Preview

How Does Okonkwo's Character Changes

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1034 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Okonkwo's Character Changes
Do people really change based on their past? I believe they do. Chinua Achebe, wrote the novel, Things Fall Apart. The main character, Okonkwo, has a hard childhood. Later in his life he becomes very wealthy and has a big family. Okonkwo makes some big mistakes, but we can believe he learns from them. In the end of the book, Okonkwo kills himself after he kills a Christian missionaries. We can think Okonkwo does learn from his mistakes because now he cares about his family more, he thinks about his actions before he makes them, and he has a more sense of compassion now.

One can think Okonkwo does change by learning from his mistakes because he now cares about his family more. “Go home and sleep,” said Okonkwo. “I shall wait here.” (Achebe, pg. 108). This quote demonstrates how Okonkwo runs after Ekwefi and his daughter, after Chielo (a servant to the oracle, a religious figure in their local tribal religion) takes Ezinma. The old Okonkwo would never run after his wife if she makes a stupid decision like that. In …show more content…
“He had no appetite. He only ate to please her.” (Achebe, pg. 199). This quote informs us that Okonkwo is eating to please someone else, not himself. He does nice things for people now. Okonkwo used to kill someone even if they just looked at him wrong. Now Okonkwo is less violent than he used to be. I think Okonkwo realizes that fighting gets you into more fights then out. Okonkwo accidentally shoots a kid at a funeral. For Okonkwo's punishment, he is exiled for 7 years. After Okonkwo kills the Christian missionarie, we can assume he knows he will be killed or another 7 years in exile. Okonkwo wouldn't want to put his family through another exile, and if he were to be killed, he was getting it over with. One can say Okonkwo kills himself to save the trouble of his family. Okonkwo used to have a lot of fights, now he has sympathy for others and his
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Okonkwo's Downfall
    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Okonkwo's Downfall

    Over the course of the novel, it is apparent that Okonkwo is changing internally and he just isn't…

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

    Okonkwo In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Okonkwo In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    Okonkwo owes his great success to his unrelenting warrior character, but when his culture begins to fade away and he does not change, it is also his downfall. From the beginning of the story, Okonkwo bases his entire personality…

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

    Okonkwo The Hero In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Okonkwo The Hero In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    One of the main reasons supporting this statement is because Okonkwo was always a coward. Everything he acted on was driven by a fear of appearing weak. What he did not understand was that this mindset automatically makes him weak. A stereotypical hero is brave and overcomes his fears. In the end of the novel, Okonkwo tries to run from his phobia one last time by killing himself and leaving his clan to the colonizing dogs. By doing so, he did not leave a significant impact on his people. Although he attempted to gather them together to fight back against the colonists, he failed and let his anger get the best of him. All he did was intensify the fight by killing the messenger, and killing himself when the white men demanded to see him. Before returning to Umuofia, Okonkwo also did not pay any respects to his people. He tried to keep his friends close but completely disregarded his family in light of his malevolence. Eventually, he killed his own “son” and his own clansman. Did he save anyone in the process? No, he did not; he lost the respect he gained from others towards the beginning of the book, and ultimately gave…

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Ender Wiggin Character Changes
    • 1402 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Ender Wiggin Character Changes

    In life a question comes up, do situations change a person or does a person change the situation itself? Phillip Zimbardo once said, “What happens when good people are put into an evil place? Do they triumph or does the situation dominate their past history and morality?” This quote explains that people are put into different positions in life and they choose to either change or stay the same. In the novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, the main character Ender Wiggin has to save the world from the buggers and along the way he faces different situations. In the novel, Ender Wiggin is usually a compassionate nice young boy. Individuals change when they are put into various different situations. These changes are seen in the novel through the actions of the main character Ender. This will be proven by looking at how people change according to the situations faced in their personal life, in competition, and in life or death situations.…

    • 1402 Words
    • 6 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 Research Paper
    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Okonkwo Research Paper

