Chinua Achebe 's Things Fall Apart

But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.” Many people believed that Okonkwo was such a cruel man because of the wall that he put up. This affected his family because he still continued to act tough with his wives and most of his kids, there was only one of his children that saw his soft side and that was Emzina, his daughter. He also thought a lot about one of the people he killed, which showed that he wasn’t the tough guy that everybody thought he was, but no matter what he refused to show any signs of weakness to avoid being like his

This shows how destructive fear can be and easily it can tear people apart. Okonkwo was utterly destroyed by all the fear and confusion that’s been building up in himself and he couldn’t take it anymore. Fear also affected other people’s lives in Things Fall Apart but not as badly as

For all of his desire to be strong, Okonkwo is caught up by the constant fear of being perceived as weak. He is afraid of failure and afraid of being considered weak. This fear drives him to do whatever he can to not become a failure like his father which ironically contributes to his death. While Okonkwo was a strong and important figure in his tribe, he had to keep his reputation that way by making some hard decisions. One of them was when he had to kill Ikemefuna, a young boy from the neighboring tribe. Okonkwo started accepting the decision to kill Ikemefuna because he started to call Okonkwo father. He had to keep his own valor intact and kill the boy to prevent himself from showing any weakness, but deep down, Okonkwo was really upset because of what he did which was ironic, “’When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.'" (Achebe 65). He continued to roll downhill when the white man comes to try and convert Okonkwo’s tribe. Okonkwo responds by killing one of the messengers that were sent. This cause Okonkwo's own tribe to question his actions. “"Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape.

In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is portrayed as a respected and determined individual whose fatal flaw eventually works against him. Throughout the novel the readers are shown that Okonkwo has many of these Characteristics because he is obsessed with the idea of becoming just like his father. This becomes his flaw in the novel that puts him into exile and makes it hard for him to adjust to the changes that were made with in his village.

Firstly, Okonkwo’s fear of being akin to his father plays a major role in characterising Okonkwo. This fear, in particular, is one of the earliest, in-depth portrayals of what motivates Okonkwo’s hard working nature and determination. Okonkwo’s distaste for his father, or men akin to his father, is first revealed in the characterisation of his father, Unoka. The quote: “He had no patience for unsuccessful men. He had no patience for his father” (ch1, pg3) shows the comparison of Okonkwo’s father to an unsuccessful man. This comparison allows the reader to infer that the Unoka held traits, such as inertia, and idleness, which made him unproductive. This is built upon further with the quote: “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness... It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father… And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion – to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness.” (Ch2, pg 12). This use of direct characterisation to portray Okonkwo’s father reveals what Okonkwo is afraid of becoming by describing the attitudes displayed by Unoka that Okonkwo, therefore, avidly tries to avoid. This allows the reader to infer a reason for

To begin, Okonkwo is shown to be a self made, well respected member of the Umuofia clan. Though, he seems stern, most of his life is dictated with fear. For example,the passage states “ And indeed he was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death.”(Achebe,18/1). This helps the reader understand that Okonkwo faces many challenges in life to prove to his village and the people themselves that he is nothing like his father, Unoka and is haunted by the fact that one day he will become a man whom he promised he will never become. The passage states “ Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.”(Achebe,61/1). This helps the reader understand the reason why

From his childhood on forward Okonkwo hated males that resemble his father, all cowardly and emotional. Chinua Achebe gave us another visual on how Okonkwo despises being weak. This visual is a bit brutal in a way, but it is considered one of the clan’s custom which can’t be denied otherwise you will suffer the consequences. “Dozed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down, he was afraid of being thought weak.” (Pg.61) What can we take out of this quote? The quote tells us that Okonkwo is afraid of being looked down and fragile. Okonkwo is in a way selfish over his reputation, he only thinks about himself and does not sees how it affect the people around him. From this quote Okonkwo was put in the situation where he himself sees people being cowards, he had to kill his own son. He didn't wanted to be like his dad so he tough it out and sadly his own

In fact, he started off as a poor man, drowning in his father’s debt. Furthermore, he inherits his father’s reputation as a lazy man. Therefore, Okonkwo is driven by his father's legacy of shame and has no use for unsuccessful men. One finds that "His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness." (13), and that the roots of the fear go deep.

Unfortunately Okonkwo determination of having the title of strength made the people around him fear him. Umofia's tradition of men having high titles led to Okonkwo's downfall. The author conveys this message with a series of metaphors and repetition “ When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him? Fortunately, among these people a man was judged according to his worth. Okonkwo was clearly cut out for great things. He was still young but he had won fame as the greatest wrestler in the nine villages (1.16) .” The author uses metaphor to explain how much money his dad owed, and according to the author it's a heavy amount. Luckily for Okonkwo in the clan you don't inherit your reputation. Each man works for their reputation, it could be good or bad but it's based on the persons action in the clan. Although Okonkwo is able to earn respect from all the men in the village, he acts as if his dad ruined his chance of becoming successful. Most of the decisions Okonkwo made is based upon whether his dad would agree or not. Okonkwo is holding a grudge from his dad not being successful and having many titles like other people in the book. “ At the most one can say that his chi or personal god was good, but the ibo people have a proverb that when a man says

Okonkwo, the story’s protagonist, is seen as a brave and fearless warrior throughout Umuofia. However, throughout the novel we can see Okonkwo as he is- a weakling. He lives his life in fear of appearing weak like his father before him. This fear controls him, and forces him into making bad choices to look strong. In his relentless efforts to look strong, we shows his weakness.

Are men always supposed to be represented as superior and tough? The novel, “Things Fall Apart” is about the tragic fall of the Ibo culture and main character Okonkwo. Reason why things fall apart is due to the men within the Ibo culture converting to a new religion. Chinua Achebe shows that men in the Ibo culture are expected to be superior, successful, and strong. Okonkwo is one man who embodies all the traits of a successful man. Achebe also shows how unsuccessful men of the Ibo culture led to things falling apart.The novel shows this with multiple events that happened in the the book for example when Okonkwo the main character becomes successful by beating Amalinze the Cat in a wrestling match and much more. In the novel men are represented

Okonkwo "had not patience with unsuccessful men. He had no patience with his dad" (Achebe 4). His ultimate fear was to be compared to his father who was lazy, owed debts and was unable to provide for his family. Okonkwo viewed his father as a useless, feminine and fearful person. And as a result, he worked hard to become the most fearless, hardworking and successful man in his tribe.

The author stated of how Okonkwo’s fear was not to be successful, “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” (Achebe 13).

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, tells the story of a warrior, Okonkwo, who watches as European missionaries slowly tear apart the culture of his village. This story takes place in pre-colonial Nigeria, where Umuofia is divided among nine villages. Okonkwo, the main character, and Obierika are best friends, even though they are polar opposites. Although these two individuals have different personalities and attributes, their culture, beliefs, and traditions are what ultimately brought them together.

Before the Western influence was introduced, Okonkwo was a very confident and successful man who brought achievements to his tribe and himself by “throwing the Amalinze, the cat [the great wrestler who was unbeaten for seven years].” (Achebe 13) Okonkwo was also very manly and believed in not showing emotions like his father, Unoka. His father was very different from Okonkwo because he was known as “lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow.” (14) Throughout the novel Okonkwo had many experiences when he could not show weakness especially with Ikemfuna when “Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” (65) In this novel Okonkwo focuses so much on not becoming like his father that he does these horible things with Ikemfuna and his wives also "ran madly into his room for the loaded gun, ran out and aimed at her [Ekwefi, the second wife] as she clambered over the dwarf wall of the barn" (45). Through all of these incidents he felt like he must show his manliness and power over the situations and he usually portrayed his power through violence. He was a great warrior and was respected throughout the nine villages but his temper