In Things Fall Apart, Unoka is signified for his habitual idleness as his only concern is his passion is to enjoy life which causes him to fail accomplishing his responsibilities, and through this struggle of stabilizing his life, readers can closely examine a different human condition of allowing people’s pleasure to come in the way of their responsibilities. In Umuofia, Unoka is known for constantly being in debt as he completely disregards the significance of hard work and instead prioritizes his own delight. This is why Unoka never succeeds to pay his debts back and instead continues to borrow more money, just for the purpose of his pleasure, “In his [Unoka’s] day, he was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow. …show more content…
Additionally, the author emphasizes how this borrowed money “seldom,” or rarely, even came. Keeping this in mind, Unoka could have changed his attitude either by wisely spending this restricted budget or even putting the money into a productive use as buying seeds to obtain money in the future. However, the character stands out as he fails to select either action and instead, without a second thought about the matter, Unoka’s obsessive concern of only delighting himself distracts him from the harsh reality of the situation of owning nothing, and thus he continues to recklessly waste the …show more content…
Additionally, despite the fact of the other villagers disclosing their disapproval of Unoka’s behavior and publicly humiliating him, Unoka disregards their concerns and resume his dysfunctional way of living, “People laughed at him because he was a loafer, and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back. But Unoka was such a man that he always succeeded in borrowing more, and piling up his debts" (3). Achebe reveals how Unoka never shows care for others’ opinions about him. Earlier in the book, it is even mentioned that he gets called agbala before, however he disregards these notions, and even gains an additional title of being publicly known as the “loafer,”or idler, and “people laughed at him,” however he still demonstrates to be unbothered by this as he takes no action to change his work ethic. Through this particular aspect of Unoka’s experience, Achebe guides readers to recognize how yes, it is negative to regard others’ criticism if it negatively interferes with their development in life. However, Unoka’s disregard of the people's messages is only hurting him as he doesn’t allow this humiliation to encourage him to at least try to be
Since Unoka lacked any social status or financial stability, his death was more or less of a weak blow to Okonkwo’s firm rooted position
To resent a man that is merely a failure predominately based on a system of titles and his lack of said titles is exactly the behavior this culture instills in Okonkwo. In addition to the quote above, there is a quote at the end of chapter one that exemplifies the shame associated with possessing no titles and it states, “When Unoka died he had taken no titles at all and he was heavily in debt. Any wonder that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him” (Achebe 8)? The Igbo culture capitalizes on the eminence of a man who has titles. With the title system in this culture, shame is experienced on behalf of Okonkwo; the son of a man who is lacking in titles that signify status. The novel Things Fall Apart places extreme emphasis on the failures of Unoka in this cultural setting whilst demonstrating the success of his peers based solely on the title system. For instance, the text states in chapter one, “Okeye [...] was not a failure like Unoka [...] now he was going to take the Idemili title, the third highest
Okonkwo is known throughout Umuofia to be extremely masculine. He rarely shows signs of fear or weakness. This is because Oknokwo promised himself he would be the complete opposite of his father Unoka. Unoka had passed away ten years prior to when the story takes place but he has always been remembered as a weak, lazy, poor man who could barely provide for his family. He was always in debt and didn't care to work, he would play his flute all day everyday if he was able to. "People laughed at him because he was a loafer, and they swore never to lend him any more money because he never paid back" (5). Unoka was the laugh of the town and Okonkwo would never allow himself be that.
A life without a responsible father is a life one will regret. Without a parent’s responsibility, the children grow up having internal struggles. Such happens in the novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, when the protagonist, Okonkwo, had a substandard relationship with his father, Unkoka, who was an improvident and foolhardy man with no title. In Umuofia, a father is supposed to teach the children right and wrong, and in this case, the lessons were not taught, but self-learned. As Okonkwo gets older, so does his fear of being a failure, like him. He grows up to be a tough and fibrous man who loathes anything that has to do with his father; be it failure, men with no titles, or even men who show their emotions. Because of his fear for weakness, he murdered his adopted son, Ikemefuna. Achebe included the murder in order to prove that Okonkwo is strong yet fearful.
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.
...t should not forget to be humble” (26). The proverb means that one should remember to be demure because they are nothing compared to the controllers of their destiny. The man who has become successful due to his destiny should be grateful. Okonkwo believed that “he had cracked them himself” due to his “grim struggle against poverty” and hard work (27). This goes against respect and implies that Okonkwo rejects the concept of immutable destiny. Yet his own hard work came from his fear of his father’s qualities, and his father was the way he was because of his destiny. Okonkwo’s father chose to accept his destiny of being perpetually indebt and having “taken no titles at all” (8), as seen by the numerous opportunities he had to change his ways. Since Okonkwo was destined to have Unoka as his father and become who he was, he accepted his destiny by working hard.
