Okonkwo believes that not following orders is a sign of weakness and that one should do whatever it takes to not display weakness. When Okonkwo is told that Ikemefuna must die to no display weakness, Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna, and this is shown when “ Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak”(61). This shows how Okonkwo would go to the extreme to not be displayed as weak. When Okonkwo confronts Obeirka about not coming to Ikemefuna’s death he says, “ you sound as if your question the authority and the decision of the Oracle, who said he should die”, to which Obeirka replied by saying “I do not, why should I? But the Oracle did not ask me to carry out this decision”(66). This shows Okonkwo confronts others…
Okonkwo, the main character in Things Fall Apart, is a hard headed man. He is very custom to his tribe's way of life. He believes a woman's place is in the house, cleaning cooking and taking care of the children. Okonkwo's father was not an acceptable man in Igbo society. His father was in extreme debt and was not a very structured man.…
Throughout the novel, Okonkwo treats most of the people harshly, however, Ikemefuna, a boy he takes into his family, and his daughter Ezinma are probably the only characters whom he treats kindly. Although Ikemefuna is not a member of his family Okonkwo felt that "his son's development was due to Ikemefuna" (37) and felt proud when the two boys "sat with him in his obi" (37). Although, he strikes Ikemefuna down when the clan orders him killed it is not because of hatred but because "he was afraid of being thought weak" (43). Ezinma is Okonkwo's favorite daughter and the only child of Ekwefi, is bold in the way that she approachesand even sometimes contradictsher father. Okonkwo remarks to himself multiple times that he wishes she "should have been a boy" (45), since he considers her to have such a masculine spirit. As well, he and she are very similar in their characteristics, which are shown during Okonkwo's exile when Ezinma agrees to put off marriage until her family returns from exile so as to help her father leverage his…
Throughout Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo's actions take place because he is afraid of becoming "A Woman" like his father. Not only does he act masculine to appear manly to the villagers, he does it to satisfy his own conscious. Okonkwo portrays a short temper in this book. Small things such as his supper being late and remarks about his hunting anger him, and lead to his beating of his wives and his son Nwoya. His desire to appear manly often fogged his judgment. When the time came to kill Ikemefuna, the boy who called him father, he was told by his best friend that he should not take part in this because the boy looked up to him. Okonkwo knew his friend was right. When he, Ikemefuna and other leaders of the tribe went to the woods to carry out the task, Okonkwo did not want the other men to think that he was weak so he cut down his own son. Okonkwo's actions were also motivated by the fear that his whole village would become weak. After returning from his exile in Mbanta, Okonkwo realized that the Christians were taking over. Unlike the rest of his tribe he wanted to go to war with them and drive them out. Soon he realized that during his seven years in exile Umuofia had changed and no longer was feared tribe it used to be. Okonkwo continued to fight the inevitable. His actions were never able to help his village; his worst fear had come true, they had become weak.…
This relates to Things Fall Apart, in Chapter 2 because you can see that Okonkwo pressures his son, Nwoye, to be just like him. Okonkwo then finds Nwoye, to be very lazy and starts to beat him to “man him up” and make him tough like a man should be. Nwoye then becomes more attached to Ikemefuna, who shows care and comfort and becomes very distant and shows no interest in his father Okonkwo anymore.…
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.…
In the book, Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe emphasizes cultural collisions dramatically. Okonkwo, the protagonist, a warrior and a clan leader and must never show softness or weakness. Unlike his father who is cowardly and dishonorable man,who died in shame. In the novel, Okonkwo has many responsibilities from being a father, farmer, and leader. But his world falls apart when he has to kill Ikemefuna, a boy he takes charge of when his tribe wins a settlement with another tribe, and when he shoots Ogbuefi Ezeudu’s 16-year old son. Which vanishes him from his tribe. Over all, Okonkwo tries get back on his feet, but he ends up suiciding and Obierika then says that no one can move or touch his body because it is a grave sin; thus, according to custom. Then a district commissioner finds Okonkwo’s story to be interesting and makes a story of it and calls it The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the…
3. Ikemefuna was a young boy that Okonkwo had to take care of. He was given to Okonkwo as a peace offering from another village. The other village, Mbaino killed a woman from Umuofia and a young virgin and Ikemefuna was given to the village as a peace offering. Okonkwo was troubled by his death because he became like a son to him. Ikemefuna…
Throughout the course of the story, Okonkwo makes many irrational decisions without putting much thought into them first. He is constantly offending the Igbo traditions, such as when he beats his wife during the Week of Peace. When killing Ikemefuna, he does not think of Nwoye and himself and how it will affect both of them and the consequences it might bring. He can only think of one thing when killing Ikemefuna: he is afraid of being thought weak. He does not seem to care that Ikemefuna is running to him for help and for safety out of trust. He betrays the trust of Ikemefuna by delivering to him a killing blow. It is clear throughout the book that Okonkwo “became fond of the boy” (Achebe 28) and favors him over Nwoye. He would have preferred to keep Ikemefuna alive since he considers Ikemefuna as a son and as a positive, manly influence on Nwoye. Ikemefuna is the primary reason that Nwoye begins to grow up and become the man Okonkwo wants him to be, with Nwoye even beginning to“feign annoyance and grumble aloud about women and their troubles” (Achebe 52). Nwoye puts effort into pleasing his father even if he doesn’t believe in the downgrading of women. Okonkwo knows that the cause of the change in Nwoye is due to Ikemefuna, yet he kills the boy anyways without thinking of the consequences. This lack of…
In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo worries that after his participation in the killing of Ikemefuna his emotions will show as a sign of weakness. Expressing emotions as a male is seen as a sign of femininity and therefore a sign of weakness in Ibe culture. Okonkwo tries to hide his emotions behind his actions and temper that lead to the foreshadowed ending of the village slowly falling apart.…
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.”…
Ikemefuna was a teenage boy that Okonkwo took temporary possession of after a settlement with a neighboring clan. Okonkwo and his family created a close bond with the boy, which is significant because Okonkwo rarely ever has an attachment to people. One day it is determined that one of the local gods wants the foreign boy killed. Despite urgings from his neighbor, Okonkwo went with the men to kill Ikemefuna to avoid appearing unmanly. When the village men began to attack the unsuspecting boy he ran towards Okonkwo for help, Okonkwo instead cuts down the boy, once again to avoid appearing weak. Although Okonkwo appears stoic at first, he falls into a deep depression when he returns home saying to himself, "'When did you become a shivering old woman, you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.'" Although Okonkwo's actions seem unforgivable, especially by western standards, he is clearly suffering a deep moral conflict as a result of those…
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…
This relates to Things Fall Apart because in chapter 2 you can see that Okonkwo pressures his son, Nwoye, to be just like him. Okonkwo find Nwoye to be lazy and not manly enough so he beats and nags at him constantly. Nwoye then becomes more attached to Ikemefuna who is shows care and comfort and becomes less attached to his father who is far more heavy-handed and intimidating.…
Here, Achebe writes about Okonkwo’s desperate search for Ezimna and Ekwefi on the night the priestess took Ezimna. Earlier in the novel on page nine, Achebe explains the fear and superstition that the Umuofian people have of the dark because of evil spirits. This establishes the uninviting and chilling conditions of the night. The author further develops tensions in this passage by using a simile to describe “the Hills and the Caves” (Achebe 112) as being “as silent as death” (112) when Okonkwo did not find Ezimna and Ekwefi. Okonkwo’s courage to search for them is driven by the fear of his daughter’s death and his ongoing remorse about the death of his son, Ikemefuna. By establishing this, Achebe aims to demonstrate that Okonkwo cares so…