Furthermore, he had shown incredible prowess as a strong warrior. Though Okonkwo was on the path to greatness, he still feared ending up like his
His suicide at the end of the story seems fitting, for once the culture loses its unique way of life, he has nothing left to live for. Throughout his life, Okonkwo possesses a steady fear of failure. Toward the beginning of the story, Achebe says, “Okonkwo’s fear was greater than these. It was not external but lay deep within himself” (13). Internal forces constantly chip away at Okonkwo’s sanity, threatening to destroy him.
Nwoye and Okonkwo had a rocky relationship from the beginning but it only solidified once Ikemefuna was killed. Christianity being introduced to Umuofia showed Nwoye that he had a purpose in life and he didn’t have to be just like his father. Nwoye and Okonkwo had a bad relationship because they could never accept the fact that they had more differences than similarities,this caused them to separate from each other permanently. Stephen Covey said “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.” If Nwoye and Okonkwo would have been able to set their differences aside and tried to accept each other then maybe Nwoye wouldn’t have converted to
He is disappointed when he realizes that his clan no longer wants to fight the men out of their clan, and rather leave them be. “He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umoufia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women” (Achebe 183). His sense of identity therefore was affected because he no longer knew what his religion had become. Okonkwo then tries to take matters into his own hands by killing the messenger as one final attempt to save his village, though his actions resulted in an extreme repercussion. “Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead” (Achebe 207).
Okonkwo had not allowed his father, Unoka to form a personal bond with him. Unoka was considered an Agabal; woman, by the tribes men. Unoka’s lack of merit and utter laziness caused Okonkwo to want to be better than Unoka, and immerse himself in their cultural roles, by becoming a man. The fuel that had fed Okonkwo’s motivation to be a better man was his fear of failure. The author describes this theme, “ Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and ever beyond.
There are many different instances that shows Okonkwo being dishonorable. Even as early in the book as page 13, it states how Okonkwo was someone who was feared in his own household by his 3 wives and his children. Okonkwo had a “fiery temper” according to Achebe which led to him to explode in anger when ever there was something that didn't go his way. A perfect example of this was when Okonkwo broke the peace in the sacred Week of Peace “Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife, who went to plait her hair at her friend’s house and did not return early enough to cook the afternoon meal… When she returned he beat her very heavily” (Achebe pg 29). That just shows how Okonkwo does not care about other people's needs and he expects his wives to only be at his service.
Okonkwo was not able to focus on other events because he was busy trying to feed and support his family. Okonkwo did not start his life as everybody else did (Achebe, 16). He had to work extra hard to get his barn and wealth because Okonkwo did not have anything to inherit from Unoka. Since Unoka was an unsuccessful person, Okonkwo made up his mind that he would never grow up to be like his father. He disliked everything Unoka
Okonkwo is supposed to fight back for his village and not stop until he gets it done. In the story Achebe quotes, “He was a man of action, a man of war. Unlike his father he could stand the look of blood.” (Chapter 2). Okonkwo loved action and violence. That is how he believes things should get done.
The pot fell and broke in the sand. He heard Ikemefuna cry, “My father, they have killed me!” as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” After reading this I came to realize that Ikemefuna is not the only one who is afraid when the man cleared his throat, Okonkwo is in fear too. Taking control over a situation in which he didn't need to, he killed his adopted son out of fear as being seen as weak.
An instance of this is when Okonkwo accidentally shoots and kills a boy resulting in his seven-year exile to his mother’s land, once he reaches his mother’s land he slips into a depression, reluctant to work or progress much at all in any sense, as exemplified in the quote, “his [Okonkwo’s] life had been ruled by a great passion—to become one of the lords of the clan… then everything had been broken. He had been cast out of his clan like a fish to dry” (Achebe, 97 Online). This shows how Okonkwo slipped into a state of emptiness, his greatest passion was to become a figurehead of his clan and yet he fell short, sending him crashing into a depression. In particular, Okonkwo was weakened to see everything he built with utmost effort burned to the ground, he fell to a point of devastation in which he could do little but doubt himself as the world he built came crumbling down around him. He was broken through this failure, although he did eventually come back to his strength, staying strong to come back to his clan in his most climactic