Compare And Contrast Uchendu And Okonkwo

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

This was depicted such as the abandonment of twins in the forest by members of the community. Also Okonkwo mentioned that his father, Unoka was beggar, valueless person and he held no titles in Umuofia society. Okonkwo also criticized his father that if a beggar were allowed to take a title in Umuofia, it would distort the foundation as he created. Thus this response predicted Okonkwo’s reaction to the numerous events to end of the novel. Okonkwo was sent exile for seven years as punishment for killing a member of Umuofia. His friend, Obierika described him as “a man who thought about things”. Okonkwo never think about the traditions he follows as in fact he continue to suppress everything his father

A significant character shown in this passage is Obierika. Though a minor character, Okonkwo’s close friend demonstrates importance because of his many doubts and questions of some of the tribe’s traditional system, this shows a possibility of Obierika being a spokesperson for Achebe. He is a foil to Okonkwo, because Okonkwo has the desire for the most part to embrace the traditions and view of masculinity, while Obierika "was a man who thought about things" and sometimes questioned the ways of the clan. Another opposite decision he makes compared to Okonkwo is in the killing of Ikemefuna, in which he refuses to accompany them. He is more understanding towards women, thoughtful, and has no love for unnecessary violence. "Why should a man suffer so grievously for an offense he had committed inadvertently? But although he thought for a long time he found no answer." He worries because Okonkwo is a close friend of his, and he has a fit skepticism of the traditional ways and is more adaptable to change then Okonkwo, thus, they almost balance each other out, but Okonkwo repeatedly shows resistance towards Obierika’s reasoning. When questioning Okonkwo’s exile he is reminded of a tragedy of his own. "He remembered his wife’s children, whom he had thrown

The Igbo people’s language is saturated with proverbs which allows the language to sustain a sophisticated way of communication. This shows they should be considered to be a civilized culture because the use of proverbs mean their language is advanced enough to be able to support the usage of metaphors and figurative talk. For example, Achebe states, “Okoye said the next half a dozen sentences in proverbs. Among the Igbo the art of conversation is regarded very highly, and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten” (Achebe 10). This shows that the Igbo people stress the use of proverbs, a complex use of their language, to express their ideas and to communicate with others. Another example is when Okonkwo was justifying his role in killing Ikemefuna to Obierika. Okonkwo says, “The Earth cannot punish me for obeying her messenger, A child’s fingers are not scalded by a piece of hot yam, which its mother puts into its palm.” (Achebe 64). This shows that Igbo’s use of complex proverbs and language allow for the people to prove their points and their arguments. This shows the culture is civilized because the Igbo language is used in it’s complexity to explain points of views and argument effectively, which is a sophisticated part of day to day communication. The use of language in the Ibo culture allows for the people to communicate and express their ideas in complex ways,

Okonkwo is a rude, unforgivable and spiteful person. He beats his wives and even takes innocent girls and boys away from enemy tribes. In some way he may even resemble his father, Unoka. He was lazy and very much in debt. If Okonkwo continues what he does he will become him. Although Ekwefi and Ojiugo are both wives, they get beat for different reasons.

This is an example of the difference in personal beliefs among family. Some may say that the book is about the differences in beliefs between the Africans and the colonizers, but it is more than that. It is clear that it was Okonkwo's personal beliefs and not necessarily the views of the people of Umuofia which guided him in what he did. One of these is his reliance in the strength of anger. Although he felt strongly in the beliefs and customs of the Ibo people, there are several occasions in which Okonkwo made a decision to disobey the customs in order to live out his own personal beliefs. For example, in chapter four, Okonkwo is yelled at by Ezeani, the priest of the earth goddess, for beating his wife during the sacred week of peace. Okonkwo did not feel remorse for his actions and probably thought of it as a sign of strength and manhood. Okonkwo was always worried about being seen as weak. One good

Okonkwo thinks that his mother’s clan is too womanly compare to his father’s clan of Umuofia, however even when he returns to his father’s clan after the completion of his exile he is also very much out of place there also. This is due to his obsessive masculinity and also because he just cannot adapt to the changing of times. Okonkwo “had lost his place among the masked spirits in the village” in addition to that “he had lost the chance to lead his warlike clan against the new religion” consequently he lost any voice he ever had and was a “stranger” in his land seeming as nobody appeared to have taken any special notice of the “warriors” return. He speaks with his friend Obierika about the strangeness of his home land saying,

To begin, Okonkwo's response to the Europeans shows how differences in customs and values can lead to conflict. When Okonkwo returns to Umuofia, he is surprised that his clan has been taken over by the Europeans and that people were starting to give up preserving their own religion and customs. When he confronts Obierika, Obierika explains to Okonkwo, “‘How do you think we can fight when our own brothers have turned against us? … Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.’” Okonkwo feels betrayed as many of his clan members have left and joined the Europeans, showing the clash between Ibo culture and Western culture. The Ibo people value staying true to their own traditions while the

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.

Throughout the book Chinua Achebe illustrates Okonkwo’s relationship with his father, Unoka, to be a negative, tenuous, and non-existent. At the beginning of the novel the reader can already start to tell the opposition of the two characters when Achebe introduces them. Unoka is portrayed to be, “tall but very thin and [have] a slight stoop. He [wears] a haggard and mournful look except when he was drinking or playing on his flute” (3). Unlike his drunken and lazy father, Okonkwo, “was tall and huge, and his bushy eyebrows and nose gave him a very severe look” (1). Okonkwo was fierce and strong while on the other hand is father was lazy, weak, and feminine. The reader can tell that Unoka and Okonkwo were extremely different which plays a

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 is a man who has to have things his own way. In the novel, there is a scene where his second wife, Ojiugo, did not make him his afternoon meal. Okonkwo, in an act of anger, started to beat his wife heaviley. His other two wives begged for him to stop beating Ojiugo, as it was the Week of Peace, a sacred Igbo holiday. However, “...Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess” (Achebe 30). Despite believing that he may be punished by a god, Okonkwo did not stop beating his wife. Unoka was a more compassionate man than Okonkwo, he was also stubborn. Unoka was lazy and fiscally irresponsible. He spent what little money he had on alcohol and didn’t

Because of the contrast in Obierika’s traits, he is definitely a foil to Okonkwo because Okonkwo is very strong-minded, dogmatic, and hot-tempered. If something does not go his way, Okonkwo will do something very irrational about it. When Okonkwo asked his second wife where his third wife, Ojiugo, was he became angered because his second wife lied to him about Ojiugo’s whereabouts. “He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo’s return. And when she returned he beat her very heavily” (Achebe 29). Okonkwo’s rationale of beating his third wife was in very poor judgment because he beat her during the Week of Peace. The Week of Peace was a week among the tribes where there was supposed to be no violence. This shows that Okonkwo has a very short temper and he does not tolerate nearly as much as Obierika can tolerate.

The description given early in the novel clearly establishes his character as being a strong and wealthy man who is well respected among the rest of the tribe due to his superior fighting abilities and his influential personality. Having achieved such elite status within the Umuofia clan, Okonkwo appears to be old-fashioned as it is seen in his approach in raising his family and tribal people. However, Okonkwo’s character changes incrementally with the emergence of a boy, Ikemefuna, from a neighboring village, who was brought to him because of his brutal attack against his wife Ojiugo during the ‘week of peace’. Amongst the Umuofia clan, the ‘week of peace’ is a tribal ritual whose conditions are not to complete any evil sins in a certain week span. After having accepted Ikemefuna into the family, Okonkwo experiences a shift in his mental state. Shortly hereafter, he questions this change, which demonstrates his lack of willingness to change which is clearly demonstrated in the book in several different ways like in chapter Eight, Okonkwo proclaims to himself, “When did you become a shivering old woman, you, who are known in all nine villages for your valour in war” (Achebe 56). This represents that his character has become a weaker, less influential individual amongst the nine tribes where he is well known. Symbolically, this depicts a fragile reputation in Okonkwo’s status within the community to which he belongs.

Okonkwo adopt a put of ideals that are entirely opposite to those of Unoka in an try to discriminate himself from his sire’s undesirable legacy. Umuofia does not judge an special on his or her forefathers; rather, discernment is base on the actions of the individual. Umuofia’s leniency concede Okonkwo to follow a reform energy, and he in the end effect his goal: “Although Okonkwo was still inexperienced, he was already one of the top man of his period. Age was regard among his kindred, but accomplishment was venerate. As the elders before-mentioned, if a brat washed his work force he could board with kings. Okonkwo had clearly washed his custody so he ate with kings and elders” (pg.8). Through perseverance and limit, Okonkwo is efficient to enact himself as one of the “top man of his season.” His character differs fully from that of Unoka; Unoka was recreant, lazy and of insignificant frame. In foil, Okonkwo was the top wrestler in all nine villages, constant in his product ethic, and deference throughout the commonness. Okonkwo is said to have “washed his men” suggestive of the event that he has dissociated himself from the bad name of his sire and has befit a revered member of Umuofia. The endeavor that Okonkwo faces can be categorized as an superficial one, in that it is largely societal affliction which incite Okonkwo.Adichie modify the underlying sense for contention accomplished in