Oroonoko’s Honorable Downfall

When facing unimaginable circumstances, there are some people who may compromise their dignity or integrity to make their life easier. In the case of Abd al-Rahman, the main character in “Prince Among Slaves,” some can say the prince compromised his integrity for the sake of his family. He doesn’t compromise his dignity and even builds, what some would consider, a dignified life during his time as a slave. “Prince Among Slaves” emphasizes keeping one’s integrity or compromising it when it may be necessary.

A significant character shown in this passage is Obierika. Though a minor character, Okonkwo’s close friend demonstrates importance because of his many doubts and questions of some of the tribe’s traditional system, this shows a possibility of Obierika being a spokesperson for Achebe. He is a foil to Okonkwo, because Okonkwo has the desire for the most part to embrace the traditions and view of masculinity, while Obierika "was a man who thought about things" and sometimes questioned the ways of the clan. Another opposite decision he makes compared to Okonkwo is in the killing of Ikemefuna, in which he refuses to accompany them. He is more understanding towards women, thoughtful, and has no love for unnecessary violence. "Why should a man suffer so grievously for an offense he had committed inadvertently? But although he thought for a long time he found no answer." He worries because Okonkwo is a close friend of his, and he has a fit skepticism of the traditional ways and is more adaptable to change then Okonkwo, thus, they almost balance each other out, but Okonkwo repeatedly shows resistance towards Obierika’s reasoning. When questioning Okonkwo’s exile he is reminded of a tragedy of his own. "He remembered his wife’s children, whom he had thrown

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).

Through the character of Okonkwo, Achebe illustrates the dangers of being selfish. Although successful, Okonkwo is one of the most aggressively selfish men among the Igbo people based on his self-centered needs and desires. This characteristic is prevalent throughout the entirety of the novel, and there are always consequences to his actions. For example, Okonkwo is fond of calling men “women” to make himself look more masculine. He does this to Osugo in front of a group of men in a meeting. “Okonkwo knew how to kill a man’s spirit. Everybody at the kindred meeting took sides with Osugo when Okonkwo called him a woman” (Achebe 26). Since the other men sided with Osugo, Okonkwo’s punishment for this narcissistic outburst is embarrassment. Continuing,

. . To which [a person] a thousand times prefer Death."# She further describes how one is sold into slavery, being either sold one by one or in lots with women and children, but families are not sold together; instead, they are separated, as a family cannot be trusted together for fear that they will commit "some great Action, to the ruin of the Colony."# At first, slavery is depicted as more of an embarrassment than a painful way of life, and Oroonoko lives a decent life for a while. Oroonoko is sold to Trefry, a Cornish gentleman who assists the Governor, and he proves to be a kind and gentle man to Oroonoko. Trefry cares deeply for Oroonoko, and "ever after lov'd him as his dearest Brother, and she'd him all the Civilities due to so great a Man."# Oroonoko is reunited with his love, Imoinda, who has also been sold into slavery, and the two are allowed to marry (which was a privilege that was not granted often). However, the lifestyle Oroonoko leads is not typical, as he reveals when he makes a speech to other slaves. Oroonoko reveals that slaves suffer "Loads, Burdens, and Drudgeries as were fitter for beasts than Men" and that both guilty and innocent slaves "suffer'd the infamous Whip. . . Till their Blood trickled from all Parts of their Body."#

In the book “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, we see the effect the white missionaries had on an African tribe and the antihero Okonkwo. The main character Okonkwo is a tragic hero. Achebe depicts Okonkwo as a Shakespearean hero with a tragic flaw, that tragic flaw is the fact that he will do anything in his power not to be a weak man like his father Unoka. Okonkwo did what he did because he hated his father and would do anything in his power to be the exact opposite of his father.

James Dexter, also known as Oronoco, was a young man of persistence and humanity. After gaining his freedom in the late 1760s, Oronoco took after his master’s name. Over the course of his life, Dexter touched many lives and spread a wonderful message of equality for all. He felt the pain of living as a slave and knew it was unjust. His intentions when doing anything were always out of justice and kindness. Anyone he meet along the way of trying to emancipate slaves would come to be friends with Dexter. He was a fair, selfless man who throughout his life would buy his and his wife's freedom, worked as a live in coachman for a family, petitioned for gradual emancipation, and held a leadership role in an African American church.

Oroonoko, the story of the royal prince. Oroonoko was a beautiful and well educated African American prince. He ends up getting forced into slavery. While he is enslaved, he ends up being reunited with his lost love, Imoinda. The two of them become with child. Oroonoko did not want his family to be enslaved, he orchestrated an escape plan. When his plan failed, he took matters in his own hands.

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.

Okonkwo is initially introduced as a proud, hardworking, successful warrior. He is described as "clearly cut out for great things" (6). But he is the son of a ne'er-do-well father; though genial and inoffensive, Unoka must certainly have been considered a failure. He is lazy and does not provide for his family. Not only is this disgraceful, but life-threatening as well. He is dependent on other members of the clan and must have been considered unsuccessful. Okonkwo chafes under such disgrace and his success is a consequence of his desire to be everything his father is not; society's vision of an exemplar citizen. The fact that Okonkwo is able to rise above his poverty and disgraceful paternity illustrates the Igbo's acceptance of individual free will. But Okonkwo's fate and his disharmony with his chi, family and clan are shown to cause his ultimate disgrace and death.

Oroonoko is able to sustain his code of virtue and fidelity by showing an act of true loyalty that proves his devotion and love to his lover and wife, Imoinda. After the King, Oroonoko’s grandfather, vigorously takes Imoinda for himself, Oroonoko

We sense that the death of Ikemefuna has been a turning point in the story. The sense of foreboding grows. We know the inevitability of disaster now; the crisis is developing. Okonkwo has ignored the advice of Ezeudu, the wise man inserted in the tale in traditional Greek form. Although he was warned, Okonkwo kills the boy to show his strength, his bravery,

Through all the strengths that she conveys, Imoinda is still portrayed as similar to her English counterparts when she supports Oroonoko in all of his decisions, including in his suggestion that he kill her to escape her slavery and possible “ravish[ing]” (71) followed by a painful death. Her support for her own death at his hand is not given from her point of view, she agrees to his justification and not just asks to be killed, but begs for it. She is filled with joy at the idea of his killing her, that “she so tenderly loved, and […] truly ador’d in this” (72). In Imoinda’s eyes her husband is like her deity, that the greatest love is to die by his hand. She willingly lays

This leads to Oroonoko killing her by "first cutting her throat, and then severing her yet smiling face from that delicate body, pregnant as it was with the fruits of tenderest love." (Behn, Oroonoko 218). Thereby, Imoinda's loss of identity is complete: She has lost her agency, her name, her life and even her face has been torn off. She suffered all these brutalities by the hands of men who either wanted to possess her or claimed to love her (in Oroonoko's case both). The narrative ends with her as the narrator states: "Yet, I hope, the reputation of my pen is considerable enough to make his glorious name to survive to all ages, with that of the brave, the beautiful, and the constant Imoinda" (Behn, Oroonoko 224). This leaves the reader with the idea of Imoinda rather than the person presented towards at the end of the narrative whose face was torn

After contrasting Okonkwo’s greatness with his father’s meekness, Achebe dives into the mind of Okonkwo in order to establish the theme of fate vs free will. This moment is very important in the narrative, as it shows Okonkwo’s determination to rise up and become prosperous ultimately comes from his fear of confronting fate. A paradox occurs as Okonkwo, a man of natural will, is compromising his well-being and true self in order to fight fate.