Things Fall Apart : Summer Reading

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

In the beginning, Okonkwo feared being like his father, he raised his family and built up his life by his self because he did not want to be like his father. “He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had had no patience with his father.” (pg. 1 TFA) the book said. He wasn’t very fond of his dad; his dad did not own much and had a lot of debt with everyone. Okonkwo did not want to grow up like his father; “In his

Choose passages that speak to you. Consider the parts of the book that made you stop and reflect on what was read. Consider what you may highlight or annotate. Consider the text that may lead to thematic, character, or literary convention analysis. Make connections to the text (text-text, text-self, and text–world). Analyze the style of the text—reflect on elements like symbols, imagery, metaphors, point of view, etc. Apply the different literary critical approaches with which you are familiar.

In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s shame for his father, Unoka, motivates him to be everything his father wasn’t. As a result, Okonkwo hides behind masculinity and conceals his emotions, in hope of escaping weakness. Stubborn and impulsive, Okonkwo makes rash decisions to uphold his reputation, which affects his tribe and his family. Okonkwo’s constant fear of resembling his father takes over his ability compromise and causes him to suffer from depression, the “loss” of his son, the loss of

Okonkwo is initially introduced as a proud, hardworking, successful warrior. He is described as "clearly cut out for great things" (6). But he is the son of a ne'er-do-well father; though genial and inoffensive, Unoka must certainly have been considered a failure. He is lazy and does not provide for his family. Not only is this disgraceful, but life-threatening as well. He is dependent on other members of the clan and must have been considered unsuccessful. Okonkwo chafes under such disgrace and his success is a consequence of his desire to be everything his father is not; society's vision of an exemplar citizen. The fact that Okonkwo is able to rise above his poverty and disgraceful paternity illustrates the Igbo's acceptance of individual free will. But Okonkwo's fate and his disharmony with his chi, family and clan are shown to cause his ultimate disgrace and death.

Achebe uses Okonkwo’s relationship with his father to show how one person can affect a person their whole life. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, did not give Okonkwo the start in life that most of the young tribesman do, and all of the village looked down upon him. In one instance Unoka had gone to consult the Oracle of the Hills and the caves about his meager harvest during the year. As he began his story the Oracle interrupts him and declares that “You, Unoka, are known in all the clan for the weakness of your machete and your hoe. … Go home and work like a man”(Achebe 17-18). In this encounter Unoka loses some of the respect that the tribesman, and his own son had for him. (Unoka’s Death?) From the beginning Okonkwo knew he did not want to grow up like his father and worked hard to generate a prosperous future. He had to work extremely hard, would do

Determination is one of Okonkwo's most outstanding characteristics. Because of his undying obsession to be unlike his father, Okonkwo is determined to be exactly what is father is not. Since childhood, Okonkwo has been ashamed of his father, because according to the clansmen Okonkwo's father did not meet the standards that the men of that time should have met. Unoka, Okonkwo's father, never had a real job/title. He didn't become a warrior because he hated the sight of blood, which according to their society made him a coward. He often borrowed money from the clan, and hardly repaid them the loan. However, he was not a complete waste of a person, he was talented in music and conversation, and was also thought to be a gentle person. As we see in the novel, Okonkwo was very much the opposite of his father. He had a job/title, he had a large family, he was a warrior, and he never needed to borrow excessive amounts of money from the clan. All of Unoka's Characteristics, even the good ones, Okonkwo didn't want to possess them. It was his ignorance along with his flaw that led him to his ultimate fall.

The breakdown of Okonkwo’s relationship with his son is evident throughout this novel. The reason for this tumultuous relationship is, Okonkwo is too engrossed in maintaining his status quo, and his relationship was governed by his own beliefs, principles and his own “right way to do right things”. He treated his family very strictly as he believed that showing affection revealed a sign of social weakness; thus the disheartening lack of respect and love was a mal nourishing factor with in the family.

Throughout the book Chinua Achebe illustrates Okonkwo’s relationship with his father, Unoka, to be a negative, tenuous, and non-existent. At the beginning of the novel the reader can already start to tell the opposition of the two characters when Achebe introduces them. Unoka is portrayed to be, “tall but very thin and [have] a slight stoop. He [wears] a haggard and mournful look except when he was drinking or playing on his flute” (3). Unlike his drunken and lazy father, Okonkwo, “was tall and huge, and his bushy eyebrows and nose gave him a very severe look” (1). Okonkwo was fierce and strong while on the other hand is father was lazy, weak, and feminine. The reader can tell that Unoka and Okonkwo were extremely different which plays a

The most influential person in Okonkwo’s life both negatively and positively was his father because of the way he changed Okonkwo. The relationship he had with his father was what gave him the motivation to work harder and try and become a leader of the Umuofia tribe. Okonkwo did not like his lazy father because of how little he had done for his family and himself. Okonkwo’s goal was to be the opposite of his father and to teach his kids not to be like his father. Achebe writes: “But in spite of these disadvantages, he had begun even in his father's lifetime to lay the foundations of a prosperous future. It was slow and painful. But he threw himself

Throughout Okonkwo’s youth, he had a very troubling life. His father, Unoka, was a failure in every sense of the word. Unoka was a drunk and had an enormous amount of debt to his name that he never paid back. The only things that Okonkwo's father had going for him was his music. He was a tremendous flute player and that's all he really was known for other than being a poor, cowardly

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).

The first reason is the fears of Okonkwo’s Masculinity, in the story Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo masculinity is characterized by his fear of becoming like his father. Even though, Okonkwo’s father (Unoka) was a talented musician, he was still known for his laziness and irresponsible by Okonkwo. Since Unoka bad reputation was known for his failure to pay his debt, which brings shame to his family. However, he (Unoka) did not intentionally want to disgrace his family, he just does not find any interest in the works and titles but leisure’s, parties, and music. Unoka does not like to do anything, but play his flute. Because of his bad reputation, along with his fear of blood and warfare combined with his laziness and his massive unpaid debts and his nearly starving family marks him

Okonkwo's father, Unoka, was "a failure," "a loafer," and "People laughed at him" (1426). This would bring great shame to any man as it did for Okonkwo. In Umuofia "a man is judged according to his worth and not according to the worth of his father" (1427). In Umuofia "achievement was revered." Okonkwo became obsessed with the need to prove to everyone that he, unlike his father, was a man

Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was the opposite person that Okonkwo wants to be. He was poor, only had one wife, had no titles, and hated fighting. By being born into Unoka's home Okonkwo had to start completely from scratch: “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young