Pema Chodron once stated, “Nothing ever goes away until it teaches us what we need to know.” This quote can be related to novel written by Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart since the protagonist Okonkwo didn’t hang himself and take his own life until he was able to gain his respect and reputation. He has proved that even when his family’s past generations didn’t leave anything for him, Okonkwo gained his own two titles with a great reputation. The title of the novel is significant since certain events in the book take place which allow things to fall apart in the novel. For example, Okonkwo taking a hand in the killing of Ikemefuna has caused Nwoye to convert to Christianity. If Okonkwo had not killed an individual who called him father, Nwoye
Throughout Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, it is made very apparent how much the main character, Okonkwo, values manliness. Despite the fact that Okonkwo lived quite a few centuries ago, his story still shares some similarities with the way men today are pressured to be masculine. Okonkwo’s desire to be masculine affects him by causing him to be violent towards his family, view women as lesser than him, and produce a view that men shouldn’t have emotions. In the end, this desire causes his downfall, eventually causing him to take his own life.
Status. Social hierarchy. Importance in the world. These three words all mean the same thing, in their own respective ways. Whether it be the number of yams in one’s barn, or the number of Ferraris in their garage, they are both indicative of how successful one is.
Nwoye’s father, Okonkwo angered by Nwoye’s conversion felt that Nwoye had disgraced his elders and his family. Moreover, found himself saying that he was cursed with a Nwoye for a son and that he was just like his grandfather Unoka. “How then begotten a son like Nwoye (Achebe 146).” Nwoye had finally felt free from his father’s stubborn and violent ways when he converted to Christianity. Also in the meantime destroyed any father-son relationship that Okonkwo and Nwoye had but Nwoye was not bothered by the hate from his father.
Writer Ernest Hemingway once said “ When writing a novel a writer should create living people, not characters. A character is a caricature. This quote reminds me and associates with the story Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. The essential character in the story is named Okonkwo. The author Chinua was trying to show a point that he wanted to prove through this story. He wanted to prove that there are such things as cultural collisions. A cultural collision refers to when people of various cultures live/work with each other and the issues their different culture/backgrounds provide. The cultural collision was that two cultures thought that their culture was right and good for everyone and that everyone should believe in it. They didn’t like what everyone else had to say so they just quit listening to them.
In the novel Things Fall Apart, the use of violence in Ibo culture was fairly frequent, especially among the men in the village. In the Ibo village of Umuofia, it was obvious that the men rule the household with a heavy hand, meaning if they felt a beating was necessary they would carry it out with full force. In chapter four of the novel, Okonkwo’s youngest wife decided to plait her hair at a friend’s house. When she did not come home early enough to cook the afternoon meal and failed to ask another wife to feed her children, Okonkwo decided to take it upon himself to give her a hefty beating. The fact that it was supposed to be the Week of Peace did not stop him. The reality that the men take it upon themselves and are expected to control
but on further thought he told himself that nwoye was not worth fighting for. why , he cried in his heart, should he, okonkwo, of all people, he be cursed with such a son?”(114) this shows how okonkwo was in fear the his children would follow nwoye and break the traditions of their religions. okonkwo disclaimed nwoye because he was weak in his eyes. weakness was okonkwo’s biggest
Charles Conan Belandres Mrs. Smith English 10H 12/6/15 EA #2 In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chineau Achebe, the main character is named Okonkwo. Around the middle of the storyline he mistakenly shoots and kills an innocent boy, who also happens to be one of the powerful leaders’ son.
“He [Okonkwo] had a slight stammer when he was angry and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fists” (Achebe 3) This quote from Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe shows that Okonkwo is strong, but also haf flaws. Although Okonkwo has many strengths, he is quick to anger and displays his anger in violence. Okonkwo shows his strength in his success, and his manliness. Okonkwo has a lot of money: “...he was not a failure like Unoka.
Okonkwo shows throughout the book Things Fall Apart that he fears weakness and failure. Often times he also shows that he is bitter and gets angry easily. This bitterness and fear leads to some consequence such as exile and death. After several encounters with failure Okonkwo realizes his weak points and gains sympathy from that. There are ways that Okonkwo shows theses things throughout the book and evidence that makes them true.
As long as one is alive the possibility for accomplishment remains (Pritchett). In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, one man’s journey in life is to accomplish great things. Things Fall Apart, is a novel about a man, Okonkwo, who earns the respect of his community by defeating a champion wrestler, Amalinze. Though this was a great feat, Okonkwo is not satisfied with this accomplishment. He intends to gain more respect by becoming a powerful, strong, and wealthy man, unlike his father.
Following Nwoye’s departure from Okonkwo’s Mbanta compound to become a Christian, Okonkwo sits in his hut and ponders the state of himself and the state of his son, where he has a temporary reminiscence of an old powerful nickname. Achebe tells us,
Cultural Change everyone goes thru it, when you move, or when you encounter a different culture like In Chinua Achebe’s novel things fall apart. Nwoye sense of identity was disputed when the foreigners brought their western ideas into the Ibo culture. Nwoye started as a lazy follower of the Ibo religion. But the cultural onslaught from the British foreigners and the Ibo people affected them in a positive manner to the point that nwoye left his family to join the British colonists. The causes for nwoye to adapt in their sense of identity included, his father beat him, and down right was mean and was also disappointed in him as his son. He felt that what his culture was doing was wrong in a sense. His personality conflicted the culture outright.
A proverb can be defined as “A short popular saying, usually of unknown and ancient origin, that expresses effectively some commonplace truth or useful thought.” From Okonkwo’s dominance in the beginning of Things Fall Apart, to the fall of the Igbo culture, proverbs are a recurring topic. Throughout Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe repeatedly uses proverbs and aphorisms to portray different characters and build a bridge between African and Igbo culture and the reader. With this stylistic Igbo language, Achebe is able to utilize speech to convey spirituality and cultural values, character development and demonstrate the eventual collapse of Igbo society.
The relationship between Okonkwo and Nwoye is very stressful and bitter as Okonkwo has very high expectation for his eldest son. Hence Okonkwo always “sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating” when he was irritated
Everyone has goals in life ,and strives to complete these goals throughout the course of their lives. Although it may be challenging to accomplish these goals, a person needs to know when to stop pushing themselves. In the novel, Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, a stubborn man who lives in an African village strives to be the alpha male among everyone he knows. Okonkwo, once a great man, fell because his father's influence, his personality and the invading British.