Ikemefuna Passage

“{Ikemefuna} had become wholly absorbed into his new family. He was like an elder brother to Nwoye, and from the very first seemed to have kindled a new fire in the younger boy. He made him feel grown-up, and they no longer spent the evenings in his mother's hut while she cooked, but now sat with Okonkwo in his obi, or watched him as he tapped his palm tree for the evening wine. Nothing pleased Nwoye now more than to be sent for by his mother or another of his father's wives to do one of those difficult and masculine tasks in the home, like splitting wood, or pounding food. On receiving such a message through a younger brother or sister, Nwoye would feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles.” [38] Before Ikemefuna came into their lives, Nwoye didn’t talk to his father very much, while he usually spent most of his time helping his mother in the kitchens. He was also a very emotional and ‘weak’ little boy. “Later in the day {Okonkwo} called Ikemefuna and told him that he was to be taken home the next day. Nwoye overheard it and burst into tears, whereupon his father beat him heavily.” [41] “...Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down… As soon as his father walked in, that night, Nwoye knew that Ikemefuna had been killed, and something seemed to give way inside him, like the snapping of a tightened bow. He did

Ezeudu, a respected elder in Umuofia, speaks to Okonkwo about the tribe’s plans to kill Okonkwo’s son, Ikemefuna. Although Ikemefuna isn’t his biological son, Okonkwo is instructed to “not bear a hand in his death”(Achebe 49). Okonkwo listens and understands the wise advice, but, when Ikemefuna’s murder begins, Okonkwo’s morals overpower his ethics. As a member of Umuofia swings at Ikemefuna with his machete, Ikemefuna reaches out for help from his father, Okonkwo, who “drew his machete and cut him down”(53). Although Okonkwo was instructed to stay inactive in Ikemefuna’s death, his value of power fueled him to take action.

How does the writer create tension and convey sympathy for Ikemefuna in this passage from the novel?

This is a story of rage and fear mixed with cutting-edge wisdom, self-introspection, and self-destruction. After the death of Ikemefuna, his adopted son, Nwoye, his biological son has taken the way of the invader's religion, abandoning his tribe.

Chinua Achebe shows the reader the change of Africa as seen by the main character of the novel, Okonkwo. Okonkwo has the hardship of living in an ever-changing society. It is thru Okonkwo that the reader is able to visualize a society of immense cultural standing, and not as European colonizers would say, a society of savages. The main theme of culture is present in all areas of the novel, which helps to show to the reader all of its underlying themes, themes of tradition and themes of religion. Achebe sees the themes of culture, tradition, and religion in one bright light and European colonizers see those same themes in a totally different, somewhat snobbish dim light. However these themes are viewed, one thing is certain, change is on the horizon.

Ikemefuna was brought to Umuofia from Mbanio after his father killed a young girl. He was fifteen years old and had no idea what happened. When he arrived in this new town, the clan decided for him to live with Okonkwo’s family. As time passed, he became very close to Nwoye and Okonkwo. “But he and Nwoye had become so deeply attached to each other…” (pg. 25) They could hardly be separated. Okonkwo liked how he worked around the compound and how he was rubbing off on Nwoye. Okonkwo actually thought of him as his own, but he never let it show. Sadly, a time came where the elders of the villages decided that Ikemefuna should be killed. The worst part is that they told him he was going home, but really they were taking him to his murder

I noticed that in chapters six, seven, and eight, Achebe uses poetic devices such as similes, metaphors, hyperboles, and also uses proverbs. Achebe brilliantly incorporates the use of similes and metaphors all over there chapters to compare two things. For example, on page 52, “He grew rapidly like a yam tendril in the rainy season…” In this he is comparing Ikemefuna’s growth to the growth of a yam tendril, which are both quick. Achebe also uses hyperboles such as the one on page 51. Achebe wants to describe Okafo as an extremely strong man who has thrown a lot of things such as men and Cats. I noticed that he uses the number 400 each time to exaggerate, maybe 400 has a special meaning later on. Achebe also uses a proverb on page 66, “A chick

Even though the novel depicts a societal conflict between colonizers who attempt to impose change and tribesmen who reject that change, Achebe avoids stereotyping the colonizers as “bad” and the tribesmen as “good.” The protagonist, Okonkwo, is portrayed with little sympathy. An angry, callous man, he is shown to act outwardly only in violence. Growing up, his father was a weak, effeminate man, and Okonkwo aspired to be everything his father was not: “He was ruled by one passion—to hate everything his father had loved, one of these was gentleness” (13). Even though his motives are established, Achebe does not attempt to justify the selfish and detrimental actions of Okonkwo. On the contrary, Okonkwo’s uncle Uchendu is rendered as a selfless, compassionate, and wise old man. When Okonkwo is banished from his tribe, Uchendu receives his nephew with open arms and helps him re-establish his life. “As soon as Uchendu saw him with his sad and weary company, he guessed what had happened, and asked no questions” (129). By showing both undesirable and appealing characters, Achebe offers a reputable and non-biased portrayal of his native people to unfamiliar American audiences.

