Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart Essay

Okonkwo life is “dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13). When Okonkwo was a boy, his playmates teased him calling, saying that his father was agbala. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was lazy. He did not work on his farm; he died in great debt. He did not acquire a single title. He did not have a barn to pass down to his son. Unoka is a type of man who is scorned in Umofia. He is seen as weak and effeminate. As Okonkwo grows older, he is determined not become a failure like his father. His father was weak; he will be strong. His father was lazy; he will be hard-working. Okonkwo earned his fame by defeating the reigning wrestling champion. Okonkwo diligently plants yam, building a successful farm. He builds himself an obi, has three wives and many children. His fame “rested on solid personal achievements” (Achebe 3). Okonkwo will not let one womanly trait sully his reputation. Therefore, he “hate[d] everything that his father Unoka had loved” (Achebe 13). One of these was gentleness. Okonkwo refuses to show any signs of emotion, except his temper. He

Okonkwo name is well known throughout the nine villages for his great wrestling ability. Okonkwo is the pride of the igbo tribe in Nigeria this is around 1900s. Okonkwo is a very prideful man who lives in fear of not becoming the man his father was, He seems to be so caught up in being the total opposite of his father that he does not live his own life and do whats in his heart. Okonkwo 's father Unoka had no personal achievements he was a man who was in debt to many people and failed as a farmer, But Okonkwo 's “fame rested on solid personal achievements” (pg 1). Okonkwo was a great farmer and had no debts to pay. In all ways that Okonkwo could be he was the complete opposite of his father.

White. White everywhere. White men everywhere. White men with new idea everywhere. These are the thoughts running wild in a person’s mind who has never seen a person with white skin and when they begin to bring new things and ideas their thoughts begin to build. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe what seemed to be a normal day in Umuofia turned into a day of new faces and later to come, a new clan. As white men arrived they brought many things from their culture and at the beginning they seemed to be making a difference for a more positive society but readers quickly find out that these things were only brought to manipulate the Ibo people into doing the desired actions of the white men.

He is the greatest wrestler in the land and has four wives and a large land size and farm all of this and no thanks to his father Unoka. Growing up his father was poor and gave him no land and no wife and Okonkwo was forced to start his adult life from scratch. Because of his father Okonkwo fears laziness and everything his father enjoyed. “Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness,[...] a playmate had told him that his father was agbala. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman, it could also mean a man who had taken to title” (Things Fall Apart 12). If he see a sign of laziness in his children a punishment is followed. Because of his father's laziness it motivates him to succeed. This flaw of the fear of weakness and being like his father is one characteristic that makes him a tragic hero. He is a dedicated to the tradition of the Ibo culture and follows the traditions of his culture(reword this). Okonkwo is also ill-tempered he tends to beat his wife's if they do something wrong, once he threaten to get his gun. This can be seen from a statement in the book “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper” (12). Okonkwo can be described as a tragic

Firstly, one of Okonkwo’s biggest identities is that he is a hard-working Ibo. He showed this “during the planting season, Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost,”(Achebe 11). The reason Okonkwo is a hard-working Ibo is because he does not want to become his father Unoka. But when Okonkwo worked his farms, his eldest son caused him great anxiety for his laziness. Since Okonkwo is a “very strong man and rarely felt fatigued,”(Achebe 11) this showed the strength he has while working. As well Okonkwo shows his strength while he wrestled the Cat. The cat was unbeaten for seven years. Until Okonkwo threw the cat and won this shows how Okonkwo’s fame has grown since that

Okonkwo’s merciless violence gave him the appearance of being impenetrable. His brutality in the book categorized him as emotionless and callous. His drive to become greater than his father meant he cared only about himself and his own success. Okonkwo beat his own son, Nwoye, for fear he was growing lazy like

Who are you? Have you ever wondered where you get your identity; what exactly defines you as a person? The obstacles in our lives shape us people, Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart illustrates the circumstances one man and his son face in an Ibo village in Nigeria. Okonkwo, the protagonist/antagonist has a tragic flaw, the fear of weakness which ultimately causes him to expect more from his son, Nwoye who never falls short in disappointing him. The relationship between the two is not the most desired seeing that they both do not show the affection most father-son relationships do. Traditionally, most sons follow their father's footsteps, however, this is not the case for both

In the essay Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, there are five meaningful quotes that revolve around Okonkwos status during his life. In the beginning of the novel Okonkwo became an important part of his village early in his life when he defeated Amaline the Cat in a wrestling match. His victory made him a celebrity among the nine villages of Umuofia because Amaline had been undefeated for seven years. At this point, Okonkwo began on the path to high social status among his village, which was his goal throughout his life.

