Okonkwo In Things Fall Apart

Every action Okonkwo carries out is “dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13). This fear stems from his hatred towards every one of his father's attributes. Thus, his character depends so much on comparing himself to someone else's identity, that Okonkwo cannot verily become aware of his own inner qualities. Speaking to Okonkwo, Unoka, his father, says “‘a proud heart can

But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.” Many people believed that Okonkwo was such a cruel man because of the wall that he put up. This affected his family because he still continued to act tough with his wives and most of his kids, there was only one of his children that saw his soft side and that was Emzina, his daughter. He also thought a lot about one of the people he killed, which showed that he wasn’t the tough guy that everybody thought he was, but no matter what he refused to show any signs of weakness to avoid being like his

Okonkwo grows to love Ikemefuna like he is his own son and Okonkwo’s real son Nwoye admires and looks up to him as a real brother as well. Yet, Okonkwo does not show any affection of how he feels toward Ikemefuna and how he actually views him as if he is his own. Despite how he feels about Ikemefuna, Okonkwo will not let any type of weakness show, especially not in front of others. So, Okonkwo does not protect Ikemefuna but instead is a part of his murder by stabbing his un-biological son with a machete. Doing this brakes Okonkwo down inside and makes him very weak becoming saddened and depressed for a generous amount of time. This is probably one of the few moments in Okonkwo life that he let his guard down to show a different emotion besides anger, to him crying and mourning is a sign of weakness but after the foul actions he took a part of he can no help but show it. Along with anger comes violence, which Okonkwo often

Firstly, one of Okonkwo’s biggest identities is that he is a hard-working Ibo. He showed this “during the planting season, Okonkwo worked daily on his farms from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost,”(Achebe 11). The reason Okonkwo is a hard-working Ibo is because he does not want to become his father Unoka. But when Okonkwo worked his farms, his eldest son caused him great anxiety for his laziness. Since Okonkwo is a “very strong man and rarely felt fatigued,”(Achebe 11) this showed the strength he has while working. As well Okonkwo shows his strength while he wrestled the Cat. The cat was unbeaten for seven years. Until Okonkwo threw the cat and won this shows how Okonkwo’s fame has grown since that

Okonkwo showed great interest in Ikemefuna and treated him like his son. However, Ikemefuna was boy from another village sacrificed to keep peace, thus soon there came a time when Ikemefuna had to die. The narrator shows that Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna, The pot fell and broke in the sand. He heard Ikemefuna cry, My father, they have killed me! as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak. (Chapter 7 Pg. 61) Although Okonkwo loved Ikemefuna and had much affection for him, Okonkwo was forced to leave all of his emotions behind in order to kill Ikemefuna and not be seen as a weak man who could not kill another man. Okonkwo showed no mercy as he was blinded by his fear of his fathers submissive attitude. Oknokwo had to protect his status as a true warrior in his clan and if he was not able to slay Ikemefuna, then Okonkwo fears that he might be called an agbala just like Unoka, Okonkwos father. This quote also shows that Oknokwo is willing to sacrifice virtually everything in order to keep his high rank among his tribe.

For all of his desire to be strong, Okonkwo is caught up by the constant fear of being perceived as weak. He is afraid of failure and afraid of being considered weak. This fear drives him to do whatever he can to not become a failure like his father which ironically contributes to his death. While Okonkwo was a strong and important figure in his tribe, he had to keep his reputation that way by making some hard decisions. One of them was when he had to kill Ikemefuna, a young boy from the neighboring tribe. Okonkwo started accepting the decision to kill Ikemefuna because he started to call Okonkwo father. He had to keep his own valor intact and kill the boy to prevent himself from showing any weakness, but deep down, Okonkwo was really upset because of what he did which was ironic, “’When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.'" (Achebe 65). He continued to roll downhill when the white man comes to try and convert Okonkwo’s tribe. Okonkwo responds by killing one of the messengers that were sent. This cause Okonkwo's own tribe to question his actions. “"Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape.

