Preview

Argumentative Essay On Things Fall Apart

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
96 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Argumentative Essay On Things Fall Apart
A big question people have when they read “Things Fall Apart” is whether Okonkwo was a good or terribly flawed man. It has started a lot of controversy between readers. Okonkwo was definitely a terribly flawed man because of his actions and his lack of emotion towards his family. When Okonkwo thought his second wife killed the banana tree he “gave her a sound beating and left her only daughter weeping” (38). The way he acted shows that he was quick to react to things and would rather use his fist then to think things through.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Okonkwo's Downfall
    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Okonkwo's Downfall

    Throughout the novel, Things Fall Apart, many characters played an important role. But the most prominent role played was by Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a completely self made individual that against all odds, rose to the challenge of life. No matter what life threw at him, he always met that challenge with brute force and determination. However, never did Okonkwo imagine that his downfall would be because of his own tragic flaw. Okonkwo's violent and rash nature made him difficult to work with and gave people the wrong image of who he was. He was so distracted by trying to be anyone other than his father that he lost himself along the way.…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Things fall apart essay
    • 1317 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Things fall apart essay

    In Things Fall Apart there are many cultural collisions created by the introduction of Western ideas into Ibo culture. One example of a cultural collision caused by the introduction of Western ideas into Ibo culture is when Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye converts to Christianity. This causes a cultural collision between Okonkwo and Nwoye because Nwoye wants to become a Christian, but Okonkwo doesn’t like the white men or Christianity. This cultural collision is caused by the white men bringing in western ideas to Ibo culture. This collision is very important to the book because it leads to the destruction of Okonkwo and fuels his anger. This collision shapes the meaning of the novel as a whole by symbolizing many things and relating back to many important quotes in the book that help develop the plot.…

    • 1317 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Okonkwo In Things Fall Apart
    • 63 Words
    • 1 Page

    Okonkwo In Things Fall Apart

    Okonkwo, the main character in Things Fall Apart, is a hard headed man. He is very custom to his tribe's way of life. He believes a woman's place is in the house, cleaning cooking and taking care of the children. Okonkwo's father was not an acceptable man in Igbo society. His father was in extreme debt and was not a very structured man.…

    • 63 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo's Flaws In Things Fall Apart
    • 184 Words
    • 1 Page

    Okonkwo's Flaws In Things Fall Apart

    In the novel Things Fall Apart Okonkwo was a terribly flawed man. He was a terribly flawed man becauses he beat his wife. Some people might think that he was a good man but because of his fiery temper he could hurt someone like when he was mad at his wife for leaving and not feeding him and he beat her. Like when the book says “And when she returned he beat her very heavily.” on (29). He is also a very terribly flawed man in the way that he doesn't like when people think of him as week. Like how in the book it says “Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” on (61). Another way that he is terribly flawed is when he almost shout his wife with a gun as we see in the book “He pressed the trigger and there…

    • 184 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Things Fall Apart- Explain how Okonkwos actions are motivated by fear in Things Fall Apart
    • 726 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Things Fall Apart- Explain how Okonkwos actions are motivated by fear in Things Fall Apart

    Throughout Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo's actions take place because he is afraid of becoming "A Woman" like his father. Not only does he act masculine to appear manly to the villagers, he does it to satisfy his own conscious. Okonkwo portrays a short temper in this book. Small things such as his supper being late and remarks about his hunting anger him, and lead to his beating of his wives and his son Nwoya. His desire to appear manly often fogged his judgment. When the time came to kill Ikemefuna, the boy who called him father, he was told by his best friend that he should not take part in this because the boy looked up to him. Okonkwo knew his friend was right. When he, Ikemefuna and other leaders of the tribe went to the woods to carry out the task, Okonkwo did not want the other men to think that he was weak so he cut down his own son. Okonkwo's actions were also motivated by the fear that his whole village would become weak. After returning from his exile in Mbanta, Okonkwo realized that the Christians were taking over. Unlike the rest of his tribe he wanted to go to war with them and drive them out. Soon he realized that during his seven years in exile Umuofia had changed and no longer was feared tribe it used to be. Okonkwo continued to fight the inevitable. His actions were never able to help his village; his worst fear had come true, they had become weak.…

    • 726 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Okonkwo Flaws
    • 237 Words
    • 1 Page

    Okonkwo Flaws

    In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart Okonkwo was flawed like every full blood human to walk the earth. He wasn’t perfect but he had an overall character of good. He was known through Umuofia as a hard worker and good provider. From the outside it may not look like Okonkwo cares for his family but deep down he really does. Okonkwo was a good man because he could provide for his family. He came from nothing, his father was worthless but he still achieved and “had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife”(8). He was a good man with a great work ethic and wasn’t scared to stick by his words:“I am not afraid to work”(21). He worked hard at everything he did. Deep down Okonkwo cared for his family. Okonkwo let Ikemefuna…

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo's Actions In Things Fall Apart
    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Okonkwo's Actions In Things Fall Apart

