Okonkwo's Death In Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo has a harsh relationship with Nwoye and constantly works to make him the man he envisions. Everyday Okonkwo fears that Nwoye will grow up to be like his father, Unoka. This fear causes Okonkwo to “correct him by constant nagging and beating” (14). Okonkwo

“…His [Okonkwo’s] whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness…It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father” (13).

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

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

Toil has a negative connotation as it refers to hard work without cessation. While Okonkwo was serving his punishment in exile, Obierika brought word to Mbanta about the government the white men had brought with them. In this government, the District Commissioner oversees the judging of “men who had offended against the white man’s law” (174). The court messengers were the ones who had to do hard work: they, nicknames “Ashy Buttocks,” were responsible for fetching the defendant and forcing prisoners to work (175). When Okonkwo finally returns to Umuofia, the District Commissioner continues to do his facile task of judging the Ibo people and dishing out punishments. To describe the District Commissioner’s work as a toil is an overstatement.

At first okonkwo was high ranking in the nine villages of mbanta for his great wrestling skill and but okonkwo has a terrible downfall that lead to his misfortune and eventually changed his tribe forever.

Okonkwo’s biggest fear is he will be seen as weakling just like his father. We see evidence from the text when, “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. It was deeper and more intimate than the fear of evil and capricious gods and of magic, the fear of the forest, and of nature, malevolent, red in tooth and claw.” This evidence supports my claim because it gives example on how Okonkwo wants to be his father’s opposite and how he wants to be more of a

In Chinua Achebe's 1958 novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo's cruel and arrogant attitude towards those around him divides Ibo society and causes a clash of cultures that ultimately destroys the community. Achebe utilizes characterization and conflict to illustrate the inherent tragedy of society and the unfortunate realities produced by individuals when power is founded in ignorance and hatred. Okonkwo first gains the respect of his clan by defeating Amalinze the Cat. Following this, his hard work and determination builds admiration as he repeatedly overcomes obstacles that would have broken anyone else.

In the book Things Fall Apart. Chinua Achebe shows that through most of the part he shows that Okonkwo does not want to be anything like his father is . Okonkwo struggles with fear,showing weakness but that won’t stop him from being the brave person that he is . Okonkwo shows this through his actions and thoughts that everyone has a weakness to fear .

Okonkwo is only able to obtain a realm of control when he believes he is a protective husband and father. Okonkwo has an unfathomable fear of replicating his father, Unoka. His self-imposed interdictions of being a peaceful patriarch cause him to overly enforce policy in his family. Okonkwo’s extreme measures of attempting forced conformity cause his family to fear him, despite the fact that he is not trying to harm them and “his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13). Despite Okonkwo having innumerable disadvantages relating to his father and culture, he works his absolute hardest to achieve prosperity.

Life has a funny way of turning sometime for the better, but it always takes a dark turn weather you can pull through is the true question. Is being a leader standing on top and being better than all below is it really worth all the pain? Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a true example of the way life turns for the worse not only for Okonkwo but for the whole village over all. This story starts in a village called Umuofia, which is a very prideful place full of rituals and respect for one another.

Therefore, “Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him?” (8). Throughout the entire novel, Okonkwo had to hold back some of his true emotions so that his weaknesses do not become apparent. Even after he felt defeated from the Christian missionaries, Okonkwo had to act tough. He went so far as to not consider Nwoye his son anymore, even though throughout the novel he trained him to be a great man because he cared about him enough to not want him to end up like Unoka.

He used his fear to motivate himself and create a rank/title for himself. With just his appearance Okonkwo was a strong warrior that didn’t fear war. He is also an extremely proud, short-tempered, and impatient man that tests his strength whenever he can. Although he appears as dominant, he can be seen as more emotionally fragile than his father due to his fear. Throughout reading Things Fall Apart we see Okonkwo as emotionless but in reality, he carries many inward emotions.

Sometimes readers may feel sympathetic for Okonkwo because of his inability control himself but most of the time, he deserves his faults. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the author thought there was a lack of Nigerian colonization and wanted to show an accurate portrayal of the clash between the African culture and western ideas. His book showed two issues, one between Igbo society and another with an unknown culture to them, the British. Okonkwo’s flaw of anger and fear of weakness makes him corrupt because of his dad, Unoka. Therefore, it caused Okonkwo to start from poverty and then work to become the most well-known and wealthy person but slowly falls down. Chinua Achebe uses Okonkwo to portray the true nature of what happens when two cultures clash through misunderstandings and conflicts.

In the ending of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo kills himself, signifying that all the culture that Okonkwo and his clan worked for will all be for vain. For instance, Okonkwo always valued honor, so his death by suicide creates a cultural dilemma for the clan because, “it is an abomination for a man to take his own life. It is an offense against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not be buried by his clansman” (Achebe 207). Okonkwo strived to have the highest title in the clan and he will now be remember as no one to the clan; this shows significance because all of his work will now have no meaning after his death. Further, Okonkwo started out with nothing from his father, yet he works his way into the community to be “portrayed as a man with