Preview

Things Fall Apart Chapter Evidence

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1154 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Things Fall Apart Chapter Evidence
Evidence
Inference – Commentary
Textual reference-
“Okonkwo was well known through the nine villages…”
Context-
Okonkwo is introduced, he well known.

Thematic idea suggested by evidence-
Honor
Commentary-
Okonkwo seems to be loved but also feared because of his impatience.
Textual reference-
“His wives, especially the youngest lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper…”
Context-
Because of the laziness of his father, Okonkwo was harsh and abusive but not cruel.
Thematic idea suggested by evidence-
Fear of failure
Commentary-
Okonkwo wants to be nothing like his father.
Textual reference-
“Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had.”
Context-
His fathers’ laziness affected Okonkwos’ life in terrible ways.
Thematic idea suggested by evidence-
Family
Commentary-

Textual reference-
“The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan…we shall all perish.”
Context-
Okonkwo has been lucky, but now he will pay for his actions
Thematic idea suggested by evidence-
Fate
Commentary- Okonkwo is driving his wives away.

Textual reference-
“But somehow Okonkwo could never become as enthusiastic over feasts as most people”
Context-
Okonkwo feels the need to work instead of celebrate.
Thematic idea suggested by evidence-
Honor
Commentary-
Okonkwo is too hardworking.
Textual reference-
“They stood round in a huge circle leaving the center of the playground free.”
Context-
They are getting ready for the wrestling matches.
Thematic idea suggested by evidence-
Relationships
Commentary- The wrestling matches are a big deal among the villages.
Textual reference-
Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.”
Context-
They, Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna.

Thematic idea suggested by evidence-
Identity
Commentary-
Okonkwo is so full of “pride” that he is becoming more heartless.
Textual Reference-
“He tried not to think about Ikemefuna, but the more he tried the more he thought about him.”
Context-

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    TFA Dialectic Journals

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “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.” pg.13…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    CM: Giving into his emotions, Okonkwo reacts with fear that elders will see him as a failure, thus Okonkwo resorts to violence.…

    • 203 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This relates to Things Fall Apart because in chapter 2 you can see that Okonkwo pressures his son, Nwoye, to be just like him. Okonkwo find Nwoye to be lazy and not manly enough so he beats and nags at him constantly. Nwoye then becomes more attached to Ikemefuna who is shows care and comfort and becomes less attached to his father who is far more heavy-handed and intimidating.…

    • 1182 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo Quotes Analysis

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Okonkwo believes that not following orders is a sign of weakness and that one should do whatever it takes to not display weakness. When Okonkwo is told that Ikemefuna must die to no display weakness, Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna, and this is shown when “ Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak”(61). This shows how Okonkwo would go to the extreme to not be displayed as weak. When Okonkwo confronts Obeirka about not coming to Ikemefuna’s death he says, “ you sound as if your question the authority and the decision of the Oracle, who said he should die”, to which Obeirka replied by saying “I do not, why should I? But the Oracle did not ask me to carry out this decision”(66). This shows Okonkwo confronts others…

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was extremely lazy and sickly, while Okonkwo was constantly active and seen with respect throughout the tribe. Unoka had one wife and no title, which showed his lowly importance in the tribe. Unoka was weak and couldn’t support his family, which causes Okonkwo to start working at a young age, so he could take care his family. “Unoka, the grown-up, was a failure. He was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat.” Okonkwo lived in constant fear of failure. Okonkwo didn’t like showing emotions, unless it was anger. He ruled his household with a heavy hand and with constant threats to his many wives. “His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children.…

    • 156 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    4. Page #______ Why does Okonkwo behave as a cruel man when, “perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo is not a cruel man” (13)?…

