Okonkwo's Response From Things Fall Apart

One his theories, stated in his book called Leviathan said that people are not able rule themselves because of how selfish mankind is and they need to be ruled by an iron fist. His political theory was that was also stated in Leviathan was that we should respect government authority under all circumstances to avoid violence. Hobbes was scared of the outcome of the social contract which meant people could get rid of the government if they were unhappy with what they were getting. In order to make well with the social contract he states in Leviathan that people should be completely obedient to the government. His reasoning was that if there was no government, there would be chaos.

In order to do so, he had to punish the traitor, Polynices, even though he was family so that the people “could learn in full spirit of a man, his purpose or his judgement, till he has shown up by experience of rule and law” meaning that Creon would show the people he meant business, if anyone was trying to destroy his trying of returning normalcy to the city, blood related or not and that he had the people of Thebes best interests to get the city back to normal (Blondell 175-177). Antigone knew the city was in a state of turmoil and yet still disobeyed the King, who was trying to help the city with his decision of

By using celebrations and sacraments that actually occur Achebe gains credibility of his work. Earlier in the book Achebe talked about how Umuofia was feared by the other clans, by letting the missionaries in and granting them the land to stay they have lost some of that respect. “If Umuofia decides on war, all would be well. But if they chose to be cowards, he [Okonkwo] would go out and avenge himself.” (199). Achebe helps the audience understand that some people in these tribes need to be the strongest, which is why he would include how

Ancient Rome is recognized for strength in war and battles, so the ideal citizen would be strong and willing to fight. Hunt explains that in Rome “one man’s loss was another man’s gain” (177). The culture of Ancient Rome was aggressive, as the men were trained to fight and be devoted to their country. “Male elites had to be on guard to defend against and avenge any slights to their personal, family, and state honor” (Hunt 177). In The Aeneid, Virgil writes “Roman, remember by your strength to rule // Earth’s peoples-for your arts are to be these: // To pacify, to impose the rule of the law, // To spare the conquered, battle down the proud.” As Aeneas is looking at the fate of Rome in the underworld (1151-1154).

Although some people may argue that colonialism positively affects Ibo society as the white men allow Ibo people to unite against one cause, as in the text it says, “We must root out this evil. And if our brothers take the side of evil we must root them out too. And we must do it now. We must bale this water now that it is only ankle-deep” (204). Although this claim may be true in some respects it is not entirely true as Ibo people seem to unite against one cause, but they do not actually take action.

Towards the end of Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo decided to take his own life due to the changes in his tribe caused by the white missionaries. This makes it harder to distinguish if the colonists were responsible for Okonkwo’s death and the diminishing of the Ibo Tribe. However, these colonists are gradually pushing an agenda to the Igbo people where Okonkwo is critical against. The collision between two separate beliefs causes various conflicts occurring in Things Fall Apart that eventually causes Umuofia to fall apart. This undermines Okonkwo’s drive to succeed in traditional terms and his desire to be a leader in his tribe.

Okonkwo’s Grief There are five stages of grief that a human experiences when faced with any type of breakup, and these stages play a significant role in Chinua Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart. Okonkwo, the main character, suffers a breakup with his tribe when his gun explodes and kills another member of the tribe. Killing another member of the tribe is a grievous offense, and no matter how unintentional, the killing results in seven years of exile. Torn away from his tribe, friends, rank, and future as a great leader, Okonkwo undergoes the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The first stage in grief is denial, when a person hopes that the breakup was not real or only momentary, giving themselves time to adjust to the situation.

According to her the only way to end war is unmaking masculinity. She further adds that this kind of change is already in process through the men who oppose and say no to combat and transform their lives into a new kind of humanity. But the work of Kathleen Barry also has some shortcomings like: - In reality it is very difficult to separate combat ethic from the military’s time immemorial emphasis on face-to-face killing. It might have a strong influence on future of the military culture. - Military training needs to be intense.

“ They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger?” this statement weakens the spirits within the colonist due to the intolerable acts. Although Britain thought the act would help them strengthen it was undermined by the presence of increasing the military activities. According to henry no matter what happens the war will come, “ The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it sir, let it come.” The main point of the speech is that the colonists must go to war to protect their own freedom.

Antigone enact this civil disobedience as a way of fighting and refusing to follow an unjust law made by and unjust King. The people of today can learn from Antigone. We the people today can take the courage and strength from Antigone and look the injustice in the eyes and fight back. We can take action like the Sons of Liberty and start a movement against the injustice and unruly laws. We can look to Antigone and partake in civil disobedience in order to make a movement to prompt change for the better in our world today.