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Okonkwo Influence On Things Fall Apart

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Okonkwo Influence On Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart is a novel documenting western contact and colonization of the Ibo community in Nigeria. The Ibo people are very traditional in their way of life, guaranteeing a cultural collision that forever changed their lives with the arrival of westerners and their ideas. The main character, Okonkwo, meets the aforementioned description, and finds himself with decisions to make regarding family, himself and his fellow villagers with the introduction of western ideas. Okonkwo’s reaction is similar to the overwhelming majority of other Ibo people: he believed the white westerners and their converts with psychologically impaired, as he saw no sensible explanations to their claims. The idea of one true God is one of many contractions the …show more content…
“The young church in Mbanta had a few crises early in its life,” which was in the Evil Forest, where villagers made sure that would ensure its failure. However, this did influence some others: Nwoye, Okonkwo’s feminine son of a failure, and low ranking members of society were intrigued, for they were unable to reap benefits in the current Ibo cultural and societal structure. Okonkwo disowned his son, for this very reason. Umuofia, a violent village, which placed males on a much higher pedestal above women, was also affected: “What is it that has happened to our people? Why have they lost the power to fight?” This later applies to Okonkwo, a prime embodiment of Umuofian strength, resilience, and discipline, as he killed himself in his conquest in defeating westernization. Okonkwo’s strong discipline kept him unaffected by western contact, but the cultural clash that affected his society led to Okonkwo’s …show more content…
Okonkwo’s life had been a series of matters falling apart, but coming back together. He grew up without a mother, and his father was deemed a failure. However, Okonkwo defeated “The Cat”, and became the greatest wrestler in the area. Then he became a sharecropper and soon an owner of two barns of yams. Okonkwo also committed a crime, and was exiled, but became prosperous during his banishment as well. Westernization was the obstacle that overcame Okonkwo, such an act that Umuofia and he would consider abominable, and the only threat that pushed towards Okonkwo’s demise. Unintended mishaps turning out into success is the thematic zenith representative of Things Fall

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