Okonkwo Hyper-Masculinity Essay

In order to not become like his father, Okonkwo consciously strives to be prosperous, violent, resourceful, unable to show “soft” emotion, and denies music orientation. “And no Okonkwo was ruled by one passion—to hate everything that his

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).

Okonkwo achieves respect and high social status through his own heroic efforts despite being left with nothing but the dishonorable reputation of his “lazy and improvident” father. Toiling in the fields, enduring droughts, exhibiting fearless on the battlefield, and fueled by a burning desire to succeed, Okonkwo becomes a hero in Umuofia. Okonkwo’s success stems from his hard-work and perseverance, which he achieves in spite of his father’s shortcomings. He “lay[s] the foundations of a prosperous future” by slowly and painfully working like “one possessed” in order to escape “his father’s contemptible life and shameful death.” Okonkwo, so “possessed” with escaping the lingering reputation of his father, does anything in his power to earn

One day at a kindred tribal meet a man contradicted Okonkwo’s view. Okonkwo was quick to call him a woman, and just as quickly Okonkwo was reprimanded by the other tribesmen. These outbursts made Okonkwo look ignorant and brash, but he could not stand weakness of any sort. This is one of many situations that convey the severity of Okonkwo’s tragic flaw.

In most cultures an individual’s gender will influence their characterization. For instance, Ibo tribes in Africa classify people according to their gender. Women are thought as submissive individuals who are to some extent weaker than men. Men on the other hand are thought of as strong beings with much expected from them. Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart strongly emphasizes on the categorization of masculinity and femininity in the society of Ibo tribes. Throughout the book, Okonkwo’s idea about masculinity situates him with respect to his community. In his community Okonkwo is greatly praised for his masculine traits. It is Okonkwo integration with masculinity that leads to him becoming an

Nwoye, Okonkwo’s oldest son, causes him great concern because Okonkwo sees him as lazy. He sees Nwoye as inadequate to his standards of how a son should be and Achebe illustrates this early on in the novel, “At any rate, that was how it looked to his father, and he sought to correct that by constant nagging and beating. And so Nwoye was developing into a sad-faced youth,” (10). Okonkwo is so critical of his son’s behavior that he even beats and criticizes Nwoye because he does not like his father’s masculine stories of violence and gore as much as he likes the stories his mother tells him, stories that are more “female-oriented” in Okonkwo’s eyes. Nwoye seeks his father’s approval so much that he pretends to like the stories his father tells him. As Achebe states, “...he knew that his father wanted him to be a man. And so he feigned that he no longer cared for women’s stories. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased, and no longer rebuked him or beat him,” (38).

Okonkwo strives all of his life to become a stronger, more powerful, and a successful individual. He wants to do this because his father was a slack and lazy person who lived most of his life in debt and had no titles to his name. People often looked at his father as a women figure for the few achievements he redeemed. Okonkwo never wanted to be like his father and it eventually got to the point where he became fearful of becoming like him. Achebe uses the power of fear as a theme of to show how much it can devastate one’s

Chinua Achebe unfolds a variety of interesting connections between characters in the Novel Things Fall Apart. Relationships with parents, children and inner self are faced differently, however the attitude that Okonkwo gave them determined what kind of outcome he generated from these relations. Okonkwo looks at everything through his violent and manly perspective and is afraid to show his real feelings because he thinks that he may be thought out as weak and feminine this paranoid attitude lead him to self-destruction.

Okonkwo has a tragic flaw, dark downfall, but does not recognize his flaw as the cause of his downfall. This conveys the theme that one’s insecurity will lead to their demise, regardless of their intent. First, Okonkwo’s flaw is his insecurity rooted in his need for masculinity. Okonkwo fears the idea that “he should be found to resemble his father” and was a “man of action, a man of war. Unlike his father he could stand the look of blood” (13, 10). Given how Okonkwo’s father was a man of no wealth or status, he was seen as feminine. Refusing to resemble his father, Okonkwo becomes a strong, masculine man. Additionally, Okonkwo’s downfall was the result of multiple events that threaten his masculinity. Okonkwo’s first major offense was killing Ikemefuna out of fear of weakness despite being told to “not bear a hand in his death” (57). Additionally, the crime that forced Okonkwo into exile is when his “gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy’s heart” (124). Furthermore, Okonkwo’s need for power causes him to kill a messenger as his “machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body” (204). As a result of his need to appear masculine, Okonkwo makes one foolish decision after another that culminate to his downfall. His refusal to not kill Ikemefuna was done out of fear of seeming weak, his crime that sent him to exile was deemed

Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, depicts the life of a clansman of Umuofia, known as Okonkwo. Okonkwo was one of the wealthiest and respected men of his tribe. He gained respect as a great wrestler in his clan, and worked to surpass his father, Unoka’s image, which had been sullied by unpaid debts, and his work-shy attitude. Unoka was no man to Okonkwo, for Unoka had not taken any titles in his clan, therefore, he was nothing more than a woman in Okonkwo’s eyes. In such a patriarchal society being called a woman was disgraceful, and Okonkwo wanted nothing to do with anything womanly, and in turn he wanted nothing of his father, including any traits he carried, righteous or not. Okonkwo’s twisted view of masculinity and lack of compassion creates high expectations. When Okonkwo begins to see that his clan, family, and he himself cannot reach his expectations of strength, he will have nothing the turn to, but the noose that fate has made for him. The Igbo proverb “The thought that led a man to truncate his own existence was not conceived in a day” applies to Okonkwo’s suicide, which had begun with his twisted ideology of masculinity. The thoughts that led Okonkwo to commit suicide originate within his perception of weakness tied to his father; he sees this weakness in his son, in his tribe, and in himself. Okonkwo is disappointed in his son Nwoye for becoming so much like Unoka, he is ashamed of his clan for conforming to the views of the Christians, and he is

In conclusion, Okonkwo exemplifies Aristotle's definition of a tragic hero. His character has many tragic flaws, including, fear of weakness, hubris, and his work ethic, which in the end lead to his death. His life and death provoke pity and fear for the audience. Okonkwo becomes noble and is a great leader overall in the story. In the end, Chinua Achebe has shown an expressive character that evidently can be called a tragic

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.

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.

Okonkwo's father, Unoka, was "a failure," "a loafer," and "People laughed at him" (1426). This would bring great shame to any man as it did for Okonkwo. In Umuofia "a man is judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father" (1427). In Umuofia "achievement was revered." Okonkwo became obsessed with the need to prove to everyone that he, unlike his father, was a man

He uses the tragic hero format by giving Okonkwo the main characteristics of tragic heroes of past, like Oedipus. Okonkwo has flaws, has a self-caused Fall, the influence of forces, and nobility. His use of the tragic hero assured that he would capture the western audience so he could inform them on an issue he cares so much about. You can see Achebe is attached to these issues, as he once said; “The last four or five hundred years of European contact with Africa produced a body of literature that presented Africa in a very bad light and Africans in very lurid terms.” In conclusion, Achebe successfully educates western audiences about what African culture is really like, as opposed to the flawed perspectives of the