ipl-logo

Okonkwo Identity

758 Words4 Pages

Things Fall Apart is packed with cultural beliefs, familial relationships, and independent beliefs. These things give us an identity, or a feeling of belonging in our societies, so what happens when a lifestyle gets challenged by another? Well, things fall apart. Though Okonkwo is the main character in this story, Nwoye struggles more with the clashing of cultures, family issues, and religious beliefs. Okonkwo had an unhealthy relationship with his father, which is very negative object in Igbo culture where the father-son bond is a key part of life. Okonkwo, yearning to do for his son what his father never did for him, makes Nwoye feel the pressure of a false identity being pushed upon him. Sensitive, compassionate, and an overall peaceful …show more content…

Okonkwo was also going through struggles of self-identity, and because of it he regrettably took part in killing Ikemefuna. This action broke Nwoye permanently, only strengthening the distance between him and his father. He saw the late Ikemefuna as a brother and a person he could look up to, he felt a feeling he had felt only one time before when he heard twin babies wailing in the Evil Forest. He never appreciated the violence that was embedded in the culture of his clan, but instead loved the stories meant for women. As a young child, Okonkwo would tell his sons stories of violence, and to stop the beatings he would receive for sharing his thoughts on them, Nwoye pretended to enjoy them. “And so he feigned that he no longer cared for women’s stories. And when he did this he saw that his father was pleased, and no longer rebuked him or beat him” (Chapter 7, P 4). The wrath of his father and gender roles in the society he was growing up in pushed him to be someone he was

Show More
Related

  • Cruelty In The Poisonwood Bible And Things Fall Apart

    1032 Words  | 5 Pages

    Things fall apart, it’s in the name. Everything falls apart. And it is because of the arrogance of Okonkwo. He is a very interesting character because not only did he know he was being cruel to everyone around him but that he still decided to do it. We can see this with his “son” ikemefuna on page 28, it says, “ Even Okonkwo himself became very fond of the boy -- inwardly of course.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Cultural Collision In Things Fall Apart

    653 Words  | 3 Pages

    He works hard to become a better person rather than his father. He is driven by fear of being like his father. He is determined to not resemble his father in any way. Okonkwo does not want to be like his father that’s why he strive to be the person he is now. His father has nothing going for himself he’s lazy and don’t want to be nothing in life.

    Read More

  • How Is Okonkwo A Sympathetic Character

    623 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel “things fall apart” is about the fatal demise of Okonkwo and the igbo culture of Umuofia. Okonkwo is well known and respected leader in his community, who is successful in everything he does, such as wrestling and farming. He is quick with his hands and takes pride in his accomplishments. Okonkwo’s family relationship makes him a sympathetic character because of his support and an unsympathetic character because of his cruelty. In many ways Okonkwo showed that he had no sympathy for others , However at times he could be sympathetic.

    Read More

  • Okonkwo Before Colonialism

    728 Words  | 3 Pages

    Okonkwo experienced change because of the actions that lead to his banishment and this made some of his fears come true. Even after these parts of his life have occurred, Okonkwo would have still been able to recover from his incident. However, because of colonialism, this idea of returning to his old life was shot down by the new ideas and changes within the people of Umoufia. This negative change was caused directly by colonialism. In “Things Fall Apart” the Igbo have been shown to have a large amount of culture that was effected by western beliefs.

    Read More

  • Cultural Collision In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    855 Words  | 4 Pages

    Okonkwo’s values are restricted to physical strength, power, and prosperity, and when the Europeans suddenly arrive, the cultural convergence prompts Okonkwo to respond with even more violence. While the majority of his tribe, including his son Nwoye, is open to considering

    Read More

  • Okonkwo And Nwoye Quotes

    802 Words  | 4 Pages

    Okonkwo constantly struggled to create the same masculine character in Nwoye that he made for himself and constantly found a reflection of his effeminate father, Unoka, in Nwoye. Chapter two describes the relationship between Okonkwo and Nwoye in Nwoye’s youth. “Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, was then twelve years old but was already causing his father great anxiety for his incipient laziness... He sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating” (13-14). Okonkwo’s efforts to change Nwoye’s resemblance of Unoka were causing their relationship to be pushed apart because of Okonkwo’s violence and Nwoye’s resistance.