    Okonkwo is a well-respected man and warrior of Umuofia who rose from poverty and descended to destitution. As a boy Okonkwo was able to work hard and gain status, at his height he was progressively disgraced by a series of his own actions and banished from the tribe for several years. After returning Okonkwo gained some traction in his village but was imprisoned and died disgracefully through suicide. The most harmful event in his personal tragedy is the accidental murder of a clansman which led to his exile.…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Unrealistic Expectations Lead to a Downfall
    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Unrealistic Expectations Lead to a Downfall

    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
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Can I Read And The Readers Theatre: Can People Change?
    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Can I Read And The Readers Theatre: Can People Change?

    Can people change? This is a question many people ask. My opinion is yes, people can change, but how? The stories I read and the readers theater I read point to many different things. Let’s take a look at what.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory 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

    Norman Mailer Quotes
    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Norman Mailer Quotes

    He was masculine, hardworking, reputable, and wealthy. He didn't want to be like his father, a failure. Okonkwo believed his father was a failure because the man was very lazy, disgraceful, and poor. Over the years in his village it was said by the elders, “...if a child washed his hands...and so he ate with the kings.” This quote indirectly characterizes Okonkwo, displaying how he knew what he had to do if he wanted to be a great hero, furthermore developing his character as a young man. Towards the end of the novel one can imagine Okonkwo as a tragic hero because, like other tragic heroes, he has one major flaw. His main flaw develops from his fear of being like father, whom he dispised. He as well can't display his emotions because he doesn't want to look weak or sissyish, and when he does show any emotion, it is an uncontrollable rage. As a result of his flaws, Okonkwo has suffered countless tragedies, which ultimately leads to his ironic death. Okonkwo's tragedy was due to many things that happened in Umuofia, but the main reason was the arrival of the white missionaries, “Does the white man understand our custom about land?” (chpt. 20). Okonkwo says this, due to his…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Okonkwo Have Good Intentions In Things Fall Apart
    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Does Okonkwo Have Good Intentions In Things Fall Apart

    Okonkwo’s father caused him to have a strong fear of becoming like his father.“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 not external but lay deep within himself. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.” This shows that his aggression towards his wives and children is influenced by him not wanting to be soft. His father caused him to become a workaholic who doesn’t show any emotion.…

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

    Things Fall Apart-Notion of Balance Analysis
    • 1643 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Things Fall Apart-Notion of Balance Analysis

    Okonkwo, the main character of the book, was born the son of Unoka, who was a loafer. Unoka was too lazy to go out and plant crops on new, fertile land, and preferred to stay at home playing his flute, drinking palm wine, and making merry with the neighbors. Because of this, his father never had enough money, and his family went hungry. He borrowed much money in order to maintain this lifestyle. Okonkwo perceived this as an imbalance toward the female side in his father's character: staying at home and not using one's strength to provide for the family is what the women do. In reaction, Okonkwo completely rejected his father, and therefore the feminine side of himself. He became a star wrestler and warrior in his tribe and began providing for his family at a very young age, while at the same time starting new farms and beginning to amass wealth. He is very successful, and soon becomes one of the leaders of his tribe and has many wives and children. His big ambition is to become one of the powerful elders of the tribe, for what could be more manly than that?…

    • 1643 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo's Masculinity
    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Okonkwo's Masculinity

    Okonkwo's self-destruction was caused by his drive for masculinity . Okonkwo's fear of being a failure caused Okonkwo to hide behind a veneer of anger and aggression. Okonkwo's masculinity was all he had and was the factor that controlled his behavior. He was often consumed in his actions of masculinity that seemed to know no limits. Also, a crucial flaw was his inability to accept change in tradition. He was not able to change with the values of both societies and the changing ways around him. He could not accept the fact that in a colonized society he would be an average person, rather than a distinguished and powerful male.…

    • 1385 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good 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

    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