Pride In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

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.

Okonkwo's fear of being perceived as weak tragically leads to him to be unnecessarily violent and excessively prideful. These two fatal flaws lead to Okonkwo’s own emotional isolation, and his inevitable downfall. Driven by the fear of being seen as weak and emasculated, Okonkwo exhibits hyper masculinity and rage. Although this behavior initially leads to success in the patriarchal society of Umofia, rage is his greatest bane: it masks his compassion and pusillanimity. Onkonkwo’s obsession to never appear feminine is driven to the extreme. He denies affection even to his own family, “never show[ing] any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To [Okonkwo] show[ing] affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength.” (pg. 28). Okonkwo whose “whole life [is] dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.” (pg. 13) suppress his compassion in order to appear important and manly. Ironically this creates a stark juxtaposition between his own fear and his position as an alpha male. Rather than being masculine and courageous, Okonkwo just creates tension within his family and within himself. The pinnacle of this extreme hypermasculinity is when Okonkwo ignores the wisdom of the elder Ezeudu, and violently kills his “son” Ikamafuna: “As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He had heard Ikamafuna cry “My father, they have killed me!”

Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, once said: “A man who makes trouble for others is also making troubles for himself”. This concept can be seen in the development of Okonkwo as a character throughout the book. Creating plenty of trouble for others, but ultimately creating the most trouble for himself is possibly the plot for the entire book. Generally, the creation of trouble is not a value that is appreciated in any culture, especially in Umuofia. Okonkwo breaks many of the boundaries and social norms within his culture; his tendency to be immature and unaccountable combined with being very self-concerned and the defiance of elders creates an interesting mix adjacent to the cultural standards.

Once his reputation has been far approved by his village, Okonkwo won’t show his fear to the people around him but he lets it dictate his actions. While we see Okonkwo go through many different emotions on the inside, the only one he reveals on the outside is anger. He wants to not slip up on his reputation of being a hard nose man, so he makes sure to bottle up all his other emotions and that fear that is a fire inside him. He sees taking out his feelings through actions to be the best way with coping with his fears, specifically his wives or children. This rapid-growing fame turned him into a man who, “...had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists. He had no patience with unsuccessful men” (3-4). It is those fists that he constantly uses to beat his family with when they act in a way that might tarnish his reputation or his manliness. Not only does he beat that often, but he feels nothing from doing it even when he breaks clan law by beating one of his wives during the Peace Week when it's forbidden. While the reader sometimes sees him begin to soften up, the real brutal Okonkwo re-enters as he will kill if not killing would show cowardice towards others. That is exactly what he does as Ikemefuna—essentially

At the beginning of the book, Okonkwo had very violent, angry interactions with others, which goes along with his behavior and personality. An example from the text to support this claim is, “Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut [Ikemefuna] down. He was afraid of being thought as weak” (61). This quote is very significant because it shows the violent actions associated with Okonkwo and others around him. Ikemefuna was a young boy that lived with Okonkwo for three years; however, he was a captive from another clan. The elders in Umuofia then decided to have him killed, and Okonkwo did the finishing blow. All of this violence and anger surrounding Okonkwo is most likely why he has so many violent and hate-filled interactions with others. However, Okonkwo doesn’t always have these kinds of interactions because toward the end of the novel, he starts to have more personable and pleasant interactions with others. An example to show this change within Okonkwo is when he throws a feast for his mother’s kinsmen. He throws them the feast because they helped him build his life back up after he was exiled from Umuofia for accidentally killing a teenager. The whole interaction between these two parties is very essential to the character development of Okonkwo because it shows him wanting

Before Ikemefuna came, Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye, was lazy in his eyes and he believed that he was starting to shape more a man after Ikemefuna’s arrival, “Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son's development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna.” Okonkwo learns that Ikemefuna is to be killed, "That boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death." But Okonkwo is to have nothing to do with his actual killing. The day of Ikemefuna’s death nine elders and Okonkwo walk out of the village. “As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He heard the blow. 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.” Worse than beating his wives, worse than anything that Okonkwo has done in this story, he kills Ikemefuna. After being told not to. Okonkwo’s life is so caught up in being manly and being more than his father ever was that he participates in the killing of a boy who calls him father in fear that he might been as weak in front of the other

In Things Fall Apart, we are introduced to Okonkwo, a great warrior and an influential clan leader. Okonkwo acquired his position through hard work and the desire to not be like his lazy father. He constantly tries to avoid being like his father, so he operates under the philosophy that one cannot be a man if they are lazy. This philosophy leads to discontent with members in his family and community who act lazy or woman like. Therefore he develops a quick temper against them.

Throughout the story Okonkwo refuses to show weakness to others. Okonkwo is greatly affected by this because “The Igbo people emphasized personal achievement”(Ohadike 240). This makes him very vulnerable when it comes to showing his strength to his village. So, when the elders of the village decide that his adopted son Ikemefuna must be killed, Okonkwo goes along with them to show that he is not weak. At first Okonkwo decides to back off from the group of people about to kill Ikemefuna but, decides to come back onces he hears Ikemfuna’s

The theme of the book Things Fall Apart, which focuses on the breakdown of a society as well as the main character’s personal breakdown, stems from many conflicts of interests and misunderstandings throughout the book. There is not one single moment in the book where everything falls apart, but many times throughout. In the beginning a lot of problems arise from Okonkwo’s anger problems, and his inability to see other’s views. His ignorance is what ultimately leads to his exile from his clan. It’s not just the fact that he accidently killed a fellow clan member, but many other events that had angered the village. One of the first problems was when he disregarded the week of peace by savagely beating his wife. Wife

In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe demonstrates how the integration of two different cultures can result in the destruction of one entirely. The story is centered around Umuofia, one of the 9 Ibo villages in Nigeria, Africa. It is a confined, well-structured society that is commonly viewed as a Utopia, or an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect. It is a tight-knit community with little to no conflict. All inhabitants share the same cultural beliefs, the village has a well-developed justice system to keep things in order, and they even have traditions that bring them all closer together. However, it doesn't take too long for things to completely fall apart. Sooner rather than later, the village

In Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the characters Ikemefuna and Obierika are used as “foil characters,” and reveal pertinent traits of Okonkwo’s true nature. The traits of Ikemefuna and Obierika contrast the traits Okonkwo, and allow the reader greater insight into Okonkwo’s fear of emasculation and his trepidation for the transformation of Igbo culture. Both Obierika and Ikemefuna accentuate the abhorrence Okonkwo has for becoming epicene and opprobrious like his father. Obierika also is skeptical of the Igbo culture in that he questions aspects of Igbo traditions and rituals, for he feels a certain degree of change may benefit their society. Furthermore, Ikemefuna’s character also reveals not only Okonkwo’s fear of emasculation, but

Introduction Throughout the novel "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, there are several attributes that lead to the demise of Okonkwo. Often times the result of acting on personal emotional impulses can carry with them negative outcomes. Okonkwo was a noble, appreciated man in the nine villages in which tribes had lived(Achebe 1). The traits that gave him that status are believed to have come through both his fear of failure and desperation to succeed (Achebe 4). Unoka, Okonkwo's father, was unsuccessful in the nine villages which led to Okonkow's lack of respect for him and those who do not work hard in the community (Achebe 1).

The brutal and abrupt killing of Ikemefuna quite obviously has large consequences, as well as a major affect on Okonkwo’s life. As the relationship between Okonkwo and

When analyzing the different relationships Okonkwo has with his family and acquaintance such as Ikemefuna. You can than see how both Nwoye and Ikemefuna have a different perspective on how they get treated by okonkwo. Such as how Nwoye thinks his dad is kind because he treats him good. Okonkwo cared about nwoye however he did not much show it. As for ikemefuna “ he treated ikemefuna as he treated everybody else- with a heavy hand.” He was set out to be more like property of the family however ikemefuna looked up to him as if he were his dad. And so on okonkwo treated him kindly because of the admiration. However showed it in a much simple way still treating him with a heavy hand.Within these relations you can than on see how he is a unsympathetic character he cares for certain members of his family but he doesn’t really identify himself with anyone. He may care for you but he keeps those feelings to himself not letting others see how he really feels. Either he shows a slight bit of mercy or he beats you like how he beats his wife and almost shot her. He thinks showing affection is for cowards basically.

Throughout the novel Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe elaborates on how courage is expressed through the main protagonists the story, explaining how being courageous requires the ability to be adaptable , and standing up for your beliefs or love ones. (Achebe)