When Does Okonkwo Let His Pride Get The Best Of Him

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

His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children,’ (quoted on page 10). This quote explains directly how strictly he ruled his household and his family. He was a man who would lose his temper over small things, even if it was not a legitimate reason such as the dead banana tree incident in the following quote (page 28), ‘As a matter of fact the tree was very much alive. Okonkwo’s second wife had merely cut a few leaves off it to wrap some food, and she said so. Without further argument Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping.” This example shows just how disciplinary he was in his household.

Okonkwo’s violent behavior escalate to the point in which he attend to shoot his own wife just because she mumble some words in his back. This doesn’t mean he is a bad person. Later in the chapter is found that he is very fond of his daughter Ezinma, display feelings of love and affection but he consider those emotion as weakness to himself

Even during a time of peace and love, Okonkwo cannot hold himself back from dealing out a harsh punishment to his wife. He does not care about traditions or his religion as much as he cares about being strong or making a point. This plays into the theme of Man vs. Society by showing how Okonkwo goes against the expectations of the tribe and the theme of Self-Made Man by showing how he treats the world around him to better himself. Okonkwo’s first thoughts are not that he should just be calm because of the time; they are ones of violence because that is how he has reacted to every situation. He actually forgets all about the holiday that was occurring then because of his anger. It should be noted that even when his other wives confront him to remind him about the sacred peace, he continues to beat his wife because he is not one to quit once he starts making an example out of

Okonkwo is a rude, unforgivable and spiteful person. He beats his wives and even takes innocent girls and boys away from enemy tribes. In some way he may even resemble his father, Unoka. He was lazy and very much in debt. If Okonkwo continues what he does he will become him. Although Ekwefi and Ojiugo are both wives, they get beat for different reasons.

Okonkwo had a lot of flaws. He was stuck on having a good reputation and raising the best family he could. He feared for his children to become like his father and his wives to become lazy. He got mad frequently and took it out on his family if they did anything wrong. But one of his flaws were involved with the killing of his adopted son Ikemefuna. A group of elders had gone with Okonkwo and Ikemefuna to a forest, where one of them swung their machete at the poor boy and destroyed. Ikemefuna ran to Okonkwo for help, but “dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down” (61). The man was afraid of being thought of as weak. Then again, he had always had a tough image around others. Of course, accidents happened quite a lot for Okonkwo because he accidentally killed a higher up in the village during Ezeudu’s funeral and “he could not return to the clan after seven years” (124). He had to start all over with his family and return to his motherland. Life was never fun for Okonkwo. Hard work and strict punishment was basically what he was known for. So when Okonkwo and men from Umuofia went to visit the District Commissioner, they were taken as prisoners and whipped along with being shaven until a certain price was paid. Once they were released and they went home, people in the village were accepting until “nobody else spoke but they noticed the long stripes on Okonkwo’s

It was not uncommen in the igbo society for husbands to beat their wives, but beating your wife during peace week was unthinkable. "(Achebe 29) In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace, but Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess." Okwonkwo was so fixiated on showing his wife a lesson that he put his whole can in trouble. in their culture they believe that if they beat some one during the Week of Peace then they will anger the earth goddess, and she will keep the yams from growing. He broke one of their most sacred rules just to teach a lesson. Aside from beating his children and his wives Okwonko is a murderer. "Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him dow. He was afraid of being thought weak." (Achebe 61) In order to look strong Okonkwo did things that a hear never would have done.

He is upset that his youngest wife went to get her hair braided instead of making dinner. As a result of this, he beats her. It is pretty typical for him to beat his wives, but this was during a peace week which is not okay. He also attends a funeral and unintentionally shoots and kills the man’s son. Achebe states “Okonkwo's gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy's heart”(124). This was obviously wrong, and it definitely did not help Okonkwo. He knew he was not good with guns, but he continued to use them. Due to his actions, he is sent away to his motherland for seven

Okonkwo is ill-tempered, has very little patience and expects no back talking. His fuse could go off at any time, even during the week of peace, which no fighting or hitting is permitted. One example of Okonkwo's rage is his wife had killed a banana tree, or so he thought, his wife had just cut a few leaves off of it to wrap some food and Okonkwo gave her a beating. Afterwards Okonkwo had called Ikemefuna to get his gun so he could hunt. The wife that just took a beating mumbled something about guns that don't shoot.

Okonkwo was never nice to his family, in fact he was very brutal with them. He was always afraid to become like his father, in any aspect, because he always saw his father as weak and a failure. If he showed any of that to his family he thought he would become like his father. “Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told

Okonkwo’s fear of becoming weak, leads him to act brutally towards his wives. During the Week of Peace in Umuofian tradition, being peaceful and kind to everyone is important. Okonkwo breaks this sacred rule by beating his youngest wife Ojiugo, because she “did not come early enough to cook the afternoon meal”, Ojiugo had just “gone to plait her hair at her friends house” (Achebe 30-31). By Okonkwo beating his wife, it demonstrates his efforts of showing his power over her, even the village priest thought it was a “great evil to beat her” (32). Luckily, the next time he displayed his power over his wife, she was just “shaken and frightened but quite unhurt” (39).

His father was not known for repaying loans and was hated by the whole clan because of that, he was also very lazy and had claimed to job or title. To okonkwo’s eyes his father was weak and and a person who is worth nothing. Unlike his father, Okonkwo was a person that wants to take control of most situations. Just like he rules his family with fear of being beaten, he rules other with fear. He hates to be seen as a feminine and weak even though he does have a little bit of it in him.

Okonkwo’s a wealthy respected warrior of a lower Nigerian tribe call the Umuofia clan. Some may say Okonkwo’s world fell apart because of his father, or even the amount of wives he had. One would suggest his world fell apart due to manly values and Christian values. Things exist in Okonkwos mind that he refuses to share with others. This could explain why Okonkwo was so angry and violent throughout the novel, leading up to his death.

Okonkwo's actions are considered abusive but he does for the betterment of his family. For example, Nwoye is often beaten by his father, it is evident Okonkwo does this to confirm Nwoye will not turn out to be

In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo lives his life in fear of failure and weakness, often using violent force as he fears becoming like his father and losing respect from his fellow villagers. The story begins in the village of the Umuofia, one of nine connected villages with a man by the name of Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a very tall man with bushy eyebrows and a wide nose. He is a wealthy farmer who has three wives and several children and is the champion wrestler in the nine villages.