Okonkwo And His Father
The bond between parent and child has a tremendous impact as it molds people into who they are today.In the book, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe emphasises the impact a parent has on their child in the story of a prideful man, Okonkwo, and his fear of both his older and younger generations. Achebe shows the contrast of the three generations of Okonkwo’s family by showing the influence each father has on their child.
The laziness and lack of manliness his father had caused Okonkwo to fear being thought of as weak. When Okonkwo was younger his father, Unoka, was a “failure,” as a man he always borrowed money and ended up drowning in debt (5). For this reason Okonkwo is ashamed of him and aspires to be the exact opposite of him. He fears being seen as weak because he does not want to be compared to his father. When Unoka died “ he had taken no title,” which is looked down upon in Umuofia (8). Therefore because of his fathers lack of barns, wives, and titles Okonkwo had to start from nothing and began working at a very young age. This is the reason he had the strive to become one of the greatest and most respected men in the tribe because he did not want to resemble any part of his father. The influence Unoka’s actions had on Okonkwo caused him to end …show more content…
Nwoye is not nearly as lazy as Unoka although Okonkwo thinks so, Okonkwo feels “cursed,” to have a son like Nwoye who resembles his grandfather Unoka(152).Nwoye is not exactly like Unoka Okonkwo just thinks this because he does not want his son to resemble his father at all. Although Okonkwo thinks he’s just like Unoka, Nwoye did inherit a few aspects of his father he “grumbled aloud about women,” and he learned how to farm yams from his father(53). Throughout the generations Nwoye ended up being a balance between his father and grandfather but he never fit in his culture because of this and was never praised by
The laziness and lack of manliness his father had caused Okonkwo to fear being thought of as weak. When Okonkwo was younger his father, Unoka, was a “failure,” as a man he always borrowed money and ended up drowning in debt (5). For this reason Okonkwo is ashamed of him and aspires to be the exact opposite of him. He fears being seen as weak because he does not want to be compared to his father. When Unoka died “ he had taken no title,” which is looked down upon in Umuofia (8). Therefore because of his fathers lack of barns, wives, and titles Okonkwo had to start from nothing and began working at a very young age. This is the reason he had the strive to become one of the greatest and most respected men in the tribe because he did not want to resemble any part of his father. The influence Unoka’s actions had on Okonkwo caused him to end …show more content…
Nwoye is not nearly as lazy as Unoka although Okonkwo thinks so, Okonkwo feels “cursed,” to have a son like Nwoye who resembles his grandfather Unoka(152).Nwoye is not exactly like Unoka Okonkwo just thinks this because he does not want his son to resemble his father at all. Although Okonkwo thinks he’s just like Unoka, Nwoye did inherit a few aspects of his father he “grumbled aloud about women,” and he learned how to farm yams from his father(53). Throughout the generations Nwoye ended up being a balance between his father and grandfather but he never fit in his culture because of this and was never praised by