    In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo’s actions can justify why he is an ambitious and intense leader that uses fear to control his followers. His fear tactic was also applied in his family life. In the novel, Okonkwo expresses multiple times how he does not want to be like his father; who was lazy and unsuccessful. Having this detached relationship as a child influenced him to treat his children and wives with aggression. For example, when Nwoye, his son, joined the church, Okonkwo was so enraged by it that he physically abused him. This resulted in his children and wives to do everything he said because they feared for their safety. I believe that the lack of affection that was giving to him as child had an impact on his behavior. If he had someone…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo Vs Ezinma
    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Okonkwo Vs Ezinma

    Okonkwo is a nice guy in the book Things fall apart by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo has many different views on people for his own reasons. Of the people that are important in his life that is . He may be rough from time to time again but sometimes he can be a nice father and or friend in more ways than one. Okonkwo is a weird one we know that already though because in one moment he can be nice and firm then the next second later he can be a royal pain in the ass from angry to mad to his children Nwoye and Ezinma. Although Nwoye and Ezinma are his children Nwoye can be a real slacker from most moment on the other hand Ezinma does not mind doing work and even attempting to do a males a job even though she is female. Okonkwo’s 1st approach is not…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Beowulf, the Iliad, and Things Fall Apart.
    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Beowulf, the Iliad, and Things Fall Apart.

    In Things Fall Apart the author introduces the values of the culture through the hero, Okonkwo. In Okonkwo’s culture power is very important, and Okonkwo gets his power by having many wives. However, Okonkwo struggles for insight when his own son Ikefuma converts to Christianity and Okonkwo cannot accept it. Human weakness is shown when Okonkwo tries to do everything different than his father because to him his father was a very weak man.…

    • 458 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Regarding Like Water For Chocolate
    • 831 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Regarding Like Water For Chocolate

    A firm belief in his way of life forced Okonkwo into his success at the beginning of Things Fall Apart. As it is noted in chapters one to three, Okonkwo’s birth had left him much to be desired. “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had (Achebe 16).” Indeed, with a father like Unoka, a “lazy and improvident” man, it is hard to imagine how Okonkwo left his circumstances when his father was one that “was poor” and left “his (Unoka’s) wife and children had barely enough to eat” (Achebe 04 & Achebe 05). Yet these experiences forced Okonkwo toughen up early in life. Okonkwo’s “whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13). After considering how Okonkwo’s spent his entire childhood under the shameful shadow of his father, it makes sense that “even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala” (Achebe 13).…

    • 831 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Things Fall Apart Rhetorical Analysis
    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Things Fall Apart Rhetorical Analysis

    Starting off with Things Fall Apart’s main character, whose name is Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a very strong willed man who encountered problems from the very beginning of his life. He had a father who did not do much with his life and therefore when he died, he left nothing for Okonkwo to go by “Okonkwo did not have the start in life…inherit” (Achebe 11). This is one of the first problems that Okonkwo faces in his life. He has a decision to make to overcome this problem, either to take the impulsive or emotional decision to…

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo's Masculinity
    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Okonkwo's Masculinity

    He wanted to rise above his father's legacy, which he saw as feminine. The connection with being weak and feminine was in the clan's language. The word for a man who had not taken any titles was "agbala", which means "woman." Okonkwo's world came crashing down and in the end, resulted in his death. The though of manliness was given to him at a young age when he saw his father's womanly qualities and most importantly his failures. He obsessed over living by his standards of masculinity and this forced him to embrace the values the exact opposite of his fathers. Okonkwo's idea of manliness differed from the clan, however. He connected masculinity with aggression and felt that anger was the only emotion that he should display. For this reason, he frequently beat his wives, even threatening to kill them. He did not think things through, and we see him acting impulsively . His very life was built around being a man and it got to the point where it was the only thing controlling him. Things Fall Apart was the portrayal of a man whose idealism of masculinity was so farfetched that no one, not even himself, could live up to the expectations, which caused his very own…

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Explain How People Respond To Conflict In Things Fall Apart
    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Explain How People Respond To Conflict In Things Fall Apart

    Okonkwo, in Things Fall Apart, is a hardworking individual. He knows how to battle through conflicts and is determined to be successful. Okonkwo’s passion comes from the failure of his father before him. One example of when Okonkwo’s response to conflict was when he had to move to his motherland Mbanta. Okonkwo could have given up at this point. He had just lost his home and ranking in the clan, something he had put tremendous effort into. However, he made negative situation and turned it into a positive. He started from scratch and thrived tremendously. He began to become a more successful farmer. He became a influence in his motherland, even when he wasn’t excepted in the beginning. Okonkwo’s response to conflict is outright amazing. He found a way to make his…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Things Fall Apart Essay
    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Things Fall Apart Essay

    Okonkwo was happy inside that his son was finally becoming a man, but he did not want to portray that emotion because it would not have been something a man would do. He also does not display his emotions when Ezinma was taken by Chielo.…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Is Okonkwo Selfish
    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Is Okonkwo Selfish

    After reading the novel, Things Fall Apart, you would probably wonder why Okonkwo is such a ruthless person? What drives the character? Iyanla Vanzant once said, “ parents are teachers, guides, leaders, protectors, and providers for their children.” We all know that parents greatly affect their children’s behavior. This is also true of Okonkwo, the way he acts is truly affected by his father. Okonkwo’s characteristic is totally opposite from those of his father, Unoka.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics