Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart

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 also tries to show himself as an unsympathetic character to show that he is not a weak man, like his father, Unoka. (Being a weak man is a very degrading quality for the culture of Umofia.) An example of Okonkwo’s unsympathetic personality is Ikemefuna’s death. Although Okonkwo treasured the presence of the adopted buy, Ikemefuna, Okonkwo contributes the last and fatal blow to Ikemefuna, causing him to die in the Evil Forest. Okonkwo, regardless of his love for the boy, killed Ikemefuna ultimately to prove his manliness and strength to the tribe, a valued aspect of the culture. “Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body.” (Achebe 146) Okonkwo is also very unsympathetic in regards to his father, Unoka. Unoka was a poor man who was always in debt; he had an interest in music and enjoyed talking.

All Okonkwo ever wanted was to be better than his father. Not to prove to himself that he was better, but to prove it to the other villagers. As a way to achieve this, he hardened himself at young age and took lead role in his homelife. Okonkwo was never complacent until Ikemefuna came only. Okonkwo had plenty of children, but none of them to ever be just right. Nwoye reminded him too much Unoka and put the fear of repetition in his heart and Enzima was perfect, she knew Okonkwo like the back of her hand but she was of course, a female. Ikemefuna took up the son role.

Unoka is Okonkwo’s father, he is a very lazy man and has amassed many debts. Okonkwo is very ashamed of Unoka and seems to hate him very much. Achebe states

Of the many themes that appear in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, individuality versus nationality becomes a central topic as the story progresses and develops. With the invasion and colonization of the European missionaries, Okonkwo’s nationality and contributions to society are called into question. Achebe explains the idea of nationality over individuality by showing that society is the precursor to individuality. Examining the life of the protagonist, Okonkwo, before and after his resistance exemplifies this key idea in Things Fall Apart.

This story maintained a constant theme of conflict. Nwoye, lives in perpetual fear of his father. Okonkwo constantly chastises his son and finds a fault with everything he

Okonkwo considers Nwoke to be weak, lazy and is more feminine than masculine. He feared that Nwoke will turn out to be like Unoka so, “he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating” (11). Achebe shows that Okonkwo wants his son to be strong and fierce like him, but when this was not the case he feels that harming Nwoke will teach him. Though instead of the punishment helping Nwoke become manly, it had a negative effect on Nwoke leading him to fear and resents his father. In addition, the small relationship they had was completely broken when Nwoke finds an interest for the Christian religion. When Okonkwo hears that Nwoke is among the Christians, he gets furious and disowns his son because he does not want Nwoke to join the church . Likewise, when Obierika ask Nwoke how his father is he answers saying, “I don’t know. He is not my father” (124). This shows that instead of working out their different opinions they fought and in the end tore their relationship apart. One can not miss the reality that if Okonkwo was kind and not hurtful towards Nwoke tun he would have stayed with the Ibo culture. If this was the cause then the father and son would have had a better relationship. In the end the reader can conclude that Nwoke and Okonkwo’s relationship failed because of the actions and feelings they had for each

Okonkwo the son of the useless and unimportant father Unoka strives to become rich and successful in the Ibo, unlike his father who was simple, poor and always was in debt from all of the people around. Okonkwo tries to

Okonkwo has a more positive relationship with his adopted son, Ikemefuna, who is basically a hostage from another tribe. No matter how hateful he was towards gentleness, Ikemefuna managed to be into the likings of Okonkwo because “he was by nature a very lively boy and he gradually became popular in Okonkwo’s household, especially with the children” (p. 28 “[He] himself became very fond of [Ikemefuna]…Sometimes when [Okonkwo] went to big village meetings or communal ancestral feasts, he allowed Ikemefuna to accompany him, like a son, carrying his stool and his goatskin bag. And indeed, Ikemefuna called him father” (p. 28). This shows a father and son relationship because all though Ikemefuma is not his son he is treated like one, Okonkwo begins to feel an emotional fatherly affection to his adoptive son Ikemefuna. All though he is very stubborn and does not like showing his emotions deep down he cares for his children including Ikemefuma. Eventually Okonkwo's tribe decides to kill Ikemefuna Okonkwo is only told not to participate, because Ikemefuna calls him father, and he is like a father to the boy. As the boy's back is turned, one of the men strikes the first blow with his

Unoka is a lazy man and does not have power; He is treated like he is worthless.

Nwoye is Okonkwo’s eldest son who Okonkwo considers unforgivably emasculate and very much like his father, Unoka. As a child, Nwoye usually receives the brunt of his father’s criticism and remains feeling unwanted. Eventually, Ikemefuna comes to fill that void and Nwoye, in his adoration of his adoptive brother, begins to takes after him. Also In a take strange way, Ikemefuna fills the role of both father and brother for Nwoye, providing him with a peer to share his thoughts and a person to look up to. As Ikemefuna rubs off on Nwoye, Okonkwo begins to find more favor with both of the boys. As a result , the three begin to form an unbreakable bond, or so they thought.

From the beginning of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, we see that the main character of the novel, Okonkwo, is a man of action, strength, and impulse. Okonkwo rarely thinks thing through and hardly ever sees the consequences of his actions and how they can affect others. By exerting a heavy hand on his wives and children, his authoritarian style of parenting shines through with the rays of masculinity and dominance pouring into his household. Okonkwo lacks a solid father son relationship with Nwoye because he is insufficient in his ability to control his fears of becoming his underachieving and weak father.

Ikemefuna is very well-liked by Okonkwo and his family, and becomes a mentor and best friend to Nwoye. Okonkwo feels dismay that Nwoye is taking on the torpid characteristics of his grandfather, Unoka, and is quite pleased that Nwoye is thriving and maturing under Ikemefuna’s guidance. “Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son’s development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna” (Achebe, 1958, p. 52, para. 2). Okonkwo’s pride, and fear of demonstrating any perceived sign of weakness, does not allow him to show any favorable emotion to Ikemefuna; he treats him with the same severity he does the rest of his family. “Even Okonkwo himself

Okonkwo, from Things Fall apart, revolves his whole life around showing people he is strong, which leads to self-destruction. He starts to feel the need to be important when his father, Unoka, was a joke to the village and seen, as Achebe writes, “Unoka in his day was lazy and improvident and a debtor.” (Achebe, page 4) to show how the people viewed him. True, that he was unlike other men in the village and did not take much seriously; however he did enjoy the little things, “He loved this season of the year, when the rains had stopped and the sun rose every morning with dazzling beauty...And he loved the first kites that returned with the dry season.” (page 5). Unoka did not care what other people thought, and he was content with his life. Once, Unoka had gone to consult the Oracle to find out why he always had a

Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was the opposite person that Okonkwo wants to be. He was poor, only had one wife, had no titles, and hated fighting. By being born into Unoka's home Okonkwo had to start completely from scratch: “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young