Dialectical Journal For Things Fall Apart

Upon an initial reading of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, it is easy to blame the demise of Okonkwo’s life and of the Umofia community on the imperialistic invasions of the white men. After all, Okonkwo seemed to be enjoying relative peace and happiness before then. He did have a few mishaps; one of them resulted in him being exiled for eight years. Nonetheless, he returned to his home town with high spirits and with prospects of increased success. However, everything has changed. The white men have brought with them a new religion and a new government. Okonkwo’s family falls apart. The men in his village lose their courage and valor; they do not offer any resistance to the white men. Consequently, Okonkwo kills

This is the modern, everyday life of many unfortunate people. For People of all ages. You can hear on the news about wives and children and even husbands who were killed in acts of rage and domestic violence. Even though I am unable to relate to this certain passage, I was still touched and I actually felt sympathy for these fictitious characters.

Okonkwo wrestles with his fear that any sign of weakness will cause him to lose control of his family, position in the village, and even himself. Like many heroes of classical tragedy, Okonkwo’s tragic flaw, fear, also makes him excessively proud. Okonkwo’s downfall is a result of the changes created by the coming of the British Colonisers to Igbo. The introduction of the Colonisers into the novel causes Okonkwo’s tragic flaw to be exacerbated. Okonkwo construes change as weakness, and as a result of his interpretation, Okonkwo only knows how to react to change through anger and strength. He derives great satisfaction, “hubris” or proud arrogance, from the fact that he is a traditional, self made man and thinks that to change would mean submitting to an outside force (Christianity).

“He knew that he was a fierce fighter, but that year had been enough to break the heart of a lion,” (Achebe 22). (Personification, Characterization)

My personal interpretation of this selection is that no matter how good, rich, powerful, or beautiful you may be, there is always someone who is better than you. You can try and try for many years, (where as many and most people try for their entire life) to be the best, but sadly you will never be the best no matter how good you end up being in the long run.

The disparity between Okonkwo’s true motivations and his warped motivations lead Okonkwo to behave in ways which shocked other members of Umuofia with his apparent disregard for others, but which made sense to him as he saw weakness and Unoka in alternatives. When Ezeudu, a respected elder in Umuofia, informed Okonkwo that the village Oracle called for the killing of Okonkwo’s adopted son Ikemefuna, he asked Okonkwo not to take part. However, Okonkwo not only accompanied them,

“The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies but its obedience.” – Oswald Chambers

1) Ok... so all these people are confusing me with their logic. There was the philosopher who tried to have his horse survive on nothing, and then the horse died. It seems like he doesn’t realize that the horse may of died of, oh I don’t know, starvation. The board is all fat, rich people who decide that the poor people are too happy, so they cut their food down to practically nothing and stripped families if they couldn’t afford stuff. Then these FAT men who are starving people probably to death soon, are suprised when someone finally asks for a little more food, claiming it’s so outrageous that Oliver deserves death. Are these those really awful person we were warned about? It’s only chapter 2.

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’s adherence to a tradition of cruelty that harms large groups of minorities leads to a pronounced division once Western missionaries establish their church: a church which allows for aspects of life that tribal law did not. His adherence to traditional law and inability to compromise — rigidity in a culture of flexibility — alienates family members, members of his community, and furthers an internal pressure which ultimately helps the pressures of colonialism. Okonkwo’s inflexible interpretation of tribal law, borne of a need to escape his father’s seemingly feminine weakness, leads to morally bankrupt decisions. Unable to settle on a compromise between law and morality, he murders Ikemefuna: although correct in the eyes of law, the action lacks morals, is purely driven by a need for social power and fear of seeming weak. Such personal conflict culminates in intense inner pressure on both Okonkwo’s part and on the part of the community as a whole, leading to a collapse of long standing unity when faced with the external pressure of missionaries, providing a “way out”. This culminates in a scene in which tribal leaders call for an attack on colonialist forces, including other tribal members which have joined the

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. William Heinemann, 1958. Print In the story Things Fall Apart, we meet a man named Okonkwo who is very wealthy and a much respected warrior.

Unlike the other leaders, Okonkwo lies awake, thinking of his revenge towards the Christian church. He began to think of war, if Umuofia decides on war towards the Christian church, all would be well. But if the Ibo’s chose to become cowards he would go alone, and avenge himself. Okonkwo states, “Isike will never forget how we slaughter them in the war, we killed twelve of their men and they kill only two of ours, before the end of the fourth market week they were suing for peace, those were days when men were men” (chapter 24 page. 200). Okonkwo makes that statement to describe that the clansmen of Umuofia should not be afraid of death, but yet let their enemies be afraid of the bloodshed of their own death. He believes that going into war with the Christian church would not only help maintain his vengeance, but also provide the fact that he was not afraid, but only became fearsome even more when entering into battles. The town crier held a meeting at the market place to discuss to beginning of war to all the clansmen of Umuofia. Once the meeting became settle, five court messengers from the church enter the market place and order the meeting to stop. The man who has spoken out of the five messengers was slit by the head with Okonkwo’s machete. The drip of blood that has lain on his machete is wiping away with the sand on the ground. With the one of the court messenger

     When Okonkwo returns to the village, he finds that the white man has moved in, bringing Christianity with him. This is a struggle that shows Okonkwo’s inflexibility and objection to change from tradition. Eventually, Okonkwo slay’s a man working for the British and ends up hanging himself as a result of his actions. Suicide is forbidden by the clan,

The missionaries conflict with everything Okonkwo believes or values. The missionaries are so outlandish to Okonkwo that his first reaction is just to laugh at them. This is shown on page 147, paragraph 4, “ At the end of it Okonkwo was fully convinced that the man was mad. He shrugged his shoulders and went away.” Okonkwo later begins to understand the threat the missionaries pose to his society and passionately speaks for forcing the missionaries out of Umuofia. However when his people will not listen to him, he feels like he is forced to take matters into his own hands. This is shown on page 204, paragraph 7,” Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body”. The Ibo people do not join in on the violence as Okonkwo had hoped, which contradicted with Okonkwo belief that the Ibo were warrior people. This final loss of Okonkwo’s core beliefs is what shatters Okonkwo’s final sense of identity as a man. As Okonkwo is no longer any of the things he has come to identify himself as, and Okonkwo blames the missionaries for this, his final response to the missionaries is to take his own life. Okonkwo's death is shown on page 207, paragraph 3 “ Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead.” When Okonkwo identity was ripped from him he no longer saw a point in living and his fight with the

(Achebe, 1959, p. 176). Okonkwo criticizes the white men and their perception of his tribe, but also his fellow clansmen for not taking action against the white men. Additionally, when he knowingly commits the abomination of suicide, Okonkwo’s decision to break the clan laws classifies him as the ultimate activist. In the end, Okonkwo stands up for his beliefs and affirms the customs of the clan because through his death, the clansmen are reminded of their beliefs. Obierika explains to the District Commissioner that it is against their customs for a man to take his own life and thus, his men must help to bury Okonkwo.