What effects can fear have on a person? And how can these effects influence that person? Fear is defined in the Oxford dictionary as ‘an unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain or harm’. The tragic novel “Things Fall Apart”, written by the renowned Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe, is an incredibly influential text. The novel is also an example of how fear can be utilised as an approach to characterisation. Achebe composed his novel in a manner, which portrays a complex and dynamic community to represent Nigerian cultures to a western audience. Achebe was able to attain this through the Ibo communities and the main character Okonkwo. In the beginning of the novel, Okonkwo is represented as a man of pride, success, and hard

Okonkwo starts off with great accomplishments, and is feared by many. He defeated “The Cat” who was a well known, undefeated wrestler. He earns respect and fame in his village. He has three wives and ten children who all see him as very intimidating. Achebe writes “Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children.”(13). His family does as he says. They do not go against him, and they are very intimidated by him. Okonkwo’s father was lazy with little success, and Okonkwo lives exactly the opposite.

He accomplishes the goals he sets and accomplishes what is important to him “As a young man of 18, he had brought honor to the villages by throwing amalinze the cat”. Doing that was hard enough, not to mention the fact he was 18 at the time. Okonkwo works hard for what he wants, “He was the greatest wrestlers of all the 9 villages”, (page 8). To be the greatest you'd have to work for it. He works for what he wants, until he achieves his goals, that's what makes him fall into this category. Another quote to explain how Okonkwo works hard to succeed is on page 13, chapter 2. “During planting season Okonkwo worked daily on his farm until, from cock crow until the chickens went to roost”. He is successful, he likes to succeed. He works until the goal is met, and that's exactly why he fits under the category of a tragic

Throughout his village, Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, was known to be extremely lazy and untrustworthy. Okonkwo spent his life rebelling against his father’s image, there are many points in the book to prove this. Villagers referred to Unoka as a ‘loafer’ and said that they would no longer lend him money, since he never paid it back (Achebe 5). To counteract his father’s laziness, Okonkwo became one of the greatest and most famous wrestlers. Unoka had also left nothing for his son, Okonkwo left more than enough, his barns, farm animals, seeds, he wanted his children to grow up to be legends like him. Flaws of this narrow-mindedness include pushing his children away from

Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” chronicles the life of Okonkwo, a strong man whose existence is dominated by fear and anger, and the Ibo tribe, a people deeply rooted in cultural belief and tradition. As events unfold, Okonkwo’s carefully constructed world and the Ibo way of life collapses. The story of Okonkwo’s fall from a respected and feared leader of the Ibo tribe to an outcast who dies in disgrace dramatizes his inability to evolve beyond his personal beliefs, affecting the entire Ibo tribe beyond measure. The “things” that fall apart in Achebe’s novel are Okonkwo’s life – his ambition, dreams, family unity and material wealth – and the Ibo way of life – their beliefs, culture and values.

The structure and beliefs of many cultures are based on religion, and this is clearly evident in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. The novel takes place in the in the1890’s, a just before British colonization began in what is now known as Nigeria. In the novel this area of land is recognized as Umuofia, which is composed of nine villages that all speak the Igbo language. The Umuofia is the village where the main character, Okonkwo, is from. Okonkwo’s village was completely run by men, and he was one of the most successful and powerful men in his village. Okonkwo, was one of the reasons that his village was feared by all of its neighbors. The villagers of Umuofia put a lot of emphasis on religion and they used their religious beliefs for formulate their cultural views on things like gender roles, and polygamy. Through reading and analyzing Things Fall Apart, it is made clear that there are several similarities and differences between the culture of the Igbo and the culture of modern day America. The key differences are the societal gender roles, the acceptance of polygamy, and the role of religion. The most substantial similarities are the role and significance of warfare, and the ideas on government and community leadership.

He is victorious in wrestling, providing wealth for his family, and achieving honorary titles. We recognize his ambition, his drive to be the best- his implied excellence. In these introductory chapters, we understand the problem for the hero and his society- change is coming, but the hatred of his father and the resulting anger and fear have afflicted Okonkwo. His flaw will be his downfall in coping with the changes to come.