Okonkwo's Fear In Things Fall Apart

Throughout the novel, Okonkwo is illustrated as the most successful man in the Umuofia clan who built a magnificent farm from nothing. “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had. ” (16) In the story of Things Fall Apart, having barns full of yams is one of the status a masculine man should have.

Therefore,” when Okonkwo heard that he would not eat any food he came into the hut with a big stick in his hand and stood over him while he swallowed his yams, trembling.” This shows that Okonkwo is raising Nwoye with fear so, he will raise up to be a successful man who will do what he is told no matter what and not be lazy. Okonkwo is scaring Nwoye that he will beat him so, he will listen to him. Everything Okonkwo is doing is because he “was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness.”

He got power through his ideals. He also obtains fame through the Igbo culture. In the Igbo tribe there are wrestling games and because of that “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond.” (Achebe 1). This is the Okonkwo before the white men come.

(Achebe 153). This shows how Okonkwo is embarrassed and ashamed to have Nwoye as a son. Not being able to handle that his son is converting himself and eventually converting his family to Christianity, Okonkwo urges the town of Mbanta to drive out the Christians with force and violence but instead of following that suggestion, the town decides to alienate them from the rest of the of the tribe, much to Okonkwo’s despair he is losing power within the

You drove him to kill himself;” (Achebe, Pg. 183) Okonkwo, a man of power who was greatly revered by his family, lost all his valuable objects, power, titles, and his son due to the white men’s new religion. He could not stand seeing his own religion fading away and thus, hanged himself. Those extremists who were introduced a new culture were at first in a great dilemma but their minds were later occupied with anger. “They greatly resented abandoning their age-old traditions, and strongly resisted the western powers.”

The death of Okonkwo at the end was unpredictable because throughout the novel, Chinua Achebe described him as a strong warrior who feared of nothing besides failure and weakness. When Okonkwo committed suicide, he also committed the only thing he feared, and that was

This decision came after the sacrifice of Ikemefuna who was 16 | P a g e almost a brother to Nwoye. Nwoye was totally against the decision made by Igbo to kill his brother, hence he protests against this act by joining the church and choosing to attend school. His father on the other hand is not at all pleased with Nwoye’s decision to join Christianity. Although Okonkwo is disappointed in his son’s choice he does not act on it. It is then assumed that Okonkwo somehow expected this kind of behaviour from his son as he always saw Nwoye as “weak and woman-like” (Strong-Leek 2).

In “Things Fall Apart” Achebe gives background information on Okonkwo saying “He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife.” (5). This quotation from chapter one demonstrates that Okonkwo’s nobility of prosperity is revealed by his success’ from his early years and forward. The villagers within Okonkwo’s clan love and honor him for his personal achievements, and he

Baba always has guilt in his heart as well as Amir. Baba is cowardice and Amir was as well. Nevertheless, Baba’s cowardice only shows to Rahim Khan because Amir said “I always learn things about Baba from other people. ”(Chapter 3) And Rahim Khan knew that Hassan was Baba’s son however Baba tells him that not telling Amir the truth.

1. Okonkwo, the central character in Things Fall Apart, was manly, hard-working, and angry. At the beginning of the book, the first thing the author describes is Okonkwo’s manliness. His fame from wrestling along with his manly appearance made him manly. Okonkwo’s hard-working character was a result of him trying to be the opposite of his father, a lazy and unsuccessful man.

The Influence of Martin Luther Luther’s encounter with death in a thunder storm introduced him to, just how helpless he was as a human being, that particular experience troubled his soul which led him to vow to become a monk. Luther had become very serious about his salvation and went to great lengths to ensure it, to no avail. Luther’s friend, Johannes Staupitz, suggested that Luther had wasted enough time with his salvation dilemma, he should consume his time with the Bible. Luther had received a revelation after studying Psalms and Romans that faith alone, justifies a person, based on Christ righteousness: what He did on the Cross and not anything of themselves. From that moment all Luther desired to do was share it with the other worried believers, and this is what influenced and impacted his leadership.

Okonkwo is the main character in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo has done many questionable things and he has a very unique mindset and there is no doubt that he is a flawed man. But there is evidence that he is also a good man. So I think that Okonkwo is both a flawed man and a good man. In chapter four of Things Fall Apart Okonkwo’s youngest wife Ojiugo went to a friends house to plait her hair and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal so when she got home he beat her very viciously.

Ikemefuna’s part in the first seven chapters of Things Fall Apart portrays the complexity of family traits by stirring internal conflict within Okonkwo that causes him to question the value of family. Okonkwo did not have grounded qualities to take from his lazy, irresponsible father, Unoka. This forces him to build up the masculine traits that he values strongly for his family, especially strength and independence. When discussing the boy, Ikemefuna, who he is forced to care for, Okonkwo says, “I will not have a son [Ikemefuna] who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan” (Achebe 29). Okonkwo believes that without these traits, a man could not participate fully in society.