Suicide In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart
18. Why do you think Okonkwo kills himself at the end of the novel?
Okonkwo commits suicide because there seemed to be no other way out for him. He had lost his place in his own culture that was now conquered by the Church and its Christian values. He knew that the Europeans eventually would execute him because he killed the messenger. Being a proud man, he preferred to take his fate in his own hands and commit suicide, instead of letting the Europeans control hem. Furthermore, he just could not bear the idea that his people were betrayed and would live in oppression. He used to trust in his tribe, but now the Europeans have broken his people, a disgrace he simply could not accept.
12. A famous proverb quoted in the novel states: “When a man says yes, his chi says yes also”. What does this proverb mean? To what extent is this true in the case of Okonkwo? …show more content…
In Ibo cosmology, the chi inside you guides your actions. So your chi is responsible for everything you do good or wrong, for your fortunes and misfortunes. The proverb “When a man says yes, his chi says yes also”, means that individuals can determine their own destinies because one’s willpower can have an impact on someone’s Chi. In Okonkwo’s case this is true because he is more or less responsible for his own death. Furthermore, he already became famous in his early years being the greatest wrestler in the country. That was not just all luck. He had a good chi and when we apply this to the proverb we can say that Okonkwo said yes very determinedly: so his chi agreed. When the story continues we discover that several things happen that contradict this belief, what really shocked
18. Why do you think Okonkwo kills himself at the end of the novel?
Okonkwo commits suicide because there seemed to be no other way out for him. He had lost his place in his own culture that was now conquered by the Church and its Christian values. He knew that the Europeans eventually would execute him because he killed the messenger. Being a proud man, he preferred to take his fate in his own hands and commit suicide, instead of letting the Europeans control hem. Furthermore, he just could not bear the idea that his people were betrayed and would live in oppression. He used to trust in his tribe, but now the Europeans have broken his people, a disgrace he simply could not accept.
12. A famous proverb quoted in the novel states: “When a man says yes, his chi says yes also”. What does this proverb mean? To what extent is this true in the case of Okonkwo? …show more content…
In Ibo cosmology, the chi inside you guides your actions. So your chi is responsible for everything you do good or wrong, for your fortunes and misfortunes. The proverb “When a man says yes, his chi says yes also”, means that individuals can determine their own destinies because one’s willpower can have an impact on someone’s Chi. In Okonkwo’s case this is true because he is more or less responsible for his own death. Furthermore, he already became famous in his early years being the greatest wrestler in the country. That was not just all luck. He had a good chi and when we apply this to the proverb we can say that Okonkwo said yes very determinedly: so his chi agreed. When the story continues we discover that several things happen that contradict this belief, what really shocked