Things Fall Apart Ikemefuna Quotes

In the novel, Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is a sympathetic character and unsympathetic character in regards to his family relationships with his adopted son, Ikemefuna, his daughter, Ezima, and his father, Unoka, as a result of he appears to genuinely care about his family; but, the pride within himself prevents his expression of such pride and concern openly.

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!”

Okonkwo’s significance in the death of Ikemefuna establishes his intense value of power, while the wise elder Ezeudu values inaction, weakness, and empathy. Okonkwo’s complete disregard for Ezeudu’s orders fractures their

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

            While Okonkwo, Nwoye, and Ikemefuna are feasting upon the locusts, a man named Ezeudu pays Okonkwo a visit. Achebe describes Ezeudu’s visit on page 50, writing, “He refused to join in the meal, and asked Okonkwo to have a word with him outside…When they were out of ear-shot, he said to Okonkwo: “That boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death…Yes, Umuofia has decided to kill him.” Achebe implies that Ezeudu brings bad news by describing the caution Ezeudu takes to avoid being overheard and his decision to not partake in the meal.  Also, now Okonkwo is forced to decide what actions he is going to take and how far he should be involved in Ikemefuna’s death. Okonkwo’s fears result in his taking great effort in order to avoid appearing weak or feminine, yet the decision Okonkwo faces is whether or not he will allow his insecurities to take precedence over the advice that Ezeudu has given them. Achebe uses Okonkwo’s dilemma as a way to convey a sense of tension. The next day, Okonkwo tells Ikemefuna that he is returning to his own home. Achebe describes Ikemefuna’s reaction on page 51, writing, “He still missed his mother and his sister and would be very glad to see them. But somehow he knew he was not going to see

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.

He believed that his father’s actions were feminine and therefore worked hard to become a warrior. Along with not wanting to appear feminine, Okonkwo does not think his actions through. When Ikemefuna was brought into Okonkwo’s family, he accepted him and the two became very close. But after three years Ikemefuna was sentenced to death and Okonkwo was sent out with him. As the man raised up his machete Ikemefuna run to Okonkwo, “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”(Achebe 61). In this split second Okonkwo lets his emotions and fears of appearing weak win and did not allow himself time to think. Achebe utilizes Okonkwo to display the principle of cause and effect. Okonkwo is very proactive and does things on a whim. By doing so he makes hasty decisions that will be regretted in the long run. Okonkwo’s suicide was caused by a hasty decision and the responses of the tribesman. “He heard voices asking: “Why did he do it?”(Achebe

A relationship between a father and son can have a decidedly profound impact on each other’s lives. Whether this relationship is bifurcated, the psychological effects of having an intimate or inadequate parenting skills can have a nurturing or depriving effect on a child's personality from birth all throughout adulthood. This relationship although sustained has the potential to be either beneficial or untenable. In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, we see a breakdown between a father and son relationship which created a very detrimental effect. The carved figure of a son that Okonkwo had predicted was erased due to his egoistic character and his terrible parenting skills.

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

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.

There are many different things in Things Fall Apart but some of those things are valued more than others by people. This is introduced in page 37 when Okonkwo decides to not assist the feast but decides to stay and work on his farm . In addition to prefering the farm over the festival Okonkwo values his reputation over his love for his foster child, Ikemefuna.

Ikemefuna considers that he is Okonkwo’s son because of the bonding relationship they have. Okonkwo wishes Nwoye was like Ikemefuna. This quote explains how Ikemefuna thinks of Okonkwo, “He could hardly imagine that Okonkwo was not his real father. He had never been fond of his real father, and at the end of three years he had become very distant indeed.” After reading this quote I began to think that Nwoye and Ikemefuna act very oppositely as well. Ikemefuna isn’t lazy while Nwoye is. Ikemefuna likes Okonkwo while Nwoye does not. These characteristics explain Ikemefuna well.

One of the main causes of Okonkwo’s downfall is his fear of being like his father, who was weak and considered a failure. Okonkwo is told that Ikemefuna,

Okonkwo, as presented by Chinua Achebe in the novel Things Fall Apart, wished to be revered by all as a man of great wealth, power and control--the antithesis of his father. Okonkwo was driven by the need to exhibit utmost control over himself and others; he was an obsessive and insecure man.

Ikemefuna is very well-liked by Okonkwo and his family, and becomes a mentor and best friend to Nwoye. Okonkwo feels dismay that Nwoye is taking on the torpid characteristics of his grandfather, Unoka, and is quite pleased that Nwoye is thriving and maturing under Ikemefuna’s guidance. “Okonkwo was inwardly pleased at his son’s development, and he knew it was due to Ikemefuna” (Achebe, 1958, p. 52, para. 2). Okonkwo’s pride, and fear of demonstrating any perceived sign of weakness, does not allow him to show any favorable emotion to Ikemefuna; he treats him with the same severity he does the rest of his family. “Even Okonkwo himself