    Read More

  • Okonkwo Kills Quotes

    646 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the beginning of the story, Okonkwo was a very vigorous man who everyone loves. One day a killing happened leaving Okonkwo with a wife and a son, Ikemefuna. He grew to like the young boy, where he is different from his other children, On a fateful day, Okonkwo murders Ikemefuna. Okonkwo had a load of guilt for killing his adoptive son, Ikemefuna.

    Read More

  • Okonkwo's Hatred In Things Fall Apart

    1774 Words  | 8 Pages

    Okonkwo strives to be everything but his father. This is clear from the very beginning when it says, “He had no

    Read More

  • The Power Of Women In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    1750 Words  | 7 Pages

    Additionally, although Nwoye is Okonkwo’s first-born son, he does not carry the pride of his father because he is a womanly son. In short, Nwoye should be Okonkwo’s most important child; however, Okonkwo prefers Ikemefuna and Enzinma over Nwoye. Ikemefuna is not even Okonkwo’s son, and Enzinma is not even a boy. To continue, this symbolizes the imbalance of the value between masculine and feminine traits. Although Nwoye is a boy, he has feminine traits.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart Nwoye Identity Analysis

    479 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a child, Nwoye is the frequent object of his father's criticism and remains emotionally unfulfilled. Okonkwo, “wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough man capable of ruling his father’s household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestors”(38). When Nwoye finds out that it is Okonkwo who killed a “brother” who he is extremely fond of, and grows very close with, he loses all appreciation for Okonkwo and decides to go against his father and his cultures.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Okonkwo And Nwoye

    1890 Words  | 8 Pages

    Fear is the core cause of the dramatic shift of lifestyle for both Okonkwo and Nwoye. Through the management of reputation and the avoidance of their father’s likeness, Okonkwo and Nwoye built new lives for themselves. Okonkwo sought power and authority to prove his masculinity and make up for Unoka’s reputation as a weak man. He did this to the point where manliness became his character. Fearlessness and violence were masculine qualities that in Igbo culture signifies strength and influence.

    Read More

  • Femininity In Things Fall Apart

    895 Words  | 4 Pages

    His fear of weakness and failure is derived from his father, Unoka’s failures, which ignite Okonkwo’s misogynistic views. Throughout his lifetime, Okonkwo associates femininity with weakness because of Unoka, who was called an “agbala” or woman by the people of Umuofia. Since women have this reputation for weakness, Okonkwo lives with constant fear that he will be given the same title as his father. Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye’s effeminacy reminds Okonkwo of his own father. He says, "I have done my best to make Nwoye grow into a man, but there is much of his mother in him ."(Achebe, 66).

    Read More

  • Importance Of Education In Things Fall Apart

    1252 Words  | 6 Pages

    Things Fall Apart, a book written by the author Chinua Achebe is a story filled with amazing culture. It is about the rise and downfall of the main character, Okonkwo. The book had many different aspects of the African culture and the different time period. For example, characters and their importance throughout the story, and how women were treated in this culture and time period. Topics from religion, family, and the social complexity were very much involved throughout the entire book and portrayed by many of the characters.

    Read More

  • Essay On Okonkwo

    769 Words  | 4 Pages

    Okonkwo In literature, there are many characters that stand out and show that they have a variety of qualities about them. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is one character that presents character traits from both the negative and positive sides of him. Okonkwo is portrayed to be a warrior who wanted to become somebody strong and looked up to, but also possesses less favorable qualities. He, however, does not let any one trait dictate his whole personality; he is written to be a well-rounded character.

    Read More

  • Father Son Relationships In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    1330 Words  | 6 Pages

    These sudden behaviors against his son nwoye completely make him to adapt opposite ideals from his father Okonkwo just like okonkwo and his

    Read More

More about Okonkwo Identity

Open Document