Is Okonkwo Sympathetic

In Okonkwo’s case however, he is isolated from his own family because of his lack of emotion, which is also considered to be part of their traditions. Okonkwo never demonstrated his feeling towards anything because he considers this unmanly which is believed to be not part of their traditions. In contrast to Tita, Okonkwo started opening up to his family in the middle/end part of the novel. For example, when his daughter Ezinma is sick, Okonkwo worriedly makes medicine and does everything in his power to save his favorite child. Also, Okonkwo follows the priestess Chielo and Ekwefi when the priestess unexpectedly kidnaps Ezinma. For the second time, Okonkwo publicly displays emotions and compassion towards Ezinma.

Okonkwo also tries to show himself as an unsympathetic character to show that he is not a weak man, like his father, Unoka. (Being a weak man is a very degrading quality for the culture of Umofia.) An example of Okonkwo’s unsympathetic personality is Ikemefuna’s death. Although Okonkwo treasured the presence of the adopted buy, Ikemefuna, Okonkwo contributes the last and fatal blow to Ikemefuna, causing him to die in the Evil Forest. Okonkwo, regardless of his love for the boy, killed Ikemefuna ultimately to prove his manliness and strength to the tribe, a valued aspect of the culture. “Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body.” (Achebe 146) Okonkwo is also very unsympathetic in regards to his father, Unoka. Unoka was a poor man who was always in debt; he had an interest in music and enjoyed talking.

9. “Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth.”

Lastly, the author had a purpose for making the characters act they way that they did. He chose everything with care for his novel. “How is your father? Oberika asked, not knowing what else to say. I don’t know. He is not my father, said Nwoye, unhappily.” (151/4) With this quote, it shows the reader how Nwoye came to hate his father. Okonkwo pushed him so hard that Nwoye became independent. He had completed his goal but not how he wanted it to happen. “Nwoye turned round to walk into the inner compound when his father, suddenly overcome with fury, sprang to his feet and gripped him by the neck.” (151/4) Okonkwo was still violent with his son because he had converted into a Christian. Which is something that he did not agree with. The author’s purpose for this part in the novel

5. Page #______ What good qualities does Unoka have, that his son fails to appreciate?

One family member/character that Okonkwo interacts with is Nwoye. Nwoye is one of the characters that proves Okonkwo is a sympathetic character. An excerpt from the story said, “Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness. At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating, And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth.” Nwoye proves that his father (Okonkwo) is a sympathetic character because Okonkwo wants to spend his time disciplining Nwoye in an attempt to turn

It was for this man that Okonkwo worked to earn his first seed yams.” (18-19) The quote shows how polygyny plays a part in the igbo culture. The quote also explains how Okonkwo viewed Nwakibie as a role model for his success and wealth which earned Nwakibie a higher rank in society, rather than his own father, Unoka. Okonkwo did not inherit a farm from his father like many young men in Umuofia did. Father-son inheritance was the beginning of becoming a man in Umuofia, the son helps with the farm then inherits the farm along with starter seeds. Unoka was not able to provide a future for his son Okonkwo because he was broke, lazy & irresponsible as explained in the novel. “With a father like Unoka, Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. He

In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, we see a character who’s name is Okonkwo and his relationships with his family. He has different and similar relationships when it comes to his second wife and first son. Both characters are treated in way that makes Okonkwo an unsympathetic character. Ekwefi, his wife, and Nwoye, eldest son, are two different people who both suffer because of how Okonkwo treats them.

He wanted to show that he was not like his father in any way. His father was a poor, lazy, man whom he didn't respect at all. Okonkwo gained respect through being a clansman. The clansmen were the law making body of the village, which everyone had obeyed. They enforced rules and laid down punishment.

The way Okonkwo treated Nwoye and Unoka the same is that he was emotionally unfulfilled and ashamed because first his father was lazy and irresponsible and by irresponsible i mean that he would borrow money and never pay them back(page 4-5)and would just play his flute which i think that was the only thing that matter to him. Okonkwo is afraid that his son Nwoye is going to the same path like his grandfather, and that why he is ashamed of his son too. Now the difference between them in how he treated them is that with Unoka he was impatient because he would be lazy and never make a good move to bring his family into a better place and not borrow money and never pay them back(page 5). All that Unoka would do is play with his flute which he liked to do. And with Nwoye he treated him with a heavy hand and was harsh to him.

Okonkwo’s oldest son, Nwoye, has to achieve high expectations, to be just like his father. If he falls short of Okonkwo’s near perfection, he will face consequence usually in the form of physical harm. Okonkwo wants Nwoye to be strong, powerful, independent, and hard-working. He must be like is father, and not like his grandfather, Unoka, or his mother. Unoka was an absolute failure in Okonkwo’s eyes, and a terrible father, who did nothing to help the family. Okonkwo is a man and wants his son to be a man too, not womanly like his mother. Okonkwo wanted “his son to be a great farmer and a great man” (33). Okonkwo is “worried about Nwoye....my children do not resemble me...too much of his mother in him” (66). Okonkwo knows that Nwoye resembles more of his mother than him, but also knows that he resembles Unoka too. Both fathers want their sons to be just like them, but do little to ask what they want in life, and neither father will budge on what they want for their sons.

Father and son relationships are the most important type of relationship. Fathers heavily influence their children especially sons, thus making the relevant. In the book Things Fall Apart there are two father son relationships, Unoka and Okonkwo and Okonkwo and Nwoye. These relationships are not ideal and each father has a different relation with their son. These relationships cause many things such as loathing of one's father, and rebelling. Rebelling for the sons is not a phase, but a lifetime of rebellion. Father son relationships in the book Things Fall Apart are defined by the loathing of one’s father, causing a rebellion leading the sons to be complete opposites of their father.

The breakdown of Okonkwo’s relationship with his son is evident throughout this novel. The reason for this tumultuous relationship is, Okonkwo is too engrossed in maintaining his status quo, and his relationship was governed by his own beliefs, principles and his own “right way to do right things”. He treated his family very strictly as he believed that showing affection revealed a sign of social weakness; thus the disheartening lack of respect and love was a mal nourishing factor with in the family.

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 treated his son and daughter very differently. The child-father relationship between Okonkwo and Nwoye was a distant and strained one while Okonkwo exhibited another type of feeling towards Ezinma which is filled with care and concern. This was due to the fact that Nwoye “was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness” whereas Ezinma was thought to have the “right spirit” and “alone understood [Okonkwo’s] every mood”.