Small Decisions In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

The protagonist, Okonkwo demonstrates his sympathetic character solely to himself, personally, and infrequently not in the eyes of others. During the plotting of Ilemefuna’s death, Okonkwo was hesitant to make the boy aware of his fate and also hesitant to take part in his death. “‘I cannot understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy,’ he

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

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.

When Ikemefuna came to Umuofia, Okonkwo “became very fond of the boy- inwardly of course… He therefore treated Ikemefuna as he treated everybody else- with the heavy hand. But there was no doubt that he liked the boy” (24). This establishes that Okonkwo loves Ikemefuna but because he wants to look strong and demonstrate power he shows little to no emotion of love towards him. Correspondingly, when Ikemefuna is facing his death, he runs to Okonkwo asking for help. As this happens Okonkwo, acting on impulse, slays Ikemefuna with his machete. Okonkwo try’s to act like he does not have affection for Ikemefuna, but the reader sees the reality when, after Ikemefuna’s death, “Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days…He drank palm-wine from morning till night…[and] did not sleep at night” (55). In other words, Okonkwo is mourning over the loss of Ikemefuna and. Though this is the case a close reader might see that Okonkwo’s impulse of killing Ikemefuna was because he wanted to seem strong but the evidence shows the reality of his emotion. One might conclude that Okonkwo can be loving and compassionate, but because of his need to look masculine his relationship with Ikemefuna is

Things Fall Apart “Reputation is what others think of us; character is what God knows of us. When you have spent what feels like eternity trying to repair a few moments of time that destroyed the view others once had of you then you must ask yourself if you have the problem or is it really them? God doesn’t make us try so hard, only enemies do.” ― Shannon L. Alder In the story Things fall apart Okonkwo is a man who is always worried how others preserve him to be.

Okonkwo’s killing of Ikemefuna shows his weakness, change of bond between him and Nwoye and foreshadowing of his own death. Okonkwo loves Ikemefuna like a son or even more than his own son. It was ordered by the oracle to kill Ikemefuna but a clan member told Okonkwo that he doesn’t have to take a part in killing Ikemefuna. “That boy calls you father.

During the killing of Ikemefuna Okonkwo's fear of killing his son leads to him “[withdrawing] to the rear”(61). The significant amount of Okonkwo’s inability to appear weak appears when “dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut [Ikemefuna] down”(62). His downfall begins after Ikemefuna’s death as Okonkwo’s is constantly at odds with himself and his guilt, this is Okonkwo's catastrophe. His guilt is only overpowered by his anger of the village adapting as the British envelope Ibo culture. Later in order to abide by custom, Okonkwo during a funeral shoots his gun, and accidentally kills a child of Umuofia.

Okonkwo loved Ikemefuna and treated him well. He was proud that he had finally got himself a strong man as his son. Although Okonkwo treated Ikemefuna just like a son Okonkwo’s success has more importance and nothing would stop Okonkwo from having a high rank in the clan. The day came when the clan decided to kill Ikemefuna, and even though Okonkwo treated him as a son, Okonkwo “was afraid of being thought of as weak.”(Achebe 61) causing Okonkwo to draw “his machete and cut him down.” (Achebe 61). Because he could not be looked at as weak, he chooses to take part in the killing of

This is shown when he becomes hungry, and when his wife is not there to bring him his lunch, she is severely beaten, despite the fact that it is a Holy Week. Okonkwo is required to pay a fine for his actions, but it is assumed that he did not learn the meaning behind his punishment. His inability to accept his emotions led to his incredibly violent ways. Okonkwo was also obsessed with impressing the other men of Umuofia. Despite his love for Ikemefuna, 'Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak'; (61). Okonkwo had to portray himself as being incredibly strong-willed, after overcoming his hereditary situation, which put him originally in the lowest social position that his father was in. Since he was able to shed the poor name of his father, Okonkwo began to think of himself as better than virtually everyone, including the gods. Okonkwo insulted a man with fewer titles than himself, which was in very poor taste according to the warriors of Umuofia. By making the derogatory claims on him, Okonkwo shows his conceitedness and how he considers himself better than the others.

Everyone on Earth is rooted in their culture. It shapes human being from the moment they are born to the moment they die. So, when a character leaves their culture things can start to go wrong, as perfectly portrayed in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. It shows a culture and family falling apart, because of several groups of converts and one convert: Nwoye. Family members betraying each other to find their own sense of identity can coincide with the downfall of society.

Okonkwo’s fear of being perceived as weak forbids him from showing emotion. In chapter 7, the Oracle of Umuofia had said that Ikemefuna, Okonkwo’s adopted son, was to be executed. The village elders had come to Okonkwo’s house and told him, “‘That boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death.’” (Achebe

okonkwo is a man who is successful throughout the nine villeges. He rules over anyone with a heavy hand because he wants people to be strong, also he only talks to people that he respects he hates weak people. Okonkwo’s thrid wife left her children one afternoon he waited and beat her in the weak of peace. He didn’t care he followed his rules he does the same thing with ikemefuna rules over any one with a heavy hand.

Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” chronicles the life of Okonkwo, a strong man whose existence is dominated by fear and anger, and the Ibo tribe, a people deeply rooted in cultural belief and tradition. As events unfold, Okonkwo’s carefully constructed world and the Ibo way of life collapses. The story of Okonkwo’s fall from a respected and feared leader of the Ibo tribe to an outcast who dies in disgrace dramatizes his inability to evolve beyond his personal beliefs, affecting the entire Ibo tribe beyond measure. The “things” that fall apart in Achebe’s novel are Okonkwo’s life – his ambition, dreams, family unity and material wealth – and the Ibo way of life – their beliefs, culture and values.

Okonkwo was torn apart between the dilemma of letting the execution proceed or to take initiative to prevent it. By not taking action, it would make him seem feminine and break every one of his convictions. These masculine principles are what made him to become the successful man that he is. However, he would have to kill Ikemefuna, who he began to care for, as he would for one of his sons. On the expedition to execute the boy, Okonkwo, shackled to his own principles, took Ikemefuna’s life. This illuminating scene impacted Nwoye to later separate himself from his family and caused other chain reactions. In addition, Okonkwo too was mentally damaged following the death of Ikemefuna. He was “ o weak that his legs could hardly carry him,” he could not eat, and “did not sleep at night.”

The description given early in the novel clearly establishes his character as being a strong and wealthy man who is well respected among the rest of the tribe due to his superior fighting abilities and his influential personality. Having achieved such elite status within the Umuofia clan, Okonkwo appears to be old-fashioned as it is seen in his approach in raising his family and tribal people. However, Okonkwo’s character changes incrementally with the emergence of a boy, Ikemefuna, from a neighboring village, who was brought to him because of his brutal attack against his wife Ojiugo during the ‘week of peace’. Amongst the Umuofia clan, the ‘week of peace’ is a tribal ritual whose conditions are not to complete any evil sins in a certain week span. After having accepted Ikemefuna into the family, Okonkwo experiences a shift in his mental state. Shortly hereafter, he questions this change, which demonstrates his lack of willingness to change which is clearly demonstrated in the book in several different ways like in chapter Eight, Okonkwo proclaims to himself, “When did you become a shivering old woman, you, who are known in all nine villages for your valour in war” (Achebe 56). This represents that his character has become a weaker, less influential individual amongst the nine tribes where he is well known. Symbolically, this depicts a fragile reputation in Okonkwo’s status within the community to which he belongs.