Commentary on Things Fall Apart's Okonkwo and Unoka
My focus will be on the relationship between Unoka and Okonkwo. I chose that topic because it is interesting to find out how father and son can differ in so many ways.
Eventhough they are directly blood related, Unoka and Okonkwo have a very different characteristic. Unoka the father was a very lazy and wasteful man, while Okonkwo is everything Unoka was not. Many people have been asking the same question on this strange matter since they are more familiar with the saying ‘like father, like son’. But Okonkwo is different, since he was a child; he has been through neglected-like situation. He has spent days without food, and received all the teases and jokes of unoka’s incapabilities which were thrown upon him. He then became traumatized of unoka’s figure, and trying to be someone Unoka was not. The novel opens up with the description of Okonkwo’s greatness, and then followed by the description of Unoka’s failure. This contradictory structured informs the reader about the power Okonkwo possesses upon Unoka.
Unoka was an irresponsible man. He never took care of his own family. The very beginning of his description says that whenever he has money, he would spend it to satisfy his own redundant needs. He is not at all a father figure for Okonkwo and his sisters. Not being a protector, he did not even want to give out any sweat to feed his family, and he has a huge collection of debts. During his life, he never took a title and, therefore, never gained status or respect from the villagers. When he died he inherited absolutely nothing to Okonkwo. This way, Okonkwo has deleted Unoka from being a father.
Okonkwo who had felt all the humilitation caused by Unoka, has clearly understood the importance of title and power in order to gain respect from all. After the death of Unoka, Okonkwo was re-borned and transformed into a power-craze man. He experienced enough of sorrow in his childhood, and those experiences shaped him into the cold-hearted human being. He believes that
Eventhough they are directly blood related, Unoka and Okonkwo have a very different characteristic. Unoka the father was a very lazy and wasteful man, while Okonkwo is everything Unoka was not. Many people have been asking the same question on this strange matter since they are more familiar with the saying ‘like father, like son’. But Okonkwo is different, since he was a child; he has been through neglected-like situation. He has spent days without food, and received all the teases and jokes of unoka’s incapabilities which were thrown upon him. He then became traumatized of unoka’s figure, and trying to be someone Unoka was not. The novel opens up with the description of Okonkwo’s greatness, and then followed by the description of Unoka’s failure. This contradictory structured informs the reader about the power Okonkwo possesses upon Unoka.
Unoka was an irresponsible man. He never took care of his own family. The very beginning of his description says that whenever he has money, he would spend it to satisfy his own redundant needs. He is not at all a father figure for Okonkwo and his sisters. Not being a protector, he did not even want to give out any sweat to feed his family, and he has a huge collection of debts. During his life, he never took a title and, therefore, never gained status or respect from the villagers. When he died he inherited absolutely nothing to Okonkwo. This way, Okonkwo has deleted Unoka from being a father.
Okonkwo who had felt all the humilitation caused by Unoka, has clearly understood the importance of title and power in order to gain respect from all. After the death of Unoka, Okonkwo was re-borned and transformed into a power-craze man. He experienced enough of sorrow in his childhood, and those experiences shaped him into the cold-hearted human being. He believes that