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…
When he came back from his exile, he noticed that his own brothers already had different thoughts about their customs and said they must fight for their land and for their religion. Okonkwo refuses any changes, and began to speak out to defend his motherland. He said, “Until the abominable gang was chased out of the village with whips there would be no peace (158),” the division was so marked that many others did not agree with his point of view, but he remarked, “ 'If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor, what do I do? Do I shut my eyes? No! (158).' ” Okonkwo was trying to convince the clans to fight, fight and fight for their customs. Obierika told him, “our own brothers who have taken up his religion also say that our customs are bad, (176)” that white man was very intelligent, because he came peacefully and quietly, but then, “he has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.” (176) White man had achieved his gold by dividing Igbo society. They knew that by doing so the Igbo could not stand together to fight and defend their way of…
Change is a part of life that nobody can avoid.In Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe there are several instances where Okonkwo regrets what he does but he cannot change the course of events.Okonkwo killed his son Ikemefuma and he regretted it,but he couldnt change the fact that he killed him.There Are Some Things That You Cannot Change is a justfiyable theme for Things Fall Apart,because once something is done you will not be able to change it and you may regret it.…
Okonkwo is in a clan called Umuofia. One night the town crier rung the gong to announce someone in the town of Mbaino murdered the wife of a Umuofia tribesman. Okonkwo travels to Mbaino to deliver the message that they must give Umuofia a woman and a young boy. In case they refuse to do so, Okonkwo is chosen to represent his clan, because he’s the fiercest warrior of them all. On this trip, you see a lot of the clan’s commitment to their culture which is known for its harmonious relations. For example, when Unoka’s neighbor went to collect debt, he before shared a cup of palm-wine and some kola nuts. This released any possible tension and put emphasis on the common interests and culture they split. This civilization would soon be divided by the white men that came to spread Christianity in the nigerian community. Okonkwo finds these men very shrewd and can’t believe his men did not drive them out yet. And many people like them, they’re setting up trading posts and money is flowing throughout their village. Okonkwo and his new friend Enoch, love their clan how it is now and want to respond to the Christians in a violent manner. Okonkwo sets out alone, to kill some of the Christians and didn’t get the response he was hoping for. The District Commissioner tries to find Okonkwo after that and he soon finds that he hung himself. The reason for Okonkwo killing himself is, he could not submit to a new life where he felt at odds. I assume he felt lonely and his suicide is how he is telling people they need to listen. This is the worst case scenario on how to deal with change, but it happens all around the…
To begin with, Okonkwo’s death marks the end of the Ibo culture in Umuofia. Anxious to return home, Okonkwo does not understand why everyone is allowing the missionaries to interfere with their lifestyle. Imposing a new religion and government, the white men do not understand or seem to care about how the clan operates, focusing solely on converting the clansmen to a supposedly superior ideology. As a result of his upbringing, Okonkwo is not afraid to fight for what he believes in, his tribe and culture, unlike most of the people in Umuofia. Originally convinced that Umuofia would fight against the new religion,…
Change is one of the biggest themes in this book. Okonkwo goes through a lot of changes for the worse. One example of a change for Okonkwo is when he was exiled for seven years. Okonkwo was exiled because his gun exploded and it shot a boy right in the heart. "It was the crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land." (P.124) Being exiled was a huge change for Okonkwo because he was forced to leave his farm that he worked so hard to build and move to his mothers natal village. The village men killed all the animals and burnt down Okonkwo 's whole farm to cleanse the village of his crime. He had to build new huts and a farm for his family, in which he wasn 't very happy about. Okonkwo felt as if "He had been cast out of his clan like a fish onto a dry, sandy beach, panting ." (P.131) The major reason why Okonkwo was angry about being exiled was because it ruined the chance of him ever being "lord of the clan," because he killed a clansman.…
Okonkwo, the main character in Things Fall Apart, is a hard headed man. He is very custom to his tribe's way of life. He believes a woman's place is in the house, cleaning cooking and taking care of the children. Okonkwo's father was not an acceptable man in Igbo society. His father was in extreme debt and was not a very structured man.…
In the Novel, “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe Okonkwo and his culture have affected him greatly because of his great loyalty to his culture. He responded negatively to the cultural collisions that he faced and wanted to fight for their tribe. But they could not fight as when the white man showed up they changed their culture. The men in Umuofia went from being tough and strong to then being weak and soft after the white man appeared. This set up many Cultural collisions in Okonkwo’s life.…
Throughout Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo's actions take place because he is afraid of becoming "A Woman" like his father. Not only does he act masculine to appear manly to the villagers, he does it to satisfy his own conscious. Okonkwo portrays a short temper in this book. Small things such as his supper being late and remarks about his hunting anger him, and lead to his beating of his wives and his son Nwoya. His desire to appear manly often fogged his judgment. When the time came to kill Ikemefuna, the boy who called him father, he was told by his best friend that he should not take part in this because the boy looked up to him. Okonkwo knew his friend was right. When he, Ikemefuna and other leaders of the tribe went to the woods to carry out the task, Okonkwo did not want the other men to think that he was weak so he cut down his own son. Okonkwo's actions were also motivated by the fear that his whole village would become weak. After returning from his exile in Mbanta, Okonkwo realized that the Christians were taking over. Unlike the rest of his tribe he wanted to go to war with them and drive them out. Soon he realized that during his seven years in exile Umuofia had changed and no longer was feared tribe it used to be. Okonkwo continued to fight the inevitable. His actions were never able to help his village; his worst fear had come true, they had become weak.…
In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo’s conformist reality and stubborn mindset causes him to alienate himself from the clan that is timidly embracing the change the white people bring. In the beginning of the book, we are informed Okonkwo is a strong, determined man--much unlike his father. Okonkwo’s crude fear of failure and weakness and ending up like his father drove him to change his lifestyle and become a better man. However, this initial change led one of the most respected clansmen to his demise. Okonkwo was so compelled by fear that it clouded the fact that he was, in fact, just like his father: “But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and weakness” (Achebe 9). After his exile, Okonkwo constantly tried to reissue order among the clan, but it appeared as though he was too late. When Obierika told Okonkwo of the white man’s invasion, the stubborn…
In the book, Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe emphasizes cultural collisions dramatically. Okonkwo, the protagonist, a warrior and a clan leader and must never show softness or weakness. Unlike his father who is cowardly and dishonorable man,who died in shame. In the novel, Okonkwo has many responsibilities from being a father, farmer, and leader. But his world falls apart when he has to kill Ikemefuna, a boy he takes charge of when his tribe wins a settlement with another tribe, and when he shoots Ogbuefi Ezeudu’s 16-year old son. Which vanishes him from his tribe. Over all, Okonkwo tries get back on his feet, but he ends up suiciding and Obierika then says that no one can move or touch his body because it is a grave sin; thus, according to custom. Then a district commissioner finds Okonkwo’s story to be interesting and makes a story of it and calls it The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the…
”(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.…
A firm belief in his way of life forced Okonkwo into his success at the beginning of Things Fall Apart. As it is noted in chapters one to three, Okonkwo’s birth had left him much to be desired. “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had (Achebe 16).” Indeed, with a father like Unoka, a “lazy and improvident” man, it is hard to imagine how Okonkwo left his circumstances when his father was one that “was poor” and left “his (Unoka’s) wife and children had barely enough to eat” (Achebe 04 & Achebe 05). Yet these experiences forced Okonkwo toughen up early in life. Okonkwo’s “whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13). After considering how Okonkwo’s spent his entire childhood under the shameful shadow of his father, it makes sense that “even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala” (Achebe 13).…
In the book, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the theme of fear is displayed all throughout the book. Achebe shows fear through Okonkwo, Igbo tradition, society, and the clash of cultures. In the Igbo tradition, men are judged based on their strength and masculinity; the fear of losing their social status, do to this, plays a major role in the story. The clan outcasts that cannot live up to the Igbo social status end up converting to Christianity because they would live a more prominent status. Okonkwo repels the new religious orders because he thinks that they are not manly and that he will not be manly if he agrees to join them. Achebe shows us Okonkwo’s resistance of cultural change is partially due to his fear of losing his social status when he states, “‘Let us not reason like cowards,’ said Okonkwo.…
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.…