Okonkwo is daring, and he is a man of war. He is not afraid of bloodshed, unlike his father, Unoka. More important to note, it was stated in chapter 2, that “He was the first to bring home a human head.” Out of so many people in Umuofia, he was the first to kill someone, and bring its head home. This indicates that Okonkwo is very capable.
In chapter 4, “Okonkwo had been chosen by the nine villages to carry a message of was to their enemies.” This shows that Okonkwo is someone recognized by all in Umuofia. He is sent to represent NINE villages to convey an important message to the enemies. This shows that he is very capable.
NOTE: Capable may not be considered a character trait. However, I think it is important to know that Okonkwo IS capable. This is so as to contrast with the suicide at the end of the novel.
Okonkwo work hard because of Unoka.
“He was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death.” In chapter 3, we learnt that Okonkwo was shameful of his father, and he looks down on him. His hatred for Unoka drove him to be successful, and capable. He did not want to resemble his father in any way, thus, he worked hard, to achieve success in every other way.
“His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.” This fear was a result of Unoka being a failure. Okonkwo did not want to be looked down upon by others. He was afraid of being similar to his father, ie a failure. To get away with it, he worked hard. He wants to show others that he is different from his useless, worthless father. He wants to be clearly cut out for good things. Therefore, he drove himself to success, by being diligent and working hard. | |
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|Character Trait: Self-despair