Similar Men

A Comparison of Similar Men
Aurora Quezada
Word Count: 533

“Achievement of your happiness is the only moral purpose of your life and that happiness, not pain or mindless self-indulgence, is the proof of your moral integrity, since it is the proof and result of your loyalty to the achievement of your values” Ayn Rand
Things Fall Apart is about Okonkwo, a man from Nigeria, who is a respected leader among his clan and aggressively guards his titles. Siddartha is the son of a Brahman who leaves his title to find something more. In both of these texts the main character is self- indulgent therefore not willing to identify with others. The authors portray the characters to be what the characters know themselves to be. Things Fall Apart and Siddartha have drastically different endings for men with same mindset. The way that these stories began determined how the stories ended.
Both authors exalted the men in their books giving a sense of over belief or disbelief of the alleged exaltations. Chinua Achebe starts by telling of all Okonkwo’s achievements and of his manly stature. Achebe opens, “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Analinze the cat (Achebe 3).” In this way the author is setting up Okonkwo to make you think of him as a great man. Siddartha is set up the same way telling of his greatness. In the text it states, “Already he understood, within the interior of his being he recognized Atman (a person’s essence or real self), indestructible, at one with the universe (Hesse 5).” Hesse does this the same as Achebe.
The authors do this to show not what they think of each character but rather, how the characters see themselves. These characters show disregard for others to advance their own causes. In Siddartha, Siddartha goes to his father having already decided to leave his place as the son of the Brahman and his father replies,”It is unbecoming for a Brahman to speak vehement or angry words. But my heart is vexed. I

A Comparison of Similar Men
Aurora Quezada
Word Count: 533

would not like to hear this request from your lips a second time (Hesse 10.)” Though his father is displeased Siddartha stubbornly refutes his father’s answer with a temperamental display until his father acquiesces. This is a perfect example of Siddartha’s focus on himself. In Things Fall Apart it states,
“He had lost the chance to lead his warlike clan against the new religion, which, he was told, had gained ground. He had lost the years in which he might have taken the highest titles in the clan but some of these losses were no irreparable. He was determined that his return should be marked by his people. He would return with a flourish, and regain the seven wasted years” this tells of Okonkwo’s narcissistic ways. These two books are the same in this way.
Concentration on one’s own prospers is the measure of their morals. Siddartha and Okonkwo were self-centered in their paths. Okonkwo was the son of a poor man. Siddartha was the son of a
Brahman because of this their stories lead them to different endings.