Chinua Achebe 's Things Falls 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

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.

Okonkwo continually rejected the ways of his father, who was deeply indebted to other members of Umuofia, holding no titles, to the point where Okonkwo’s “whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (16). He transferred his fears into the context of Umuofia and the traits that society valued, but what was really the driving force in his decisions “was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father” (17). The values of Umuofia resembled the polar opposite of what Unoka was and Okonkwo twisted his motivations around in his mind and presented them to himself and the community as derived from Umuofia’s traditions. From this delusion, Okonkwo established his ultimate goal of becoming a revered member of the village, possessing many titles, and achieving anything necessary displaying his prominence in the community.

Okonkwo’s fear of unmanliness is kindled by his father, who was a lazy, unaccomplished man. Okonkwo strives to have a high status from a young age and eventually achieves it. He has a large family, many yams and is well known throughout the village for his valor. He

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

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.

Okonkwo is initially introduced as a proud, hardworking, successful warrior. He is described as "clearly cut out for great things" (6). But he is the son of a ne'er-do-well father; though genial and inoffensive, Unoka must certainly have been considered a failure. He is lazy and does not provide for his family. Not only is this disgraceful, but life-threatening as well. He is dependent on other members of the clan and must have been considered unsuccessful. Okonkwo chafes under such disgrace and his success is a consequence of his desire to be everything his father is not; society's vision of an exemplar citizen. The fact that Okonkwo is able to rise above his poverty and disgraceful paternity illustrates the Igbo's acceptance of individual free will. But Okonkwo's fate and his disharmony with his chi, family and clan are shown to cause his ultimate disgrace and death.

In the beginning of the novel, Achebe writes how Okonkwo had worked so hard to the point where “he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars… he was already one of the greatest men of his time,” (Achebe 8). Okonkwo’s incredible work ethic to gain as many titles as possible and to become a powerful member of the tribe is driven by his shame towards his father and his fear of being compared to him. The terror of being compared to his father drives Okonkwo to work as hard as he can to be the opposite kind of man that his father was. Okonkwo saw how Unoka did not hold any power in society, so Okonkwo believes that in order to stop people from being able to compare him to his father, he must become one of the most powerful people in his village. In Scarcity, Brown states that “the feeling of scarcity does thrive in shame-prone cultures that are deeply steeped in comparison…”

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

In the book, Okonkwo was the tribe leader in Umuofia and wants to carry on the traditions that have been in his tribe for years. While he is known as being a leader, the character struggles daily with not wanting to be like his father who is lazy, and weak. Therefore he avoids everything possible to not be like him. Which leads into more of a bigger issue that is not being weak in front of anyone.

He was a flaming fire.” (146) Okonkwo questions if his son, Nwoye, is even his. Although Okonkwo knew that he is his son because “Nwoye resembled his grandfather, Unoka [lethargic and unreliable]” (146). When the westerners colonize the Ibo tribe, Okonkwo realizes that his anger and rage will not stop the westerners and “he knew Umuofia would not go to war … they had let the other messengers escape. They had broken into tumult [a loud or confused noise] instead of action.” (189) Okonkwo, wanting to regain his power but knows he cannot, kills himself hoping it will show an act of bravery. The Ibo people do not view this as showing an act of bravery, it is showing an act of weakness. Which displays that Okonkwo becomes more like his father than he ever intended to.

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

“whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (16). He put his fears he had into the rules and tradition of Umofia and it is what made him who he became.“was the fear of himself, lest he should be to resemble his father” (17). The traditions of Umuofia resembled the opposites of what Unoka was and Okonkwo twisted his motivations around in his mind and presented them to the community as derived from the villages traditions. From this delusion, Okonkwo established his goal of becoming a highly placed member of the village, achieving many titles, and achieving anything necessary displaying his dominance in the

Okonkwo , like any other person has a weakness. Okonkwo's life is ruled-over by "the fear of failure and of weakness". In the system where things or people are in separate levels of importance of his tribe. Honor and respect are measured in strength and courage, and Okonkwo's constant fear is that he will not measure up. Okonkwo does not show any feelings except when he has to show dominance to

Things fall apart; the center cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” (Yeats). Things Fall Apart tells the tragic story of a Nigerian village and its adaptation to the cultural changes that it encounters. Similar to the lost falcon in the gyre, the clan looses its way and begins to fall apart when a group of white missionaries take control of their land. The protagonist, as well as static character, Okonkwo, was a well-respected clan leader whose desire of a traditional Igbo society led him to his own downfall. He was a self-made and honored man in Umuofia who was known to be very powerful. His stern and fearless aura was only a façade, however. Internally, he had many worries about his status and the village’s future. Okonkwo’s venomous fears about his reputation, narrow-minded desires for a traditional tribe, and inability to adapt to society’s changes are what caused his life to fall apart and led him to the grave.