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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.…
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Okonkwo just simply treated him as a father would in the Ibo culture, forgetting and disowning him as one would. Once the invasion of the Christians has spreaded throughout Umuofia, convincing many to convert, it allowed Okonkwo to see his values through a more precise point of view, “He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women.” (Achebe 183). It was then that Okonkwo truly realized how he felt in comparison to everyone else around him, even though they were in the same clan under the same culture. He got to witnessed the breakdown within his clan right before his eyes.…
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Okonkwo was banished from Umuofia for 7 years and he went to live in his mother’s land for that time (Achebe, 124). Okonkwo was insecure about living in his mother’s land because men are naturally supposed to live in their father’s land. Uchendu, the leader of Okonkwo’s mother’s land, gave him land to build his hutts and land for farming season (Achebe, 129). Okonkwo felt very insecure when Uchendu asked him why one of their commonest names is Nneka meaning “Mother is Supreme” (Achebe, 133). Okonkwo was insecure because children belong to their fathers yet seek remission from their mothers after being beaten from their father, and Okonkwo was in his mother’s land not his father’s land. Uchendu made Okonkwo feel insecure because he was telling him not to be sorrowful because he isn’t the greatest sufferer in the world (Achebe, 135). Although Okonkwo was very insecure after being exiled for 7 years, his insecurity took a worse tole when it came to tying not to appear weak to his…
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Okonkwo’s fear drives him to strive for success and honor in his clan; his fear is responsible for his high social status and his title. Okonkwo’s father had left him with absolutely nothing of value; no yams, no wives, not even a compound. He has to work very hard to build up his worth in the village and clan. “Any one who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky. If ever a man deserved his success, that man was Okonkwo.” (34, Achebe). Okonkwo couldn’t deal with just being happy, as Unoka had valued life, he needed the honor and the social status. He needed to wash away the stain that was his father. “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond, His fame rested on solid personal…
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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.…
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In Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo has a fear of weakness and failure. Although Okonkwo is the strongest man in Umuofia, Okonkwo’s fear of failure does not permit him to be a true genuine person. Okonkwo's life is driven by his fear of imperfection and becoming a failure. Therefore he avoids anything that will prevent him from failing.…
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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…
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“ When Unoka died he had taken no title at all and he was heavily in debt. Any wonder then that his son Okonkwo was ashamed of him? Fortunately, among these people, a man was judged according to his wort hand not according to the worth of his father… He was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams and he had taken two titles” (16). Okonkwo usually averts from emotions for he believes showing emotions besides anger may lead to being weak and feminine, something that his father was quite…
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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).…
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Starting off with Things Fall Apart’s main character, whose name is Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a very strong willed man who encountered problems from the very beginning of his life. He had a father who did not do much with his life and therefore when he died, he left nothing for Okonkwo to go by “Okonkwo did not have the start in life…inherit” (Achebe 11). This is one of the first problems that Okonkwo faces in his life. He has a decision to make to overcome this problem, either to take the impulsive or emotional decision to…
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First, one of Okonkwo’s major weak points was his family. He tried not to let it show, but he cared deeply for his family. For example, when Ikemefuna was introduced into Okonkwo’s life, Okonkwo immediately grew a stronger bond with Ikemefuna than he had with his real children. After raising Ikemefuna for three years, Okonkwo was told Ikemefuna must be killed. Not only did he agree to it but he took part in the brutal murder. On page 61, Achebe writes, “Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” Although he loved Ikemefuna like his own son, he killed Ikemefuna to avoid being thought of as weak by his fellow clansmen. Another example of Okonkwo’s weakness when it came to his family was when he followed Ekwefi, Enzima and Chielo to the shrine. He wanted to ensure his daughter and wife’s safety. On page 112, Achebe says, “He allowed what he regarded as a reasonable and manly interval to pass and then gone with his machete to the shrine.”…
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Just like he is not allowed to express emotion regarding others’ actions, Okonkwo is also limited to what he can express about his own actions. Okonkwo is a man of many titles and is expected not to break any of the tribe’s spiritual laws. He did just this, however, when he beat his wife during the Week of Peace. Although he did feel sorry for his actions, “he was not the man to go about telling his neighbors that he was in error” (Achebe 31). He did not express that he regretted his actions. Okonkwo also seemed harder because he put his tribe’s customs before his own logic. In Umuofia it was expected that the eldest son was able to perform all of the tasks of a man. Because of this, Okonkwo treated Nwoye with a hard hand and pushed him to accomplish harder goals, such as preparing the yam…
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The main character in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo, is one of many examples of a positive outlook on a negative situation. During the funeral of Ezeudu, Okonkwo’s gun accidentally fired and killed a boy. Okonkwo was forced to be exiled to his to his mother’s homeland. By fleeing his home, Okonkwo and his family had no choice but to leave behind their homes and the majority of their possession, including all of the produce they had grown and harvested. When arriving in his motherland, Okonkwo and his family had to start from scratch.…
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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…
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Okonkwo has been through very many hardships in his life including being treated poorly by his father who he views as an anti-role model in a way which has heavily influenced the way he is now and how he treats himself and his tribe mates. Firstly, his constant desire to be as distant from his father as possible has created the fear of being like him or polluting his life with laziness and irresponsibility which lets him focus his time on his tribe mates and family. Secondly, Okonkwo has identified the way his father raised him and he is constantly trying to raise his family differently but occasionally lets fear get the best of him and he starts to act violent. Lastly, Okonkwo’s decision to take in Ikemefuna and keep him in his family shows how he is accepting of others and…
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