His father was very laid back and accomplished nothing in life and Okonkwo hated him for it. Okonkwo’s eldest son Nwoye is lazy and weak from an early age. Okonkwo’s fear of his father’s laziness rubbing off on his son Nwoye changes Okonkwo from hero to villain when he beats him to make himself more masculine. What he thinks is helping his family is actually causing pain. Okonkwo’s wives are often beaten for the simplest of things, sometimes even for not explaining to him where they have gone.
Things Fall Apart Study Guide Chapter 1: Okonkwo was violent, unkind, wild, strong, active, huge, rich, powerful, and successful. On the other hand, Unoko, his father, was tall, thin, lazy, improvident, debtor, poor, coward, unsuccessful, and gentle. Okonkwo was ashamed of his father to the point that he hated everything the Unoko loved. Okonkwo was successful and unkind because his father was the exact opposite. Achebe keeps introducing Ibo customs to show that African people had laws, education, and respect towards one another.
In their village, having no title (as a male) means that you aren’t worthy or powerful. Understanding that Okonkwo was very afraid of failing, even more afraid of being like his father. Meaning having no power, or being worthy. The narrator tells us that Okonkwo, “...was ruled by one passion - to hate everything his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness.” (Achebe pg.13).
Things Fall Apart Notes Chapter 1 • Okonkwo, the greatest warrior of a Nigerian tribe, the Umuofia clan, lives in the little village called Iguedo • He is the most respected man in Iguedo: when he was a young man, he beat Amalinze the Cat, the undefeated warrior, in a wrestling match. • Okonkwo wants to ignore his father, Unoka’s memory: he was an idle and shy flute player who hated everything what is important to Okonkwo: fighting, war, honor, manliness, and family • Okonkwo’s oldest son, Nwoye, is very similar to Unoka which makes Okonkwo angry and brutal towards him Chapter 2 • The war threatens to break out between Umuofia and Mbaino, a neighboring village, because of an unsolved murder • Umuofia sends Okonkwo, since Okonkwo has a great reputation everywhere, to Mbaino to offer an ultimatum: give Umuofia a virgin and a young boy, or go to war. Okonkwo is considered a representative. • Mbaino readily consents, not wanting to battle against the superior might of Umuofia Chapter 3 • Okonkwo is not just a great warrior but a successful farmer as well: he grows yam, the king crop • Unlike his father, he is wealthy, owning an obi, a shrine, a barn, and three huts, one for each of his three wives • Okonkwo believes only in hard work and the display of masculinity through anger and aggression, that’s why he despises his father who was never be able to succeed because of his laziness and shyness for blood Chapter 4 • Ikemefuna, who becomes a very popular boy in the family, starts calling Okonkwo "father". Okonkwo likes him, but he doesn’t want to show his feelings since he hates sentimentality, because he believes that sentimentality is weak • On the Week of Peace, Okonkwo breaks the "law" when he beats one of his wives, Ojiugo, because she was too negligent.
When Okonkwo takes part in the murder of the young boy, his birth son, Nwoye, loses all respect for his father, and that is the turning point in Okonkwo’s life because he no longer is the valued individual among all members of his family. In Okonkwo’s understanding, “No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and his children (and especially his women) he was not really a man” (Achebe 58). This chapter drives the plot because Okonkwo is no longer respected by his only son, who was the one person that he had the most faith and hope in. In terms of character, Okonkwo did not respect his own father, so he wanted to make sure that this wasn’t the case with his children, especially his son. Okonkwo wants Nwoye to grow into a strong and powerful man,
-Okonkwo (Chapter 4)” Furthermore, in the Ibo society, a man is respected if he is fearless and courageous. Okonkwo would be the quintessential representation of such an individual. He is seen as a man incapable of affection or compassion because he rules his household with fear and a heavy hand. One can infer these qualities of Okonkwo by the following quote in the novel “Things Fall Apart. “Okonkwo was also feeling tired, and sleepy, for although nobody else knew it, he had not
This meant that he had to be the opposite of what his father was; he couldn’t bare even being a hair alike. By this becoming his purpose Okonkwo lost many qualities, and moments of his life that made him become instead of respected; feared. Okonkwo had the inability to form any sort of relationship with his family, friends, and even including himself. “Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly, unless it is the emotion of anger. To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength” (pg 28).
Okonkwo was clearly cut out for great things” (8). Driven by his fear and need to be respected, Okonkwo becomes a fierce warrior and wrestler, a revered community member and an extremely capable farmer. By his midlife he has progressed to outshine not only his father but also many other men in the community. Yet unlike his father, Okonkwo is violent, cold, detached and fueled by fear. As Achebe suggests, “Okonkwo’s fear was greater than
Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” is a tragic story of Willy Loman, the father of what can be considered a typical American family. Willy’s father was never there to teach him the importance of tradition, values, or healthy opinions. Willy has spent his whole life chasing the American dream of wealth and posterity working as a salesman. Now in his sixty’s he is suffering from memory loss, he has lost his job, and has no financial security. He never knew his father so he doesn’t have a good sense of his own identity, he makes poor decisions in raising his son’s by instilling a false sense of what it takes to be successful, and allows them to steal and cheat.
How does Miller present Joe Keller as a tragic hero In All My Sons? Joe Keller is a man who loves and values his family very much and has sacrificed everything, including his honour, in his struggle to make his family prosperous. He is a self-made business man, who in spite of his humble beginning, has managed to work his way up in the business world and become a successful manufacturer. Joe perfectly fits into the category of tragic hero. Unlike Greek plays, where main characters were kings and nobles for they were thought to embody the whole community, modern tragedies present an average leader of a family, neither completely good nor completely evil, whose mistake leads to his self-destruction.