Preview

Okonkwo's Guilt

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
313 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Okonkwo's Guilt
Although Okonkwo appears tough and uncaring in many situations, he is more sensitive than he appears. Okonkwo felt pressure when he killed Ikemefuna because he wanted to be seen as tough to his other clan members. He “tried not to think about Ikemefuna, but the more he tried the more he thought about him… Now and then a cold shiver descended on his head and spread down his body”(63). Okonkwo tries to push away his feelings and emotions because he always has a constant fear of being weak. The death of Ikemefuna not only affects Okonkwo’s mental state, but his physical being as well. The guilt he feels for what he has done is expressed when a “cold shiver” runs through his body. As much as Okonkwo forces himself to be tough and uncaring, the
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Nwoye Quotes From Things Fall Apart
    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Nwoye Quotes From Things Fall Apart

    “No need to say my name. It’s okay.” My frame was swiftly descended to the ground, and Okonkwo removed the knife. “Nwoye, run back to the ilo. Hurry!” Okonkwo applied tremendous amount of pressure to the gash, and I weakly went to grab his wrists. Okonkwo was actually crying, and a sob cracked in his throat. His hot tears dropped on the plane of my chest. Painful flashbacks of Ikemefuna’s death fried Okonkwo’s capacity to be composed. “It’s okay. I know.” I managed to rasp, and I push Okonkwo’s calloused hands off my wound. Okonkwo’s hands fell on the approximate spot on the ground by my side. Stained with blood, Okonkwo mirrored an ape that just finishing ravishing his mouth with his killed prey as he could be a replacement role in Lion King or Tarzan. I didn’t know why I was thinking of such foolish thoughts in the last moments of my life, but I found it humorous and lighthearted, for it to end this way. My light eyes struggled to keep open, and I was met with darkness with remnants of Okonkwo’s…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Okonkwo's Motivation Towards Violence Analysis
    • 203 Words
    • 1 Page

    Okonkwo's Motivation Towards Violence Analysis

    CM: Okonkwo becomes dazed after being called “father” by Ikemefuna because it consumes him with emotion, which he had always taught himself to hide, due to emotions equating with weakness.…

    • 203 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Okonkwo's Injustice
    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Okonkwo's Injustice

    After Okonkwo was banished, he fled to his motherland because in the land he was living in now, represented as a father, he could succeed and was praised when he did so, but when he made a mistake, he was punished and sent away. When a boy is punished he goes to his mother’s to find empathy, just as Okonkwo had gone to his motherland after he was banished. “Nwoye overheard it and burst into tears, whereupon his father beat him heavily.” (21 online) Nwoye was beaten by his father for crying when Ikemefuna was leaving. After Nwoye was beaten, “Later, Nwoye went to his mother's hut and told her that Ikemefuna was going home.” (21 online) Once Okonkwo was done beating Nwoye, he found refuge in his mother’s hut and Nwoye felt comfortable enough…

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

    Okonkwo Quotes Analysis
    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Okonkwo Quotes Analysis

    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
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Things Fall Apart Chapter Summaries
    • 2194 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Things Fall Apart Chapter Summaries

    He decides that his unhappiness was a product of his idleness—if Ikemefuna had been murdered at a busier time of the year, he, Okonkwo, would have been completely undisturbed. Someone arrives to report the death of the oldest man in a neighboring village. Strangely, the old man's wife died shortly thereafter. Okonkwo questions the man's reputed strength once he learns how attached he had been to his wife.…

    • 2194 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    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
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo Cultural Collision
    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Okonkwo Cultural Collision

    as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” Okonkwo’s response to my first evidence is that he feels that he doesn’t want to show no weakness, but his culture pressures him and forces it mentally upon him to kill a boy who he felt was a son.…

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

    How Does Ikwo Kill Ikemefuna
    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Does Ikwo Kill Ikemefuna

    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
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Okonkwo Change
    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Does Okonkwo Change

    ”(Achebe 176 ) As the western influence came more and more Okonkwo lose his self confidence they began to invade the clan. On the other hand through the whole book was Okonkwo was going through tons of fears and weakness. So maybe he has not quite changed but have given up on fighting back on all of fears and weakness. Achebe had said “perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man.…

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

    Okonkwo's Moral Ambiguity
    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Okonkwo's Moral Ambiguity

    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
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Okonkwo's Savagery
    • 152 Words
    • 1 Page

    Okonkwo's Savagery

    Okonkwo has always shown savagery at a young age, because of his short-temper and his refusal to fix his problems with his words. Okonkwo uses violence to solve his problems, such as using his fist; this shows that he is violent and savage. The commissioner begins to introduce Okonkwo, as he describes his personality and actions. The commissioner says, “He had a slight stammer and whenever he was angry and could not get his words out quickly enough, he would use his fit” (Achebe 3). Okonkwo was always fighting when he did not have anything to say, he was not afraid to fight. Okonkwo is very short-tempered and violent, which shows the savagery. His strength comes from his past, from his father who Okonkwo calls a coward. Although Okonkwo has…

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

    Things Fall Apart
    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Things Fall Apart

    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
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo's Loyalty
    • 130 Words
    • 1 Page

    Okonkwo's Loyalty

    In the Igbo culture, one that showboats their emotion is considered feeble, as “Okonkwo never showed emotion openly…” (Achebe 28). Men are the ones that are superior and to exhibit any sympathy, remorse, or even love would be unacceptable. This makes Okonkwo an honored individual within his village as he presents himself as an emotionless being with no regrets. Even though Okonkwo makes it seem this way he still has feelings just like everyone else, such as for when he has murdered Ikemefuna. Yet this makes Okonkwo a more glorious character as he is able to do a task deemed difficult to commit, yet still capable of showing the world the mighty warrior he is, despite on the inside containing sorrow discreetly within himself, and with that Okonkwo…

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

    What Is Okonkwo's Point Of View Of A Third Person
    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What Is Okonkwo's Point Of View Of A Third Person

    The narrator uses a third person’s point of view making us understand who Okonkwo was from an outsider point of view and the Igbo culture . The use of the third person gives us a non-biased opinion on the character the description in the passage : ‘He was tall and huge,and his bushy eyebrows and wide nose gave him a very severe look .’ we can interpret that he was sturdy and imposing. The way he was described fits perfectly with his character. Okonkwo was a wrestler, one of the greatest of all time, as stated in the first paragraph of the passage. Due to his victory against ‘the Cat’, he received glory and honor from the old men. From this, we can deduce that in the Igbo culture the Elders are regarded highly and respected, we can deduce that they are important for the whole community.…

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

    Okonkwo's Virtues In Things Fall Apart
    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Okonkwo's Virtues In Things Fall Apart

    It is shown that when Okonkwo is determined he does not stop to reflect on his actions. When he doesn’t want to be seen as weak he is determined to do what will make others think otherwise. When he doesn’t agree with what is said or done he is determined to change what has happened so that it is to his liking. When he doesn’t approve of his family's behavior he is determined to beat it out of them. This need to do what he believes is write causes himself to do what crosses the line, causing him to kill himself. When there is a messenger from the church who is there to stop them from challenging it Okonkwo does not think he just acts. “In a flash Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed chest.” (205) When he kills the church’s messenger he realizes what he has done and that causes him to finally end his suffering. “‘That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog….’” (208) His determination is what chiefly caused Okonkwo’s downfall.…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics