Things Fall Apart- Chinua Acebe
Chapter 8
Elements
Characterization
Major Characters
Okonkwo
• Okonkwo wishes that his daughter Ezinma was a boy because she has the right attitude to be one.
• Okonkwo thinks that keeping busy and doing work is the solution to getting things off his mind.
• Okonkwo thinks that too much of his father is present in Nwoye.
• He thinks that it is good for the ozo title to be held high in esteem.
• Okonkwo also prefers to stick to the traditional ways of doing things
Oknokwo believes highly in manliness and when he was reminded of his father, he tried to comfort himself with his most recent act of manliness. He reminded himself of it even though the killing of Ikemefuna was troubling him with guilt Okonkwo feels distraught for killing Ikemefuna but wishes to not say it. He feels upset at himself for being too sensitive about this and thinks that he is acting womanly.. Even though he is being plagued by the killing, he still believes that the Oracle was to be obeyed. Okonkwo believes that manliness does not allow a husband to be inseparable and outwardly loving to his wife.
Obierka
Obierka thinks that Okonkwo is too hard on his children and that Nwoye has too much of his grandfather in him. He is also worried about his own son Maduka , who he thinks is too hasty and sharp. Obierka periodically questions tribal law and believes that some changes can improve society. He does not feel the need to prove his masculinity by killing someone who considered him a father. Obierka is friends with Okonkwo and tries to comfort him while he is in distress.
Minor characters
Ezinma
Ofuedo
Akueke
Maduka
Ibe
Ukegbu
Machi
Point of View
The story is written in the third person omniscient, follows around the main character Okonkwo but also represents the perspective of the Ibo people.
Tone
The writer uses Okonkwo’s guilt and Obierka’s disapproval to show that the killing of Ikemefuna was wrong.
Language
The author uses much of the indigenous African language. There are not many big words used. The author however does take the use of proverbs to convey certain meanings.
Time
Pre colonization
After the death of Ikemefuna
Bride Price for Obierka’s daughter
Rest period during the yam harvest
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Okonkwo believes that not following orders is a sign of weakness and that one should do whatever it takes to not display weakness. When Okonkwo is told that Ikemefuna must die to no display weakness, Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna, and this is shown when “ Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak”(61). This shows how Okonkwo would go to the extreme to not be displayed as weak. When Okonkwo confronts Obeirka about not coming to Ikemefuna’s death he says, “ you sound as if your question the authority and the decision of the Oracle, who said he should die”, to which Obeirka replied by saying “I do not, why should I? But the Oracle did not ask me to carry out this decision”(66). This shows Okonkwo confronts others…
- 293 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Okonkwo despises his father for those exact reason. He feels like being kind or caring shows you have feelings and emotions, and that makes you look feminine of womanly like. Okonkwo’s father was also given the name of “agbala” which means a womanly like person, Okonkwo was very ashamed of this fact. “Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness… agbala was not only another name for a woman. It could also mean a man who had taken to title” (chapter 2, paragraph 12). Okonkwo never shows his affection to his adopted son Ikemefuna. “Okonkwo refused to let his feelings slip”(chapter 4, paragraph 7). He was not willing to show emotion of love or happiness as he feared of being seen as a unmanly person. One thing you can see about Okonkwo is that he has to resist his strongest emotions that were unmanly. He had to enforce very strict gender roles on his family and subordinates. He is very on board with this gender diversity and he seems like he will want to continue this…
- 674 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
During the week of peace, “He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo’s return. And when she returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week. But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess”(29-30). Okonkwo rampages during the week of peace and beats his wife painfully. He does not want to appear weak in front of the other men and so he beats his wives and acts impulsively. Due to his fear of being seen as weak, Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna "Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak." (61). The way he kills Ikemefuna shows that reputation is more important than a child’s life. Okonkwo's actions depict how anxiety has overtaken him. Rather than coping with his fear, he allows it to dominate him and drive his actions. Okonkwo's apprehension permits him to acquire respect from the Igbo society, simply because it persuades him to show improvement over any other…
- 688 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
2. Okonkwo and Obierika seem to disagree a great deal throughout the novel. What does each…
- 574 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Okonkwo never understood the concept of going with the flow or adjusting to circumstances. It started in his childhood. His father, Unoka, “had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt” (Achebe 8). He was a poor farmer and a coward in war. The people of Umuofia called him an agbala, which means woman. Okonkwo was immensely ashamed by him, and his life was definitely affected because of him. “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had. He did not inherit a barn from his father. There was no barn to inherit,” (Achebe 16). In a perfect world, his father would have been a bloodthirsty warrior, with many wives and children, and a number of cowries. Okonkwo was narrow-minded, and this quality backfired in the form of shame and discontent. “He had no patience with unsuccessful men. He had no patience with his father,” (Achebe 2). Unoka never had the money to support his family, and this disgraced Okonkwo. Okonkwo was never able to understand his father and his different ways. Since Unoka was his father, he couldn’t say anything to him, but in his heart and mind, he meant nothing to Okonkwo.…