    • 1699 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Okwonko did not have a solid family conection. Infact he absolutly resented his dad, and his oldest child did not want anything to do with him. "Even as a little boy he had resented his father 's failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala." ( Achebe 13) Okonkwo despised everything his dad was and did. His dad played the flute, so Okonkwo thought that music was for the weak. Okonkwos dad was afraid of blood, so Okonkwo strived to be a great warrior. All of these qualities that he thought was weak, he tried to make sure his children never got invlovled in them, and because of this his oldest chiled Nwoye hated him. "Okonkwo 's first son ,Nwoye, was then twelve years old but he was already causeing his father great anxiety... he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating."( Achebe 14) Okonkwo thought that Nwoye was becoming to much like his father, so he had to "correct" him and make sure that he wouldn 't become the very thing he hated most. In doing so he made his own son want nothing to do with him.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Therefore, he wanted to rise above him and began acting more manly by “(dazed with fear) [drawing] his machete and [cutting] him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” Although Okonkwo did not feel comfortable by his actions, he felt that he had to prove something to himself and show that he will not end up like his…

    • 640 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo despises his father for those exact reason. He feels like being kind or caring shows you have feelings and emotions, and that makes you look feminine of womanly like. Okonkwo’s father was also given the name of “agbala” which means a womanly like person, Okonkwo was very ashamed of this fact. “Even as a little boy he had resented his father’s failure and weakness… agbala was not only another name for a woman. It could also mean a man who had taken to title” (chapter 2, paragraph 12). Okonkwo never shows his affection to his adopted son Ikemefuna. “Okonkwo refused to let his feelings slip”(chapter 4, paragraph 7). He was not willing to show emotion of love or happiness as he feared of being seen as a unmanly person. One thing you can see about Okonkwo is that he has to resist his strongest emotions that were unmanly. He had to enforce very strict gender roles on his family and subordinates. He is very on board with this gender diversity and he seems like he will want to continue this…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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
  • Good Essays

    as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” Okonkwo’s response to my first evidence is that he feels that he doesn’t want to show no weakness, but his culture pressures him and forces it mentally upon him to kill a boy who he felt was a son.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Early on in the novel readers are introduced to Okonkwo's hamartia: the fear of appearing weak. This affects his temperament and the relationship he chooses to have with his family. Okonkwo cannot show the affection he has to his family, even though he definitely has a strong fatherly affection to both his daughter Enzima, and the outsider Ikemefuna. Okonkwo's wives and his eldest son Nwoye suffer most from this lack of affection. The three wives bear many beatings; his second wife Ekwefi is almost killed with a gun when she mumbles an insulting remark about her husband's shooting skills. They go into exile for seven years with Okonkwo, and although the novel doesn't show what happens to the widows when Okonkwo commits suicide, it probably isn't a happy life. This lack of affection though is how Okonkwo stays strong and also how he achieved his high status in the community. After hearing what happened to Okonkwo's "lazy" father one can understand this sternness that Okonkwo lives with.…

    • 624 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He hides his emotions behind angry out bursts and vents all of this towards his wives and emotional son Nwoye. Okonkwo favored his other sons more than Nwoye mainly because he didn’t seem masculine and therefore could later bring shame to the family if he does not grow up to be like his father. However to properly understand Okonkwo’s emotional stress the reader must separate his real anger from the concealing anger. A good example of his real anger is when he finds out that one of his banana trees is dead due to his wife. “Who killed this banana tree? … okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping.” (38) This excerpt shows how small things easy enrage…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Clearly his personal god or chi was not made for great things. A man could not rise beyond the destiny of his chi. The saying of the elders was not true- that if a man said yea his chi also affirmed. Here was a man whose chi said nay despite his own affirmation.” (Achebe, 131)…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    How Is Okonkwo Selfish

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages

    From the way Okonkwo is with his family and others in the community, he is a self-made, well-respected member of the village, but also a ruthless person. For instance, “Okonkwo’s prosperity was visible in his household. He had a large compound enclosed... He worshipped them with sacrifices of kola nut, food and palm-wine, and offered prayers to them on behalf of himself, his three wives and eight children.” (14) From this quote, it is easy to see that Okonkwo is self-made person, and that’s probably the reason why he is well-respected in the village. Whereas, his father is such a lazy person. It actually talks about how others treat his father: “Even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman, it could also mean a man who had taken no title.”(13) He is probably shamed by what his father had done, that’s why he tried so hard to be rich. Moreover, there are a lot of examples that show Okonkwo is quite a ruthless person, but one of the best quotes is, “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. ”(29) Okonkwo treats very strict to his family, he even beat his wife during the Week of Peace without…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics