How Does Okonkwo In Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo feels as though his seven year exile was a waste of time, so he plans on

Okonkwo had a very tough childhood as he hated being the son of a lazy and improvident father, causing him to hate anything related to his father. A similar comparison can be made of his wife Ojiugo as “Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife, who went to plait her hair at her friend’s house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal”, showing that Ojiugo is just as irresponsible as Okonkwo’s father Unoka. Many comparisons can be made of Unoka to Ojiugo which has made Okonkwo resent their irresponsibility.

In the book, Things Fall Apart, there was a warrior from the Umuofia tribe whose name was Okonkwo. Even though he was a great fighter his temper leads to his demise. This aggressiveness not only affected him, but his entire family as they were sent off to exile for seven years. During this period Nwoye, the oldest son, realizes that the experience in exile even though extremely difficult benefitted him far greater than he could ever anticipate. While there he was able to reflect over his life up to that point and the time allowed him to consider the path he might wish to take from here. Most of his life he struggled with becoming a man and the laws of his clan. Nwoye’s challenging and eye opening experience in exile helped him to realize another way of living which he seemed to find more purpose.

Okonkwo is the main character in the novel “Things Fall Apart”, written by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo had a lot of characteristics some good one’s and some bad ones. From being a successful farmer and a loving father. The collision that happened with the missionaries, Okonkwo had respect for them but until they tried to change their culture. He had an strong positive response too the missionary coming too the igbo village.

Let me take you on journey on what okonkwo had to face and, and was challenged with.People never thought to kindly of him, but they never really saw the other side of him and how he really was for a person himself.Okonkwo’s sense of identity was challenged with the introduction of Western ideas into the Igbo culture.Okonkwo started out in the novel as leader and the foothold,but the cultural collision of the British colonists and Ibo people affected him to the point of him feeling guilty and hanging himself included, he realized his actions, and he felt guilty about his actions.

Now despite all his good qualities Okonkwo had a pretty troubled past with his dad Unoka. Coming from the book “Things Fall Apart” it is mentioned that “When Unoka died he had taken no titles and was heavily in debt. Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him?” This quotation from Chapter One demonstrates how Okonkwo felt about his father, even after his death. This trait is represented by how hard he tries to be number one, and his hatred towards his father. He is strongly motivated to not be like his father in anyway, Okonkwo uses the past to push for the best and to be the best.

The story takes place in the Nigerian village of Umuofia, where the main character Okonkwo resides. He is highly respected because of his work ethic and strength, which he derives from fear of looking weak and unmanly like his father who he is ashamed of. But he has an extreme and short temper, and he often beats his wives and

Okonkwo is a well respected clan member with many titles, yet he came from a very poor and full of debt background. He is a warrior with 3 wives and their children. His two favorite children are Nwoye and Ezinma but Nwoye started to drift away and become part of the Christian community after his father let his friend, Ikemefuna, be sentenced to death. Okonkwo's biggest fear is looking weak like his father so he fights throughout the entire book for the clan and highly disagrees with the changes it's made in the end.

Okonkwo’s father, Unoko was widely regarded as a dishonorable man. He had many debts, he could not provide for his family, and he never did anything prideful. Trying to compensate for his father’s terrible reputation, Okonkwo became the standard for what children in the village should aspire to be. He brought pride to his village when he was 18, was a respectable leader and clansman,a skilled yam farmer, and he provided for his three wives, and their children without fail. He always made his sacrifices, went to the Oracle when necessary, and never caused anyone, especially the Gods, to consider him dishonorable. That all ended when he beat his youngest wife during Peace Week. Things went severely downhill from there Then his friend and close

Okonkwo is well-known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements (Onuemelukwe). The people in the surrounding villages see him as a hero. Okonkwo is respected for his hard work as an achieved warrior of the Umuofia clan. “Okonkwo worked daily on his farm from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost” (Achebe) and never seems to tire from his work. His three wives are not as strong and did not have the same amount of stamina; his children did not take after him either. Okonkwo uses techniques such as beating and nagging to try and change the poor work ethics of his family members (Achebe). “Okonkwo was not a cruel man, but his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.” Okonkwo wanted to be completely opposite of what his father was and live his whole life being

He does so despite the advice of the clan elders. Nwoye is spiritually broken by the event. Okonkwo is shaken as well, but he continues with his drive to become a lord of his clan. He is constantly disappointed by Nwoye, but he has great love for his daughter Ezinma, his child by his second wife Ekwefi. Ekwefi has born ten children, but only Ezinma has survived. She loves the girl fiercely. Ezinma is sickly, and sometimes Ekwefi fears that Ezinma, too, will die. Late one night, the powerful Oracle of Umuofia brings Ezinma with her for a spiritual encounter with the earth goddess. Terrified, Ekwefi follows the Oracle at a distance, fearing harm might come to her child. Okonkwo follows, too. Later, during a funeral for one of the great men of the clan, Okonkwo's gun explodes, killing a boy. In accordance with Umuofia's law, Okonkwo and his family must be exiled for seven years. Okonkwo bears the exile bitterly. Central to his beliefs is faith that a man masters his own

Okonkwo also displays evidence of the last characteristic of the tragic template, the fall. In this stage, the character suffers a fall from glory or power. Okonkwo experiences a fall when he makes the decision to take his own life. This is a shocking fall in the Ibo culture, as suicide against the religious beliefs practiced by the Ibo. “It is an abomination for a man to take his own life. It is an offense against the Earth,” (207). The offense is so great that any man who commits it must not be taken down and buried by his clansmen. Okonkwo has taken his own life because he is unable to deal with the change that the village of Umuofia is experiencing. This is a shocking thing for a prideful man like Okonkwo to do, since it condemns him to

In the story, Nwoye’s disconnected relationship with his father, and harsh cultural customs of his clan lead him to question his religion and family all together. In the novel, Achebe gave many great examples of Okonkwo’s rude behavior with his son, Nwoye. One of these many examples is when Okonkwo noticed laziness in

Okonkwo was born to a lackadaisical father, Unoka, who “In his day was lazy and improvident and was quiet incapable of thinking about tomorrow” (Achebe 4). “Unoka, the grown-up, was a failure” (Achebe 5). Okonkwo’s life is dominated by his hatred for the lazy characteristics of his father which leads to his deadly fear of weakness and failure.

Okonkwo’s life was driven by fear. He had a sense of worry within him that he would become like his father sooner or later. Okonkwo’s father was a lazy and irresponsible man, who only fell in debt and brought shame upon his family. Okonkwo’s father’s (Unoka) bad reputation constantly haunts Okonkwo throughout the entire novel.