- 805 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Early on in the novel readers are introduced to Okonkwo's hamartia: the fear of appearing weak. This affects his temperament and the relationship he chooses to have with his family. Okonkwo cannot show the affection he has to his family, even though he definitely has a strong fatherly affection to both his daughter Enzima, and the outsider Ikemefuna. Okonkwo's wives and his eldest son Nwoye suffer most from this lack of affection. The three wives bear many beatings; his second wife Ekwefi is almost killed with a gun when she mumbles an insulting remark about her husband's shooting skills. They go into exile for seven years with Okonkwo, and although the novel doesn't show what happens to the widows when Okonkwo commits suicide, it probably isn't a happy life. This lack of affection though is how Okonkwo stays strong and also how he achieved his high status in the community. After hearing what happened to Okonkwo's "lazy" father one can understand this sternness that Okonkwo lives with.…
- 624 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Throughout the course of the story, Okonkwo makes many irrational decisions without putting much thought into them first. He is constantly offending the Igbo traditions, such as when he beats his wife during the Week of Peace. When killing Ikemefuna, he does not think of Nwoye and himself and how it will affect both of them and the consequences it might bring. He can only think of one thing when killing Ikemefuna: he is afraid of being thought weak. He does not seem to care that Ikemefuna is running to him for help and for safety out of trust. He betrays the trust of Ikemefuna by delivering to him a killing blow. It is clear throughout the book that Okonkwo “became fond of the boy” (Achebe 28) and favors him over Nwoye. He would have preferred to keep Ikemefuna alive since he considers Ikemefuna as a son and as a positive, manly influence on Nwoye. Ikemefuna is the primary reason that Nwoye begins to grow up and become the man Okonkwo wants him to be, with Nwoye even beginning to“feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles” (Achebe 52). Nwoye puts effort into pleasing his father even if he doesn’t believe in the downgrading of women. Okonkwo knows that the cause of the change in Nwoye is due to Ikemefuna, yet he kills the boy anyways without thinking of the consequences. This lack of…
- 957 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Okonkwo’s overbearing pride in himself results in unforeseen consequences for his family and others which come in contact with him throughout the book. Case in point, when Okonkwo was told by an elder of the Umuofia not be getting involved with the killing of Ikemefuna because as he was told “that boy calls you father.” Prompting, Okonkwo to be exiled and sent to live with his mother for 7 years. Which resulted from the unfortunate killing of Ezeudu's son from the misfiring of a bullet. Rather than just listening Okonkwo’s pride slapped him in the face and being looked upon as weak was no option.…
- 480 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Ikemefuna was a teenage boy that Okonkwo took temporary possession of after a settlement with a neighboring clan. Okonkwo and his family created a close bond with the boy, which is significant because Okonkwo rarely ever has an attachment to people. One day it is determined that one of the local gods wants the foreign boy killed. Despite urgings from his neighbor, Okonkwo went with the men to kill Ikemefuna to avoid appearing unmanly. When the village men began to attack the unsuspecting boy he ran towards Okonkwo for help, Okonkwo instead cuts down the boy, once again to avoid appearing weak. Although Okonkwo appears stoic at first, he falls into a deep depression when he returns home saying to himself, "'When did you become a shivering old woman, you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.'" Although Okonkwo's actions seem unforgivable, especially by western standards, he is clearly suffering a deep moral conflict as a result of those…
- 1175 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Okonkwo- An influential clan leader in Umuofia. Since early childhood, Okonkwo’s embarrassment about his lazy, squandering, and effeminate father, Unoka, has driven him to succeed. Okonkwo’s hard work and prowess in war have earned him a position of high status in his clan, and he attains wealth sufficient to support three wives and their children. Okonkwo’s tragic flaw is that he is terrified of looking weak like his father. As a result, he behaves rashly, bringing a great deal of trouble and sorrow upon himself and his family.…
- 1227 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Okonkwo feared of becoming like his father, so he made his own path to life and how he dealt…
- 1385 Words
- 6 Pages
Good Essays -
First, one of Okonkwo’s major weak points was his family. He tried not to let it show, but he cared deeply for his family. For example, when Ikemefuna was introduced into Okonkwo’s life, Okonkwo immediately grew a stronger bond with Ikemefuna than he had with his real children. After raising Ikemefuna for three years, Okonkwo was told Ikemefuna must be killed. Not only did he agree to it but he took part in the brutal murder. On page 61, Achebe writes, “Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” Although he loved Ikemefuna like his own son, he killed Ikemefuna to avoid being thought of as weak by his fellow clansmen. Another example of Okonkwo’s weakness when it came to his family was when he followed Ekwefi, Enzima and Chielo to the shrine. He wanted to ensure his daughter and wife’s safety. On page 112, Achebe says, “He allowed what he regarded as a reasonable and manly interval to pass and then gone with his machete to the shrine.”…
- 709 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
During Chapters 8 and 9, Obierika and Okonkwo talk more often since Okonkwo is trying to rid his mind of Ikemefuna’s death. In Chapter 8, events such as the marriage of Obierika’s daughter, Akuke, and the conversation of right and wrong between the men at the ceremony take place. In Chapter 9, Ezinma’s story of the ogbanje and her illness is told.…
- 339 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Along with being easy-going and calm, Obierika is a foil to Okonkwo because he is not obsessed with power and being mighty. In the story, Obierika’s son,…
- 837 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
In this world, there is a stereotype that males should not show emotions or cry for anything or else they are not considered manly. When it comes to Okonkwo and the way he lives, he believes that anger is the only emotion that should be displayed within a man. He shows this mainly throughout the book when it comes to his relationships with his family. One example is when Okonkwo begins to feel proud about Nwoye becoming more manly because of Ikemefuna.…
- 853 Words
- 4 Pages
Powerful Essays