Things Fall Apart Character Analysis

In Okonkwo’s early years he was disadvantages compared to other boys in his village. His father was a lethargic man who held no titles. He died of an evil disease and was henceforth an abomination in the eyes of the village. Okonkwo was scared by this as a child, Achebe writes “he was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death” (Achebe 18). The reader will see later that this creates a quandary for Okonkwo.

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

In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart Okonkwo is the tragic hero due to his tragic

In the book Things Fall Apart by chinua achebe, theirs a character name okonkwo who is viewed as abusive, well known, and wealthy. The book consist of okonkwo and his conflicts within his compound. Throughout the book okonkwo will be faced with a lot of challenges.

In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, the protagonist, represents the manly ideal in a native African society of the Igbo that puts great value on masculinity. He prides himself on the fact that he became a well-respected member of the community with little help from others. However, he is not without flaws. When European powers begin colonizing Africa, Okonkwo finds his way of life disrupted. His greatest challenge becomes accepting the beliefs of others and relating to the majority. Okonkwo resists change, trying to hold onto the old way of life. In Things Falls Apart, Okonkwo proves himself to be a notorious anti-hero as he struggles with his own self-image, rules his household with fear, and

The character of Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart was driven by fear, a fear of change and losing his self-worth. He needed the village of Umuofia, his home, to remain untouched by time and progress because its system and structure were the measures by which he assigned worth and meaning in his own life. Okonkwo required this external order because of his childhood and a strained relationship with his father, which was also the root of his fears and subsequent drive for success. When the structure of Umuofia changed, as happens in society, Okonkwo was unable to adapt his methods of self-evaluation and ways of functioning in the world; the life he was determined to live could not survive a new environment and collapsed around

In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe employs imagery, symbolism, and themes to reveal the story of Okonkwo. Throughout the novel he weaves in these things to really tell us the tale.

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,

Okonkwo's thoughts and actions convey his motivation to become nothing like his father. Okonkwo's whole being is to be everything his father wasn't and hate everything hid father loved (Unoka is the name of Okonkwo's father). “Unoka, the grown-up, was a failure”. Okonkwo whom wanted to be nothing like his father despited any man that was a failure and had no titles, he would try to belittle whomever snd kill their spirit. “Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said: “ This meeting is for men.” The man who had contradicted him had no titles. That's was why he had called him a women. Okonkwo knew how to kill a mans spirit.” Okonkwo was nothing like his father, he was a highly respected man. “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and

Tragic heroes are the literary characters who suffer the most in a story, novel or a play. “Tragic heroes are so much the highest points in their human landscape that they seem the inevitable conductors of the power about them, great trees more likely to be struck by lightning than a clump of grass. Conductors may, of course, be instruments as well as victims of the divisive lightning.” said the famous critic Northrop Frye. These literary characters are the essential piece of a tragedy.

The narrator presents Okonkwo to be a representation of masculinity and dominance as he strictly rules his household; however, Okonkwo focuses so much on becoming the opposite father that he fell weak to this fear. In other words, even though Okonkwo’s powerful character may represent him as the stereotype of strength and masculinity, he is in fact vulnerable to his overwhelming fears of becoming weak or a failure like his father, and installing fear

Okonkwo abides by the rules of masculinity long after it suits his life. Okonkwo thought women we inferior to men. During the Week of Peace, Ojiugo lied to her husband; in the novel it states, “And when she returned he beat her very heavily” (Achebe 29). Okonkwo’s anger took over him. His vision of himself was so great that he thought he could beat his own wife, even during the Week of Peace. Okonkwo’s favorite child would be Ezinma, but she cannot be as great as he would want her to be because she is a female. Okonkwo openly said, “She should have been a boy” (Achebe 64). Okonkwo thinks that his daughter is great, but because she is not a boy he can not admire her. He thinks she would have been better a boy because, in his mind, he thinks men are greater beings than women. Okonkwo cannot wait for his son Nwoye to grow up and be as great of a man as he was. The novel states, “He wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his father’s household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestor” (Achebe 53). Even though Okonkwo likes Ezinma, he thinks Nwoye will keep his legacy going after he is dead. Ironically, Nwoye leaves his father’s side and joins the missionaries, while Ezinma stood by Okonkwo’s side. The reasoning for Okonkwo’s exile was due to Okonkwo shooting a young boy

Chinua Achebe unfolds a variety of interesting connections between characters in the Novel Things Fall Apart. Relationships with parents, children and inner self are faced differently, however the attitude that Okonkwo gave them determined what kind of outcome he generated from these relations. Okonkwo looks at everything through his violent and manly perspective and is afraid to show his real feelings because he thinks that he may be thought out as weak and feminine this paranoid attitude lead him to self-destruction.

First, Okonkwo starts off as a poor child, as shown when the book states, “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had, he did not inherit a barn from his father. There was no barn to inherit” showing that Okonkwo and his family were penurious, compared to others in the Igbo tribe (Achebe 16). Eventually, through his hard work and effort, he became a noble leader, which emphasizes his role as a tragic hero. Throughout the story Okonkwo goes through many challenges, but “In the face of futility, however, he maintains his nobility of character”(Gaydosik).

One of Okonkwo's most prominent character traits is his intense fear of femininity. This fear can be traced back to his relationship with his father, Unoka, who was lazy and irresponsible. The inability of Unoka to provide for his family is seen as effeminate and shameful to the clan, which ultimately results in Okonkwo’s deep-seated aversion of being at all like his father. His fear is only amplified by the clan’s pervasive subordination of women, and ridicule of their concept of femininity, especially when displayed by men. For example on page 26, paragraph 1, Achebe writes, “Only a week ago a man had contradicted him... Okonkwo had said: ‘This meeting is for men.’ The man who had contradicted him had no titles. That was why he had called