. Okonkwo was very much against this, but he had been banished so he did not have a say. Eventually, as colonialism’s appetite increased, they set up administration buildings and courts to solidify their control over the people. The people feared the white men because of what happened in Abame, “… And they began to shoot. Everyone was killed, except for the sick and the old…” (Achebe 81). Many people did not want the white man there, but they were afraid of being killed. The new courts were enforcing the laws of Great Britain, and punishing people for doing things that just years earlier, would have been deemed
Things Falls Apart was published in 1958, two years after Nigeria achieved its independence. On October 1, 1960 Nigeria gained independence through constitutions that were legislated by the British government. This new constitution established a federal government system with an elected Prime Minister and a ceremonial head of staff. So, in Things Fall Apart, Achebe wanted to show outsiders how the life of a Nigerian. The story takes place in a tribal village of Umuofia, where those who practice Ibo. The Ibo, also known as Igbo, worshipped gods who they believe protected them, advised them, and chastised them. The Ibo were represented by priests and priestesses. The gods helped guide the community and individuals. Each villager had its own personal god, or chi, that influenced his/her actions.
Change. Change is not easy to handle, let alone accepting it, letting change eat at you and your culture. The book, Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, is a gripping novel about an African tribe thad tries to overcome or accept change. When people already have something imputed into their brains, it’s a major challenge to change that with an alienated culture nothing like their own. When Okonkwo dealt with change in his life, he was pushed off of the edge, and was willing to fight for what he believes in. Fighting for your culture is a noble and right thing to do, and here 3 reasons why.
...clansmen come to decide what they should do, Okonkwo has already chosen war. As the messenger arrives to order an end to the meeting, Okonkwo is once again driven by his rage and kills the messenger. He realizes that the others were not prepared to fight, and he comes to understand the consequences of his actions. Instead of being executed, Okonkwo decides to take his own life.