Things Fall Apart Uncivilized Essay

Since Okonkwo stood out more than all the other men he was seen as Umuofia's most powerful man. Although Okonkwo is the most powerful man in Umuofia he also has weaknesses. One of those weaknesses is his father, he doesn’t wanna be a weak man and careless like his father. As the white missionaries moved in into their home land, the Igbo people who are unsure of how to react to these traditions either switched to their ways or stayed faithful to their faith. Many people became persuaded of the new religions authorities, however Okonkwo who is an warrior at heart refuses to accept the changes that were taking place in his community.

Okonkwo also tries to show himself as an unsympathetic character to show that he is not a weak man, like his father, Unoka. (Being a weak man is a very degrading quality for the culture of Umofia.) An example of Okonkwo’s unsympathetic personality is Ikemefuna’s death. Although Okonkwo treasured the presence of the adopted buy, Ikemefuna, Okonkwo contributes the last and fatal blow to Ikemefuna, causing him to die in the Evil Forest. Okonkwo, regardless of his love for the boy, killed Ikemefuna ultimately to prove his manliness and strength to the tribe, a valued aspect of the culture. “Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body.” (Achebe 146) Okonkwo is also very unsympathetic in regards to his father, Unoka. Unoka was a poor man who was always in debt; he had an interest in music and enjoyed talking.

They believed that civilized meant white Christians that behave like Europeans, are literate, and have a European style of government and social structures. The Igbo were not British or European and did not fit model which colonizers believed to be the ideal to be civilized. The Igbo recognized cultural differences and the diversity of different peoples, as seen when when Uchendu states, “The world has no end, and what is good among one people is an abomination with others” (Achebe 130). This shows the understanding of different values between different cultures. Even though the Igbo were not civilized from the narrow viewpoint of the British in this novel, the Igbo had their own civilization, with their own religion, customs, societal norms, and their means of communication through a complex language. Thus, The Igbo were a civilized society. The breakdown of Igbo civilization as a result of colonialism shows how the cultural collision can be extremely painful and destructive when the colonizers are close minded and

The disparity between Okonkwo’s true motivations and his warped motivations lead Okonkwo to behave in ways which shocked other members of Umuofia with his apparent disregard for others, but which made sense to him as he saw weakness and Unoka in alternatives. When Ezeudu, a respected elder in Umuofia, informed Okonkwo that the village Oracle called for the killing of Okonkwo’s adopted son Ikemefuna, he asked Okonkwo not to take part. However, Okonkwo not only accompanied them,

            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

B. The exile Okonkwo faces only adds more to his anger and bitterness. Okonkwo’s alienation causes him to have a pessimistic outlook, focusing more on what has been taken from him.

After a village elder had found what crime Okonkwo committed, he told Okonkwo that, “you are not a stranger in Umuofia. You know as well as I that our forefathers ordained that before we plant any crops in the earth, we should observe a week of peace in which a man does not say a harsh word to his neighbor” (30). The elder proceeded to give Okonkwo instructions on how to attempt amends with the goddess. After a single action was taken, his proceeding efforts were nearly non-existent. Any attempt to fix the situation were minimal, as were efforts to learn from his mistakes. Furthermore, Okonkwo advances to partaking in the death of Ikemefuna. The relationship between the two is complicated, but is closest description is that of a boy and his step-father. Killing Ikemefuna is not an evil against the earth, as beating a wife during the week of peace was, but a crime against himself. He is unhappy with himself, and still does nothing to fix his ways, continuing on to single handedly killing a boy at a funeral. Although accidental, Okonkwo was still the man behind the gun. “It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land….he could return to the clan after seven years” (124). Okonkwo had no choice but to leave for the seven years, perhaps upon his return

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.

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

The novel “Things Fall Apart” written by Chinua Achebe, is a tale based on the traditional beliefs and customs of an Ibo village during late 1800’s Africa. Through the telling of this story, we witness the remarkable depth of Igbo culture through its functions of religion, politics, judiciary and entertainment.

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart gives us a vivid description of the Igbo culture through the stories of Okonkwo and his village, Umuofia. In regards to Igbo culture, contributions of women cannot be ignored. Although their position and status seems to be underestimated by the people in the novel, women do play an important role in the Igbo culture in four aspects: women take care of the children, do all the housework, serve as priestesses, and build relationships with other villages.

In the novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo considers himself, as well as everyone else in their clan, to be a great warrior and someone who was well-respected. Throughout the story, Chinua Achebe hints “the second coming” (Yeats line 11) when he is told he has to get rid of Ikemefuna. Secretly, he really did like this boy, but as he was respected in the community and wanted to keep it that way, he agreed to kill him. Ogbuefi Ezeudu shows his disapproval of Okonkwo being apart of the killing through his words of wisdom. “That boy calls you father. Do

11, para. 2). Because the village of Umuofia is widely feared, Mbaino peacefully presents a fifteen year old boy and a virgin to Umuofia as retribution for the killing, and it is decided the boy, Ikemefuna, will stay with Okonkwo until the elders decide his fate. “Ikemefuna's stay in Okonkwo's home was supposed to be a temporary arrangement -- until the clan decided what was to be done with him -- but he ended up living as a member of the family for three years” (Akwani, 2011, para. 11). Okonkwo places Ikemefuna in the home of his most senior wife, who is also the mother of Okonkwo’s oldest son, Nwoye.

Different countries have people that hold many different views and beliefs. In Nigeria the Igbo area is located in the southern area of the country. And within this area is Umuofia, which is where the Ogidi tribe lives. These people have beliefs that rest strongly on religion and faith in god. "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe takes a look at the life of an African tribe that has been isolated from the outer more technologically advanced world where science has become a part of religion proving that certain things live sickness are not caused by evil spirits. But the African tribe has no knowledge of this and they live in a society where there traditions, beliefs and there forms of communication differ from are own.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe was wrote in 1958 as a response to European Literature viewing Africans as savages who were then enlightened and found peace and safety by the Europeans. Chinua describes the Igbo people and showed the culture and showing the way of life of the Igbo people. This book shows this powerful and eye opening look into the complex society of these tribes and villages and how law and order is run. The major theme that is I will focus is that traditional development of the Igbo tribe alone and with the influence of the Europeans.