Achebe’s essay “An Image of Africa” analyzes the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. He dissects the false representation of the african people and the bias in his book. In “Heart Of Darkness,” Conrad feels that the people of Africa are undeveloped and they are savages; he looks at all their culture and tradition and only sees it as uncivilized, he has no appreciation for their beliefs. This relates to Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, because Conrad’s views represents the white colonist and their feelings towards the africans. The colonists did not respect their culture or their gods. Okonkwo is well-respected by his tribe, he is extremely traditional and values his culture. The colonists are a threat to that because they do not understand or respect the African ways, they want to change it and convert them to Christianity. Okonkwo has a need to stand up for his culture and his beliefs, he feels he has to be able to prove that he is a strong and powerful man. Okonkwo worries that if he does not protect his customs, he will be seen like his father: cowardly and feminine. He has been haunted by that fear his whole life, “It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father. Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala”(Achebe 12). His need to distinguish himself from his father and protect his people are what drive him to make do things like kill Ikemefuna and the messenger. Things fall apart for Okonkwo because the other villagers do not have the same passion and drive as him. The

Have you ever met someone who got killed by their father? Of course not… because that would mean that they either came to life, or that you were dead also. Sometimes, in other cultures or your own, who your parents are and what they do can play a major role in your life. Even if it was indirectly, or something that happened purely by accident. The book, Things Fall Apart, gives us a closer look on how much family members had an effect on you. In the book, Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo and Ikemefuna are very similar to each other because both of their fathers played a major role in their death in one way or another.

The only thing he (Okonkwo) fears most is not ending up like his father, Unoka. However, Achebe ‘‘makes an insightful comment on the nature of masculinity through his representation of the tribal leaders. Achebe basically, was conducive in creating four alter egos of Okonkwo: one of which were the masculinity; next of his fatherly abilities; and the last of his family progress and four of his likelihood of success’’ (Achebe.179). My paper will explain how Okonkwo’s Masculinity from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart will be characterized by his fears, beliefs, and emotions for several reasons.

In the Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart there is a character “Ikemefuna” is a boy from a village called Mbaino, a different village than Okonkwo. He lives with Okonkwo’s second wife “Ekwefi” for three years until he was ordered to be killed. In those three years, he grows close Okonkwo’s family. Ikemefuna was taken away from his family when he was young. They took him away because a crime that he did, but he had no part in doing. This makes Ikemefuna become a hard working man to overcome what he had been guilty of. My character Ikemefuna helps change cultural beliefs by changing the other character´s point of view, but Ikemefuna again represents doomed fate, or the lack of free will.

Ikemefuna is very well-liked by Okonkwo and his family, and becomes a mentor and best friend to Nwoye. Okonkwo feels dismay that Nwoye is taking on the torpid characteristics of his grandfather, Unoka, and is quite pleased that Nwoye is thriving and maturing under Ikemefuna’s guidance. “Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son’s development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna” (Achebe, 1958, p. 52, para. 2). Okonkwo’s pride, and fear of demonstrating any perceived sign of weakness, does not allow him to show any favorable emotion to Ikemefuna; he treats him with the same severity he does the rest of his family. “Even Okonkwo himself

In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart Okonkwo’s identity of being a respected clansman is challenged, after the arrival of the missionaries, Achebe utilizes this to bring out the theme “a man’s violence will be his

Any prodigy then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him?” (pg.8). Unoka’s failure in graceful a memorable premise within Umuofia is what gives Okonkwo the strive to effort for grandeur. The standards present in Umuofia have not yet been impacted by European colonialism, and, as such, give penetration to the “original” esteem of Igbo doctrine. As a rise, Adichie is capable to necessity these standards as a basis to create her own father-son functioning by delineate the relationship between Eugene and Papa Nnukwu through a separate pantoscope.While Okonkwo’s company in Umuofia underscores the subject of ownership and condition, Eugene’s more contemporary participation in Enugu prioritization Catholic moral code, those which were derived from colonialism. The variance between Eugene and Papa Nnukwu is due to a element difference in godly ideology. Eugene, who is Catholic, instills in his people the notion that contageous part in or even observing any Igbo doctrine is a crime. This conviction occasion a durable relationship with his generator infeasible, and precedence to the estrangement of Papa Nnukwu in Eugene’s