Through her education outside of the quarters, Omocha was exposed to the world outside of Gion, and as a result, in everything she does and in everything she believes, she defines herself by that outside world. Her experience of seeing the quarters from the outside in led her to “understand certain things,” and it is those same things that now define her personality and views on men and society. Though Omocha attempts to explain how geisha are mere “playthings” for men to her sister, Umekichi’s absence of outside experience truly limits her ability to understand Omocha’s goals. Even when Omocha is brutally injured in an attack by two men, Umekichi can only chide her for “treat[ing] men like that” and causing such “terrible things [to] happen,” in effect blaming Omocha for her own assault. Her unsympathetic attitude toward Omocha’s actions clearly does not stem from a lack of compassion, but rather from a lack of perspective.
“With a father like Unoka, Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. He neither inherited a barn nor a title, or even a young wife. But in spite of these disadvantages, he had begun even in his father’s lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future” (18). Most of his accomplishments were despite his father, whom Okonkwo loathed, but with whom I connected. In the novel, I relate more to Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, a much more laid back character. Like Unoka, I am in love with life, lazy, not worried about tomorrow, and deeply in debt.
His life is falling apart, his son a stain on his manhood, his home invaded by foreign men spreading a strange and destructive religion, his life full of horrific situations caused by his greediness for power. He could not take it anymore and took his own life. The once proud, dominating, and successful warrior now forever marred by his cultures opinion on suicide. The devastation of this is profound in the following quote, “Obierika, who had been gazing steadily at his friend's dangling body, turned suddenly to the District Commissioner and said ferociously: "That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself and now he will be buried like a dog…"
Okonkwo grew up from poverty to wealthy enough to support three wives, and many children. He was well respected by his clansmen from his village. Although, Okonkwo has many great aspects in his life, his tragic flaw is the fear of becoming like his father. While everyone was working on their farm, Unoka did nothing but drink, dance, and just plainly pray to the gods.
From an early age, Okonkwo was ashamed of his father, Unoka, who was unable even to feed his family. The unpredictability of receiving enough food at a young age was enough to inspire fear and embarrassment in Okonkwo who associated this embarrassment with his father and was given further justification for these feelings when he went out into Umuofia, discovering that the other villagers held similar opinions of Unoka. When he was old enough, Okonkwo began farming his own yams because “he had to support his mother and two sisters […] And supporting his mother also meant supporting his father” (25). Okonkwo’s self-reliance was admired, valued in the community where “age was respected […] but achievement was revered” (12); this admiration gave him feelings of security, and the respect of his peers pushed him towards greater self-respect, distancing him from his father. The security and respect became related in his mind as he viewed his acceptance in the community as his life’s goal and Okonk...
Unoka – Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was considered lazy and a failure. He never worked and always took from others. Okonkwo considered him a complete embarrassment and vowed never to be like his father. He had to hate what Unoka once loved, and never borrow money or stop working.
In Things Fall Apart, the reader follows the troubles of the main character Okonkwo, a tragic hero whose flaw includes the fact that "his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness" (2865). For Okonkwo, his father Unoka was the essence of failure and weakness.
Even if a man had a title for himself if he did not have control of his wife and children, he was not considered a true man, “No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule this women and his children, he was not really a man(53)”. Man of Igbo are held a high amount of power, which is why Okonkwo’s nine children and three wives were often terrified of his anger. Okonkwo struggles with his prominent attitude that men are more important than women because he fears to not be successful and resemble his father, Unoka, whom he refers to as a “woman”. Unoka, before his death was lazy, irresponsible, and weak, as he was known for owning money to others. Achebe uses Unoka, as an example that is a was not manly or did not earn himself a worthy title, that he is not looked at as a real man. Umofia was strict about the understanding that all men must be strong, even when Okonkwo wanted to care for others in a compassionate way he could not because they would mistake that for weakness. For example, when Okonkwo wanted to save Ikemefuna from death, Achebe states, he could not do that because he is too prideful and being strong for men in Umofia, is not just a characteristic but a lifestyle. Okonkwo has no problem letting go of his son Nwoye because he chose the catholic religion over what his father believed in. For a
...e on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart" (Achebe, 176). The village of Umuofia held to backward laws and values that "destroy innocent children" (Achebe, 146). The tribe's innocence had to die in order for those who survived to mature. Although Umuofia's peak of innocence may have been when Ikemefuna was handed over to the village, but its maturity would come through the death of Ikemefuna, the tribe's innocence, at the hands of those the tribe called "father." Things Fall Apart clearly illustrates the faults of the African system and way of life through "the series of catastrophes which end with his [Okonkwo's and Umuofia's] death" (Carroll).