What Is Okonkwo's Identity In Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe tries to bring back up cultural, social, and spiritual basics of traditional Igbo (Ibo) existence from the year 1850 and 1900. The novel cannot be fixed like other societal and political old times of Ibo society since it is a fictional novel. However, the novel describes disagreements and anxiety that occurred in Igbo society. It also shows changes initiated by colonial ruling and Christianity. Colonialism affected the people in the Ibo society by destroying of their family’s relationships, friendships, their religion or even created fights between the tribes. Additionally, Christianity attracted the people of the Igbo society. Igbo and other societies were changed considerably due to this variety of

Because of the lack of acceptance from his family, especially his father, he is forced to make a choice between his new culture, or his loved ones. He chooses to leave, and when ask by his father’s friend, obierka, Nwoye says [quote about Okonkwo not being his father]. Okonkwo doesn’t take it well either stating to his children [the thing about them being dead to him or something]. This action shows Nwoye’s willingness to value his new faith in Christianity over his own blood. His troubling past with his father and sense of belonging makes it easy for him to change his life for the better by leaving. The missionaries offer Nwoye a better alternative to the oppressive life he is living, which gives him peace of mind as he leaves his family behind. In the wake of Nwoye growing up and struggling to find himself, he managed to go through a cultural shift and completely change his identity. As some Ibo people also choose to convert also, the missionaries gain more and more power over the village. Things begin to fall apart for the Ibo clan as they are divided because of the forces within themselves. The village of Umuofia is ultimately destroyed because of the split between the people living there. Although Nwoye never felt quite in the right place before, he finds peace of mind in his new sense of self, and easily forgets his past to start a new and better

Furthermore, Okonkwo’s fear of being weak and resembling his father, forces him to act without compassion, and he suffers the “loss” of his son, Nwoye. Like Unoka, Nwoye is effeminate and sensitive. After Ikemefuna dies, Nwoye notices that he feels the same as when he saw twin babies left to die in the Evil Forest, “Then something had given way inside him [Nwoye]” (62). Nwoye is an innocent child who is baffled by the cruel rituals of his clan. He loses respect for Okonkwo and the traditions of his clan. He is unable to forgive his father for killing his adopted brother and unable to forgive his clan for allowing Okonkwo to do so. When the missionaries come to Umuofia Nwoye is intrigued by Christianity, a better way of life, where he feels relief. Strict and inflexible, Okonkwo is angered by Nwoye when he finds out that he converted to Christianity, because Nwoye abandoned their ancestors and he thinks the missionaries are effeminate. Later, Okonkwo tells his five other sons of Nwoye: “You have all seen the great abomination of your brother. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. I will only have a son who is a man, who will hold his head up among my people” (172). Okonkwo disowns his eldest son, Nwoye, because he betrays the clan. Okonkwo’s inability to be compassionate and understanding, drives Nwoye away, and he loses his eldest son.

Chinua Achebe author of Things Fall Apart illustrates a change in Nwoye when the white missionaries arrive in their clan. Nwoye grew up in a strict household with an abusive father, but he would soon find his courage and identity in an unlikely place. But Nwoye soon found courage in the missionaries.

In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe highlights the destruction of Igbo culture and the lives affected by British colonialism. Before colonialism, the Igbo people live a tribal lifestyle. They have festivals and rituals to promote harvests. The Igbo people also practice a polytheistic religion and hold strong value in spirituality. After colonialism, the Igbo people begin to take on a more western lifestyle. They stop believing in the power of rituals and convert to Christianity. This sudden change within the structure of the tribes shocks and angers some of the more traditional Igbo people. One of the lives that the structural change effects is Okonkwo. Okonkwo shows confusion towards the new culture that is surrounding him. Okonkwo does not understand and does not wish to understand the cultural changes within his tribe.

Okonkwo feels as though his seven year exile was a waste of time, so he plans on

Toil has a negative connotation as it refers to hard work without cessation. While Okonkwo was serving his punishment in exile, Obierika brought word to Mbanta about the government the white men had brought with them. In this government, the District Commissioner oversees the judging of “men who had offended against the white man’s law” (174). The court messengers were the ones who had to do hard work: they, nicknames “Ashy Buttocks,” were responsible for fetching the defendant and forcing prisoners to work (175). When Okonkwo finally returns to Umuofia, the District Commissioner continues to do his facile task of judging the Ibo people and dishing out punishments. To describe the District Commissioner’s work as a toil is an overstatement.

A young man by the name of Ikemefuna, who was an offering from another village, was taken in and raised by Okonkwo. His relationship with Nwoye was, “Like an elder brother to Nwoye, and from the very first seemed to have kindled a new fire in the younger boy (52).” However, this relationship was cut short when the elders of the clan decide to kill Ikemefuna. Even worse, it was Nwoye’s father Okonkwo who, “Drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak (61).”

In “Things Fall Apart” Nwoye is the oldest son of Okonkwo. Nwoye willingness to accept to the cultural collision shows how others react to those who were willing to accept the change and why they were okay with the change.

The impact of Ikemefuna’s death on Nwoye is devastating. Something gives way inside of him when he thinks of his father and the killing of Ikemefuna. The fear of his father and the horror over the sacrifice of Ikemefuna separates Nwoye from tribal customs and the sense of community. His family’s banishment isolates him further. Hearing the Christian hymns, which cater to

At first okonkwo was high ranking in the nine villages of mbanta for his great wrestling skill and but okonkwo has a terrible downfall that lead to his misfortune and eventually changed his tribe forever.

“A sudden fury rose within him and he felt a strong desire to take up his machete, go to the church and wipe out the entire vile and miscreant gang... Why, he cried in his heart, should he, Okonkwo, of all people, be cursed with such a son?" (Pg. 152). Nwoye had shamed Okonkwo and his family because he accepted Christianity and the foreign missionaries, the very people that Okonkwo wanted gone and out of his life. It made Okonkwo furious because Nwoye’s betrayal was absolutely unspeakable in his mind.

The metaphor exemplifies a comparison between Okonkwo and a flame. The flame wholly serves a symbol of masculinity, which are a furious temper, destruction, and vigor. Okonkwo ponders about why Nwoye became an utter failure, which is an effeminate man. Okonkwo is severely displeased as he dreads the potential of Nwoye portraying similarities with his father, Unoka. Any display of femininity to Okonkwo is a lack of vigor within a man. He yearns for his sons to become blistering flames, exhibiting traits similar to himself. Essentially, Okonkwo embodying a scorching flame is the utmost demonstration of masculinity, which utterly causes him to scorn the possibility of his son becoming a feminine man.

In the novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe illustrates Nwoye’s innocence, sympathy, and naive relationship with Okonkwo through Nwoye’s actions and his father’s criticism. Things Fall Apart illustrates the division of society as new ideas are introduced. In the novel, Nwoye is Okonkwo’s eldest son. Okonkwo considers him very lazy, like his father, Unoka. Okonkwo criticizes him because Nwoye tends to enjoy his mother’s folktales rather than his father’s, and relies heavily on his adopted brother, Ikemefuna, with whom to share his thoughts.

Nwoye, the eldest son of Okonkwo, is an important figure in the story Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe. Gentle and sensitive, Nwoye is unlike all of the masculine men in the Ibo tribe. This major difference leads to pain and scrutinization. Nwoye is first negatively affected by his father, then causing him to question the ideals of his tribe, in turn, leading him to the discovery of his true strength and fulfillment. To start, Nwoye’s father, Okonkwo, considered his son to be very much like his father, Unoka, and therefore thought he was effeminate and weak.