Things Fall Apart Essay
Achebe’s story Things Fall Apart shows the clash of cultures between the British Settlers and the Ibo people of Nigeria through two overlapping stories, which center around a man named Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a respected member of the Umuofia clan, a Nigerian tribe that is part of nine villages. He is haunted by the actions of his cowardly father. Okonkwo became a clansman, warrior, farmer, and family provider. A protagonist has many characteristics including having a goal, certain personality traits and multiple life changing events. Okonkwo is a fitting protagonist because of his personality, his life changing experiences and his loyalty that drives his actions. Okonkwo is a fitting protagonist because of his personality. A protagonist is brave, has superior intelligence and has a character flaw. Okonkwo once spoke of a year that a massive rain had washed away the soil and ruined his clan’s yam harvest. Okonkwo said he “knew that he was a fierce fighter, but that year had …show more content…
Achebe said Okonkwo’s “whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (13). Everything Okonkwo does is because he is in fear of being like his father. Sometimes, he tries too hard and fails. Okonkwo does not want to look weak. As the clan killed Ikemefuna, “Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak” (61). The whole time Okonkwo was in exile, he knew he had lost his place in his clan. As soon as he was thrown out, he began to plan for his return. Okonkwo’s loyalty to his clan was larger than his life. Throughout Things Fall Apart, Achebe follows Okonkwo because he is an important character. Okonkwo is obviously different from most clan members. Throughout the book, the characteristics of a protagonist can be seen in Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a fitting protagonist because of his personality, his life changing experiences and his loyalty that drives his
Pride In Things Fall Apart
1119 Words | 5 PagesOkonkwo is the protagonist, so it makes sense for him to demonstrate a lot of pride which he undeniably does. Okonkwo is constantly bragging and boastful talking about how many men he or Umuofia has killed and is constantly scared to be perceived as weak. An early example of this is in chapter 7 when Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna. He is advised by his elders not to go and just stay at home. But Okonkwo goes anyway, which leads to him killing Ikemefuna because "He was afraid of being thought weak.
Okonkwo In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
744 Words | 3 PagesThroughout the novel, Achebe emphasizes certain phrases to indicate foreshadowing. “Work no longer had for him the pleasure it used to have-” (Achebe pg. 131). This strikes the readers with alarm because this behavior is unlike the Okonkwo we have seen though the story. In depth, this proves to the readers that something is bothering Okonkwo. In detail, Achebe proves to the reader that Okonkwo was doomed to begin with.
Okonkwo Dialectical Journal
387 Words | 2 PagesAchebe writes, “ Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe 63). Many other members of the tribe would have let their son be killed because of the unwavering faith many have in their religion and the decisions of the elders. However, not many would do it themselves. This scene truly showcases Okonkwo’s fears.
Cultural Collision In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
855 Words | 4 PagesAmong those of the same culture, individuals who are adaptive and open-minded can be successful when there is cultural collision. When the Igbo and European cultures collide, Okonkwo gradually spirals out of control, losing everything he values and his own sense of self. From the beginning of the novel, Achebe depicts Okonkwo as a virile warrior and a successful farmer within the Igbo tribe. Reacting with violence to anything he considers “womanly” or “weak”, “He was a man of action and man of war” (10). Because of his reputation as a warrior he is highly respected by his community.
Okonkwo Flaws
399 Words | 2 PagesOkonkwo 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.
Theme Of Masculinity In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
786 Words | 4 PagesWhen Ikemefuna runs towards him, “Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe 13). Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna because he is afraid someone will believe he is weak and similar to his unsuccessful father. He lets this fear of compassion and failing control his life and his decisions. When he is faced with a difficult choice he completes the action that will portray him as a man and not as an agbala, a woman.
How Okonkwo's Change In 'Things Fall Apart'
965 Words | 4 PagesIn 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's Hatred In Things Fall Apart
1774 Words | 8 PagesThe hatred that he had for his father he carried with him throughout his whole life. That hatred turned into him killing Ikemefuna and the messenger. Ikemefuna was thought of as a son and he killed him in fear of being considered weak in front of his clan members. That weakness was thought of his weakness which was considered a failure. 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.
Summary: Okonkwo Falls Apart
1027 Words | 5 PagesWhen Okonkwo first returns back from his exile and hears the news of the white man in Umuofia, his anger increases that no one is trying to fight them. Even after his friend Obierika tells him about how the village Abame was destroyed by similar white missionaries Okonkwo simply thinks “Abame people were weak and foolish. Why did they not fight back... We would be cowards to compare ourselves to the men of Abame” (175). Okonkwo 's aggression blinds him to the dangers of rebelling against the white man, that he is willing to risk the destruction of his whole village just to satisfy his ideology of respecting his religion.
Okonkwo Tragic Hero Analysis
881 Words | 4 PagesThe post colonial novel, "Things fall apart" by Chinua Achebe depicts its protagonist Okonkwo as great person who falls into the world of chaos to find his own place through his strength and achievements. Okonkwo in few parts of novel touches the traces of epic hero while in other parts touches the tragic hero characteristics. However Okonkwo 's suicide in the end turns the table to reader to view him through different lens than epic hero or tragic hero. According to Aristotle in his poetics, the tragic hero is an intermediate person who is filled with tragic flaw(hubris /hamartia)
How Does Okonkwo's Change In Things Fall Apart
539 Words | 3 PagesHe was afraid of being thought as weak. Okonkwo realize that he is having trouble functioning with his culture being changed and his village with his old religion he was seen as a leader and he felt like one he had to follow does rules. He was just afraid his culture was going to be taking away from him everything he had learned and all the he knows. “He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women.”
Okonkwo's Effects Of Colonization In Things Fall Apart
888 Words | 4 PagesColonization has an impact on an individual’s life and can either be positive or negative. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe uses Okonkwo, a tragic hero, to show loss of power and respect due to colonization and to exemplify change can be hard for people. Okonkwo’s identity is dependent on the Igbo Culture. At the beginning of the book, Okonkwo is seen as very strong. Also, Okonkwo only shows the emotion anger because he thinks that is the only emotion that men should show and every other emotion is feminine according to his standards.
Okonkwo's Relationship Essay
817 Words | 4 PagesIn the book are several quotes to support this, but one seems to be the more straightforward quote. “Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness….. It was fear of himself lest he should be
Essay On Okonkwo
769 Words | 4 PagesOkonkwo 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.
Things Fall Apart Rhetorical Analysis Essay
836 Words | 4 PagesAchebe effectively uses the character of Okonkwo to show how just the legal system in the village is. It may seem probable that a man of high status like Okonkwo could skirt the law by simply using his title, but Okonkwo is still held accountable for his actions, showing how he isn’t above the law. Ultimately, Achebe creates a powerful scene depicting how the working justice system of the Igbo people contrasts the classic barbaric view of
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