Double Identity In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Okonkwo’s worst fear was to be the kind of man his father was, so he tried his best not to let his fear become a reality. With a father like Unoka, Okonkwo didn’t get the start as most young men in the village; however, he worked his way to the position of leadership of the clan. There was only one emotion that Okonkwo showed, and it was anger. This was his only emotion because it was how he expressed his feelings. Okonkwo had to leave his fatherland, but after returning home, he found his home unrecognizable.

At the end of the story Okonkwo ends up being just like his father which is ironic because he strived to be nothing like him. The fear Okonkwo has from failing becomes his greatest downfall right to the end of his life. He became everything he didn’t want to become in the first place. If Okonkwo forgave his father from the beginning then things would have gone much differently. If he wouldn’t have been so cruel, harsh, warlike, and he would have been someone admired, strong, and courageous throughout the clan.

How they believe that you can remove the footprint of your fathers and ancestors and the reputation they had through your own impact on the society. Meaning you are seen as an individual and make your own reputation. As for Onkonkwo. His father was not a well-liked person in his village due to his lack of family responsibility and debt he was an ‘agbala’. It was not until Onkonkwo became a warrior did he get rid of his father’s reputation and was finally seen as a different person that endured different qualities than his father did.

Gordon was supposed to be the heir apparent but Joseph inherited the power after Gordon was sent away. Throughout their lives, they constantly fight over the power and possession through small skirmishes but soon meet with their ends when they fight in a large battle near the end of the book. Both the Strorms are natural leaders and both of them qualify for extreme cases of

In the book “Things Fall Apart“ Okonkwo is a very strong man and from time to time he starts showing his true self. He has a lot of responsibilities and other things he has to do around the living environment and interact with lots of people. Okonkwo changes from being that strong man, to a man who feels like his tribe is not with him when he wants to go to war with the missionaries. For someone like Okonkwo a lot of people looks up to him and while in the tribe Okonkwo beats his wives and children. Not good behavior for someone who is supposedly looked at as strong.

Okonkwo has a very hard time with his firstborn Nwoye, he’s lazy and Okonkwo asks him to do chores first, but when he sees that he doesn’t, he starts to beat him. “Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness, so he sought to correct him by nagging him and beating him.” It may seem harsh but he never tolerated laziness. Due to his father, he hated the sight of laziness, which is why he’d never want to be like him, or have his kids turn out that way. “He had no patience for unsuccessful men. He had no patience for his father.” He saw Nwoye become lazy at times, which is why he was so harsh, because he doesn’t want him to be unsuccessful.

“ he has won our brothers, and clan no longer acts like one.” The Christians were adept people. They perceive to subdue and change the clan, they came softly and peacefully. But took over the clan, unrecognized. We can see that the clan has accomplished dire changes and one day to fall apart. “He has put on a knife that held people together and we have fallen apart.” Okonkwo tried his best but has gave up because of the

When he had time to think and see the stuff from the unspeakable times he started to feel bad for the others. At the end he felt bad for everyone else because they were trapped. Trapped by the word “we” , while he knew the word “I” . He now is an individual while the others are forever going to be stuck being in a group with his brothers not knowing of himself and they will never feel the feeling of being set free. This is why the saying “ To be free, a man must be free of his brothers.” represents the

After the part of the passage that explains both the Europeans and Igbo people are to blame for colonization, Obierika states, “Now he has won our brothers and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart (Achebe 176).” This is the only reference of the title throughout the entire book, and is used to represent the book as a whole because it shows that nothing goes as planned throughout Okonkwo’s life as well as the overall existence of the Igbo culture and society. In relation to the surrounding plot of this quote, Achebe uses the word ‘knife’ as a symbolic representation of the European colonization. The ‘knife’ has cause great amounts of damage to Umuofia that is beyond repair. The European have broken the Igbo society into two.

(Acehebe, 1958) Though Okonkwo proves an ambitious hero, he is affected by his internal fear that has ruled his entire life. Infact, He deeply fears nothing but himself just because he don’t want to have the feminine and weak qualities like his father Onoka. He is compelled to kill of his step son (Ikemefuna), just

Franz let him know that "When you forgive, you love and when you love, you forgive." (Into the Wild) Since he spent his life being upset with his parents, he never forgave them, so he couldn 't love them. Going to Alaska was his way of running away from his problems and trying to put them in the back of his mind. Doing so would only hinder any other close relationship he encounters because of his lack of trust. The majority of his perspectives on life and society originated from the hatred that he felt towards his parents; he opposed all that they wanted for him.