"(142) This sentence is the core of the narrative. Here the two main conflicts are exposed clearly, the father-and-son conflict, aswell as the conflict between the Ibo people and the British colonisers, embodied in disparate religious beliefs. Okonkwo is the strong, successful son of a weak father, Unoka. This has formed his character and will eventually destroy him . "And so Okonkwo was ruled by one passion- to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved.
His murder, in which Okonkwo takes a part, haunts Okonkwo throughout the book. From the very beginning, Ikemefuna is the ultimate victim; his fate is completely out of his control since he is taken away by his family so early in life for a crime which he had no part in, nor any knowledge of. In his new life, Ikemefuna is subject to the whims of his new father and the Umuofia elders, in whose hands his fate ultimately lies. Ikemefuna is a prime example of how Okonkwo’s fear of being like his father – feminine and cowardly – drives him to make a poor, regrettable decision. He joins in killing Ikemefuna because he is afraid of being weak, yet he is haunted by his decision and it also permanently emotionally distances him from Nwoye.
Lauren Ngo Acc. English 10 Mr. Sweger Essay #6 5.15.2014 Okonkwo the Tragic Hero “The story of Okonkwo is in a way the story of our culture; he pays a price because he places too much emphasis on strength and manliness.” Both the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and the modern American culture relate to this statement in many ways. With Okonkwo’s desire to become strong and manly, he eventually causes his downfall due to his fear of becoming like his weak father. Upon reading Things Fall Apart, one can clearly see Okonkwo’s fear which eventually leads to his downfall in the instances of his relationship with his son Nwoye, his own reputation, and even in Okonkwo’s death itself. Okonkwo, who has the desire to become a strong, ambitious leader for his people in Umuofia, believes that “Yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his own family on yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed” (Achebe, 33).
Additionally, the novel continues to tell the story of Okonkwo and his family. Towards the middle of the novel his attitude continues to cause him problems. His actions cause his and his family’s life to alter. In chapter thirteen of the novel it states, “Okwonko’s gun had exploded and a piece of iron had pierced the boy’s heart.” It continues to say, “The only course open to Okonkwo was to flee from the clan.” During a ceremony an unexpected turn of events causes Okonkwo and his family to be exiled. Due to his personality
Ikemefuna lives in Umuofia for three years, and during that time he lives with Okonkwo. Over time, he becomes a part of Okonkwo's family. Nwoye, Okonkwo's oldest son, loves Ikemefuna like a brother. Eventually, the Oracle comes to kill the boy, and a group of men take Ikemefuna away to kill him in the forest. Okonkwo, afraid of being viewed as soft-hearted and weak, participates in the killing of Ikemefuna.
Family life, social institutions, and cultural values and beliefs are all depicted in great detail. The bulk of the plot of the novel doesn't begin until Okonkwo and his family are forced into exile for seven years as a result of Okonkwo's accidental killing of another clansman. He relocates his family to the birth village of his mother and attempts to rebuild his life there with the help of his uncle Uchendu. Okonkwo is left disenchanted by the entire ordeal as his aspirations of becoming a lord of his clan are now impossible. A few years into his exile, six Christian missionary arrive in the village led by the accepting Mr. Brown.
When things became rough for Okonkwo he decided to give up on life, which is something his father may have done. Therefore ironically, Okonkwo turned out somewhat just like his poor, lazy father. On the other hand, Chinua Achebe also used plot twists to highlight important themes and parts of the novel such as when Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna, a 15 year-old boy who was sent from Mbaino, a neighboring village, to live with Okonkwo’s family. During the
The laziness of Unoka encouraged Okonkwo to rise above the live his father lived. Additionally, the concern of changing fellow townspeople belief that Onkonkwo would be equivalent to Unoka and constructing his own reputation were also a factor in his motives. The quotation of Okonkwo “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 an agbala.” (Achebe 13), shows the distinctive mind set of Okonkwo in comparison to Unoka. The relationship between Okonkwo and his family also inspire Okonkwo’s static character decisions. With his strong attitude he has no patience for his wife that is why she ends up getting beat many times through the novel.
Obama’s early life of loss and displacement of his absent father leaves Obama with a self-created image of Obama’s father through the stories of his father from his mother and grandparents. Obama carries the single image of his father being “the brilliant scholar, the generous friend [and] the upstanding leader” through his life until he attains an altered image of his father being “ a bitter drunk, an abusive husband, and a defeated bureaucrat” from his sister Auma after organising a few arrangements to meet finally meet each other. Obama at a young age, not having his father in his life and having met him only once gave him a desire to search for his lost father through his family and by visiting Kenya. Obama goes through a journey of self-discovery in search of his own identity, with his mixed American and
when Okonkwo father died he had been in a lot of debt, Okonkwo became obsessed with the idea of manliness in order to get over his father weakness. ”It was the fear himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father.”(13). Therefore, Okonkwo only showed the emotion of anger. He strongly believed that "To show affection was a sign of weakness the only thing worth demonstrating was strength.”(28). Okonkwo’s life first began to fall apart when Ikemefuna, his supposed to be son was killed.