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

In the novel, Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is a sympathetic character and unsympathetic character in regards to his family relationships with his adopted son, Ikemefuna, his daughter, Ezima, and his father, Unoka, as a result of he appears to genuinely care about his family; but, the pride within himself prevents his expression of such pride and concern openly.

As a child Okonkwo’s father was a failure. Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, had him working tirelessly to help pay his father debts. This was tragic, to have your own child help pay your own father’s debts. Years pass and Unoka dies. He was still in debt and humiliation after his death. The memory of Unoka gives Okonkwo a terrible fear of failure. After his father’s death. Okonkwo seeks for ways to become wealthy. He felt that this was the opportunity to fufill his desire to become nothing like his father.

A tragic hero is a character that is both protagonist and antagonist, throughout the action they make. According to Aristotle's definition of tragic hero, he explains a tragic hero as a character that has noble stature and greatness. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, depicts Okonkwo as fierce warrior and a respected leader of the Umuofia clan. Even though Okonkwo does not embody noble stature, since he has greatness, fatal flaw, and he recognize his downfall, he meets Aristotle’s concept to a tragic hero to a certain degree. Okonkwo has greatness and occupy a high status position in the village, yet does not have nobility or virtue in his character.

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.

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.

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe conflict is almost inevitable when two cultures come into contact. Okonkwo has a normal life as a male villager he has to grow his yams and live normal but when foreigners show up conflict occurs. This is shown in the book by showing the villagers saying to the white men to build their church in the evil forest and the white men go on and do it. This attracts some of the villagers to this which leads to major conflict in the village and they start to attack each other by burning things and arresting each other. It does not have to lead to conflict right away but it does happen at some point hence the name Things Fall Apart when the Christians first arrive all is ok but later on it all breaks loose. By looking

My six word story explains that no matter how you decide to carry out your life, death plays in no one’s favor and by no one’s rules. Death is inconsiderate about how you presented yourself to the world, or how you struggled to gain the fruits of your labor. You could be an eminent business man during your time, only to be the victim of a homicide conducted by your best friend. This six word story applies to ´Things Fall Apart´ by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo lived his life with a hardworking and prosperous attitude. He held many titles, had several wives and children, and abundant fields of yam. Okonkwo showed no emotion, just strength and wrath. He believed that, “To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was

When people read books, they look for the shared connections, ideas, and similar memories to advance their insight of the book, or make it more interesting. I guess you could say this makes the character more personable. When the characters share common characteristics with the reader, they begin to feel attached to the story and they feel what the character feels. The book I felt the most in sync with was Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I feel like I shared the greatest connection with Okonkwo out of all the characters in the novel. I feel this way because I can relate to the feelings he holds toward his father anger, embarrassment, and hatred just to name a few.

Things Fall Apart, a novel written by Chinua Achebe, introduces readers to a strong-willed man who is desperate to be the opposite of his father: successful. Throughout the novel, Okonkwo unknowingly embarks on a figurative journey that highlights his character and illuminates the theme, which is that the sacrifices of one affects many, especially in the case of a family. Though he travels physically with his family, single-minded Okonkwo travels alone mentally, emphasizing the figurative nature of his journey. Obstacles faced on Okonkwo’s journey have caused his charactered to be developed in a negative aspect, because he becomes more vicious and afraid to show endearment.

Many of the spiritual systems that are practiced by African cultures, whether the culture is native or mainstream, are mostly organized. They all have a certain degree of the priest class, libation, holidays, creation stories, divine systems of punishments and rewards. In the novel, Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, is a story of tragic fall of a protagonist and the Igbo culture. Achebe demonstrates different examples and situations of where an African culture, in the instances of tribal religions, did certain things because of their tradition is and the way they developed into. African cultures pondered life mysteries and articulated their religions in terms of the implications of these mysteries through their farming, entertainment, and daily subsistence by Achebe using cultural traditional and language in an unbiased way to send a message to Western Colonial nations that African nations have a strong culture and language that is unique to these nations. Farming, hunting, and daily substances are what make African cultures distinct from one another. Every African tribe has different methods, techniques and reasoning are for the way they do stuff. Their everyday life, farming, and entertainment can be compared and contrast through their similarities and differences. Achebe helps demonstrates how the Ibo tribe pondered these life mysteries by showing different examples of what it meant to farm, hunt, and their every day-to-day life pattern and what they believed

Unoka, who feared the sight of blood and was a debtor, always borrowing and losing

Since Okonkwo was the leader of his community, he took care of Ikemefuna. Ikemefuna was a lost child from the other tribe. Okonwo and Ikemefuna were deeply close and called each other father and son. Moreover, Nwoye and Ikemefuna were best friends and considered themselves family.

For the duration of the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the role of religion and tradition is a very important part of the characters lives. It decides how they live their life and decides their fate. Some of the customs that are practiced in this culture may not be accepted and are frowned upon by the western cultures. One example of this is that they think that in some cases a child should be killed or that the spirits of the dead must be appeased. Thinking this could create a consequence with the white men. They feel the need to “save” the natives from themselves.

Ever since the imperialist age, Africa has been perceived as a type of primitive or uncivilized region. We have been taught and have seen that they are not as modern as our Western world. What do you think would happen when an African author criticizes the work of an old English writer who was known by many as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language? Chinua Achebe, the author of the great African novel, ¨Things Fall Apart¨ argues that Joseph Conrad 's book ¨Heart Of Darkness¨ was a false depiction of Africa and the writing was too racist and made the white race seem superior to the native Africans.