Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo life is “dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13). When Okonkwo was a boy, his playmates teased him calling, saying that his father was agbala. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was lazy. He did not work on his farm; he died in great debt. He did not acquire a single title. He did not have a barn to pass down to his son. Unoka is a type of man who is scorned in Umofia. He is seen as weak and effeminate. As Okonkwo grows older, he is determined not become a failure like his father. His father was weak; he will be strong. His father was lazy; he will be hard-working. Okonkwo earned his fame by defeating the reigning wrestling champion. Okonkwo diligently plants yam, building a successful farm. He builds himself an obi, has three wives and many children. His fame “rested on solid personal achievements” (Achebe 3). Okonkwo will not let one womanly trait sully his reputation. Therefore, he “hate[d] everything that his father Unoka had loved” (Achebe 13). One of these was gentleness. Okonkwo refuses to show any signs of emotion, except his temper. He

Things fall apart is a novel written by Chinua Achebe. It is set during the late 19th, early 20th century in a small village named Umuofia situated in Nigeria. This time period is important because it was a period in colonial history when the British were increasing their influence economic, cultural, and political influence in Africa. The novel deals with the rise and fall of Okonkwo, a man from the village of Umuofia. It also explains the effect of the appearance of the British on the Igbo society in terms of the destruction of social connections. In this text, there are several passages in which their

When Okonkwo was young, he declared that his father was not able to feed adequately of his family and he was abashed by his father’s strength. He didn’t receive enough food and he was insisted to dislike his father, Unoka. While he went out in Umuofia, he expressed his embarrassment against his father and consequently he discovered that villagers of Umuofia had similar dislikes against his father. The hatred feelings against his father

Okonkwo is a wealthy and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan. Umuofia is one of the nine clans that are connected. The village consists of Igbo people in the African country of Nigeria. His fame became solely from personal achievements. Okonkwo was much unlike his father who was poor, a debtor, and basically a failure to his people. When his father died all, he took with him was debts that were never paid. In the village of Umuofia, a man is judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father. Okonkwo had great things planned for his life and wanted to be the nothing like his father whom he was so ashamed of. He had to start from scratch because his father wasn’t able to leave

Okonkwo is a rude, unforgivable and spiteful person. He beats his wives and even takes innocent girls and boys away from enemy tribes. In some way he may even resemble his father, Unoka. He was lazy and very much in debt. If Okonkwo continues what he does he will become him. Although Ekwefi and Ojiugo are both wives, they get beat for different reasons.

In the book Things Fall Apart, there are many things that fall apart. The major aspect that fell apart is the clan. There are many major foreshadowing events that showed the decline of the clan, including the locusts, the accidental death of a boy by Okonkwo forcing the exile of his family, and the arrival of the white missionaries. When the missionaries arrive, they start to oppress their religion onto the people of the clan. They are seemed to be crazy, and almost disrespectful of the clan’s customs on religion. As this is happening, Okonkwo is caught in an exile for him and his three wives and children. The exile is caused by an accidental killing of a boy by Okonkwo. After they return to Umuofia after seven years, they are blindsided by

One key point in this novel was when Nwoye converted to the missionaries. Okonkwo was devastated and it was clearly shown by his actions. “Why, he cried in his heart, should he, Okonkwo, of all people, be cursed with such a son. He saw clearly in it the finger of his personal god or chi. For how else could he explain his great misfortune and exile and now his despicable son’s behavior? Now that he had time to think of it, his son’s crime stood out in its stark enormity. To abandon the gods of one’s father and go about with a lot of effeminate men clucking like old hens was the very depth of abomination. Suppose when he died all his male children decided to follow Nwoye’s steps and abandon their ancestors? Okonkwo felt a cold shudder run through him at the terrible prospect, like the prospect of annihilation.” Okonkwo and his son Nwoye also symbolize tradition and change, respectively. Okonkwo's character represents tradition, since he holds conventional ideas of rank, reputation, and masculinity in high esteem. As the book progresses, however, Okonkwo begins to fall out of favor with the clans, and his descent signals the crumbling of traditional Umuofia society. His adherence to tradition also drives him to kill his own surrogate son, Ikemefuna, driving away Nwoye in the process. Seeing his own son switch and disobey the tradition, hurt Okonkwo. It stripped a piece away from him

Okonkwo had a lot of flaws. He was stuck on having a good reputation and raising the best family he could. He feared for his children to become like his father and his wives to become lazy. He got mad frequently and took it out on his family if they did anything wrong. But one of his flaws were involved with the killing of his adopted son Ikemefuna. A group of elders had gone with Okonkwo and Ikemefuna to a forest, where one of them swung their machete at the poor boy and destroyed. Ikemefuna ran to Okonkwo for help, but “dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down” (61). The man was afraid of being thought of as weak. Then again, he had always had a tough image around others. Of course, accidents happened quite a lot for Okonkwo because he accidentally killed a higher up in the village during Ezeudu’s funeral and “he could not return to the clan after seven years” (124). He had to start all over with his family and return to his motherland. Life was never fun for Okonkwo. Hard work and strict punishment was basically what he was known for. So when Okonkwo and men from Umuofia went to visit the District Commissioner, they were taken as prisoners and whipped along with being shaven until a certain price was paid. Once they were released and they went home, people in the village were accepting until “nobody else spoke but they noticed the long stripes on Okonkwo’s

“A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people” (“Mahatma Gandhi Quotes” 1). The culture of a certain tribe, clan or group of people is not found written anywhere but it is found in the knowledge of its people because that is what they’ve grown up to learn. To them that is the only way they know. In Chinua Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, the people of Umuofia keep their culture close to what it was when it was discovered by their ancestors. The only changes that they made were made to fit the community as time had changed since their ancestors had been alive. However, their beliefs and morals remained relatively the same because that is what they have been taught for as long as the Ibo tribe has been around. These beliefs are all they know and they all live by them. Throughout Achebe’s piece, it is evident that he wants to emphasize the distinct Ibo culture in this book. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe stresses the importance of culture to a community by using cultural aspects such as, the Ibo language, their religion, and the traditions of the Ibo people.

Okonkwo was a very hard working high status man. He is very strict. In this quote Okonkwo explains how an Umuofia man should answer a call or question, “An Umuofia man does not refuse a call,” he said. “He may refuse to do what he is asked; he does not refuse to be asked” (Achebe 193). This quote explains what an Umuofia man must do when being asked. He is very strict and important because he follows tradition. Okonkwo also liked a boy

Okonkwo is a horrible person in the village of Umuofia and is a bad influence towards the

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a novel about a man in West Africa. It tells about his triumphs and trial ultimately leading to his demise. It explains how the “white man” came into his country and took over. It show you how the “white man” mad things fall apart.

Okonknwo, a brave leader of the Umufomia Clan raised by his father Unoka, turned out to be a completely different person, which is highly unexpected because of the fact that a father’s values are normally passed onto the man of

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.

As stated in Chapter Two on pages 13 to 14, Okonkwo ruled his household with a hand so heavy that his entire family lives in perpetual fear of his fiery temper and impatience. Okonkwo is a very rash person and, when in a fit of rage, does not think about the consequences of his actions, which inadvertently leads him to his own downfall. In committing these actions, it is not ludicrous to believe that Okonkwo will later receive consequences due to the immorality of these actions.