He believed that his father’s actions were feminine and therefore worked hard to become a warrior. Along with not wanting to appear feminine, Okonkwo does not think his actions through. When Ikemefuna was brought into Okonkwo’s family, he accepted him and the two became very close. But after three years Ikemefuna was sentenced to death and Okonkwo was sent out with him. As the man raised up his machete Ikemefuna run to Okonkwo, “My father, they have killed me!” as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak”(Achebe 61). In this split second Okonkwo lets his emotions and fears of appearing weak win and did not allow himself time to think. Achebe utilizes Okonkwo to display the principle of cause and effect. Okonkwo is very proactive and does things on a whim. By doing so he makes hasty decisions that will be regretted in the long run. Okonkwo’s suicide was caused by a hasty decision and the responses of the tribesman. “He heard voices asking: “Why did he do it?”(Achebe

He was afraid of being weak” (Achebe 61). This scene portrays the death of Ikemefuna in which Okonkwo became partially responsible by killing him because he did not want to look weak; although, the Oracle never asked him to. A similar occurrence happened when Okonkwo killed a messenger. The narrator describes, “In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow.

Okonkwo shows throughout the book Things Fall Apart that he fears weakness and failure. Often times he also shows that he is bitter and gets angry easily. This bitterness and fear leads to some consequence such as exile and death. After several encounters with failure Okonkwo realizes his weak points and gains sympathy from that. There are ways that Okonkwo shows theses things throughout the book and evidence that makes them true.

In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo starts off with so much strength and power. He is a leader in his village and, is always working towards more success.With many mistakes Okonkwo starts to lose everything including his respect and authority. He goes through some big changes, and his life completely turns around. His aggression and violence become out of hand, and he can not control himself. He has to face extreme punishments that change who is and how he feels. Okonkwo’s success decreases throughout Things Fall Apart.

This is a toxic theory, as it poisons his relationships with his family and friends. Ikemefuna comes to live with him and his family, and as the years pass he grows fond of him. However, he does not show it outwardly, because he considers doing so weak. For example, “Even Okonkwo became very fond of the boy- inwardly of course. Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength.” (Achebe 28) Okonkwo believes that any emotion besides anger is weakness, and that the only acceptable thing to be was strong. His desire to be strong may stem from how he wants to be the opposite of his father, Unoka. Due to his father’s failure in life, Okonkwo is very fearful of being weak. Shown here, “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.” (Achebe 13) Okonkwo is so frightened by the idea of being perceived as weak that he is unnecessarily cruel towards others, especially his family. This is comparable to how the modern man is not supposed to show many emotions. From a young age, many boys are taught that men don’t cry. However, this causes mental illnesses among men to be overlooked and underdiagnosed. Many do not reach out for help because of the idea that men aren’t supposed to be emotional. This has

Okonkwo’s father was someone that was seen as weak, as he had no titles and was unable to provide for his family. This drove Okonkwo to do everything he could to not be weak like his father, but in turn it made him susceptible to strong emotion and sadness. By never wanting to show his emotion or be seen as weak,

We are introduced to Okonkwo as “tall and huge and ready “as if he [is] going to pounce on somebody.” Okonkwo is constantly fearing he, or his sons, will be deemed weak. Until Okonkwo meets and raises an “ill-fated lad” that Okonkwo becomes close with. While the bond between Okonkwo and Ikemefuna shows growth in Okonkwo’s character, above all he is still figuratively the same violent man. After killing Ikemefuna, someone he considered a son, because “he was afraid of being thought weak.”

These things seem to weaken Okonkwo, and he asks himself “When did you become a shivering old woman.” (65). Okonkwo has realized he has become weak and is scared because that is something that he never wanted to become. He never wanted to become like his father, a weak and lazy man who was a disgrace among the his people. Okonkwo tries to correct the weakness by forcing work upon himself to take his mind of it.

One of the main causes of Okonkwo’s downfall is his fear of being like his father, who was weak and considered a failure. Okonkwo is told that Ikemefuna,