In the story we see many themes regarding the role of women, the Ibo belief system and values. Here women are seen not as partners to share what one has but as property and extra hands to farm. The more wife’s a man has the higher his status and respect; they have no say and should do as they are told. They work the farm with the kids and maintain the house. They have a complex belief system; they respect and honor their Gods so that they can have a good harvest and luck. They value hard work, courage and strength.
The main thing that caught my attention while I read the story was how Okonkwo did everything possible to be different than his father and at the end he was worse than him. His father even though was irresponsible at least had a passion which was music. Okonkwo on the other had nothing he spent every second remembering what he did not want to be, hiding his true feelings and being a stern and dry person.
In this egocentric and money driven society, many of us become this way. We do not want to be like our parents or past generation who thought that the ideal life as having a family, small house with a white picket fence and a job to keep food on the table. Unlike today where for many of us the ideal life is one where we have ten thousand dollars in the bank, becoming CEO’s or directors and have a job where we can make a surplus of money.
When one focus on the negative aspects of life or what we don’t want to become, we often overlook the simple pleasures in life and what really is important and can make us happy; Leading us to a dark and frustrated life.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
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 -
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 -
Two Europeans, Kayerts and Carlier work on an outpost in Africa. They work for a Belgian ivory trading company. The outpost is very…
- 2661 Words
- 11 Pages
Good Essays -
2. Page #______ What is the “normal course of action” when a member of a neighboring clan murders one of the Ibo?…
- 1699 Words
- 7 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The Ibo society’s practices such as having more than one wife, the male being the leader of the…
- 859 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
This quote here gives great background information about the main character about his personality and some what how he looks. By telling us he threw a great undefeated wrestling champion the author lets us infer that the character is most likely muscular…
- 1317 Words
- 6 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Today’s society teaches people to be happy but in that, they focus on the material items to make them happy. Many people in the world define happiness as living a good life or exceeding the expectations of others. But happiness begins with finding what is within, what is one’s true desires in life. People focus more on the price of life than life itself, and they tend to make happiness out of material objects and then not being happy in the end.…
- 610 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
|knowledgeable about what he needs to do to succeed. He is well known throughout the village, especially after winning a |…
- 1889 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
According to Ben – Shahar’s happiness model, there are four patterns that human can express the way they live: Nihilism, Rat Racing, Hedonism and Happiness. Each archetype reflects the different links between present happiness and future benefits. Nihilism archetype is people who are giving up their hopes in the searching for the meaning of life. These people do not enjoy the happiness of the present, and they do not have any purpose or hope for the future. To put it another way, they do not really live. They just survive. Meanwhile, Hedonism archetype followers only enjoy happiness in the present and they do not even have any slight thoughts to the possible consequences in the future. These people do not like challenges in life. They avoid hard work because they think it is boring and miserable.…
- 975 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
After reading the end of Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, I had sympathy for the main character of the story; Okonkwo, who represents the vulnerability of a tribe by the coming of the Europeans and their Christianity rules, and the abuse of power and violence that the officials in the jail used to dehumanize the leaders of Umofia in the last chapters on the novel. An unexpected ending of the novel took me by surprise, I believe Okonkwo is a victim from his own destiny and the circumstances in which he was born, and these events drive him to his tragic death at the very end of the story. My sympathy for Okonkwo was first present because throughout the whole story he is living and working in reaction of the fear to failure, and the idea of progress in his community, the possibility of become a person like his father who is not remembered as a wealthy man in the tribe, he was a friendly man mainly known for his kindness, distinctive that for Okonkwo was a sign of fragility.…
- 698 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Colonialism is characterized by being something that destroys families and destroys culture. While colonialism is very bad about destroying the profits and structure of families; colonialism does not strip a people of their culture but instead adds the viewpoints and knowledge of the rest of the world to a culture. That being said, colonialism is not something that strips a native people of their soul and culture, but it is something that builds culture and adds to the native soul, however terrible it may be on the people it conquers physically. This leads to my viewpoint that colonialism and new ideas do not deprive a people of their culture and soul, because it can help the oppressed members of a native people, it can stop inhumane and senseless acts of violence,…
- 639 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Everyone's goal in life is to be “happy”, they go out of their way to fulfill temporary pleasures. But what is very ironic is that striving for this possession filled happiness, many become sad, weary and give up on their dream of so called “happiness”. The article written by Darrin McMahon “In Pursuit of Unhappiness” , goes over this issue in great detail. Achieving true happiness is nearly impossible in the way we try to maintain it.…
- 467 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Chinua Achebe’s novel “Things Fall Apart” is the story of the Igbo culture on the verge of a revolution; it shows the collision of the Igbo people’s traditional way of life and the “winds of change” that are introduced by British colonials who have recently moved to their region. Within all of the confusion and discomfort throughout the Igbo people who are unsure of how to react to these new cultural practices and beliefs, is one of the main characters, Okonknwo, whose soul possesses so much discontent with this idea of change, that he reacts in a harsh and violent manner in order to resist the conversion of culture, and to further prove that the traditional ways of the Igbo people were what has since established him as being a “real man”, and also because he is afraid of losing his supreme status within society. Okonkwo’s refusal to accept the colonial’s new way of life reflects upon the idea that internally Okonkwo is afraid of losing the power in which he had once possessed, and deals with the fact that his personal ego acts as a deterrent for the “winds of change” upon the Igbo’s cultural life throughout the novel.…
- 640 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Shortly after the Industrial Revolution in Europe, influential countries came together to discuss the colonization of Africa at the Berlin Conference. The European nations divided Africa amongst themselves to gain new resources to further support their empires. This led to Christian missionaries infiltrating Africa to convert the natives. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, he depicts the collapse of the Ibo society during this period. The progression of the colonial encounters contributes to the disintegration of the Ibo culture and cause the village of Umuofia to slowly lose grasp of the things that shape their society. Achebe demonstrates the dynamics of colonization of Umuofia…
- 897 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The main character of this book, Okonkwo, is a truly hardworking and ambitious man, but these characteristics are mainly driven…
- 916 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays