During the week of peace, “He walked back to his obi to await Ojiugo’s return. And when she returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace. His first two wives ran out in great alarm pleading with him that it was the sacred week. But Okonkwo was not the man to stop beating somebody half-way through, not even for fear of a goddess”(29-30). Okonkwo rampages during the week of peace and beats his wife painfully. He does not want to appear weak in front of the other men and so he beats his wives and acts impulsively. Due to his fear of being seen as weak, Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna "Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak." (61). The way he kills Ikemefuna shows that reputation is more important than a child’s life. Okonkwo's actions depict how anxiety has overtaken him. Rather than coping with his fear, he allows it to dominate him and drive his actions. Okonkwo's apprehension permits him to acquire respect from the Igbo society, simply because it persuades him to show improvement over any other…
Early on in the novel readers are introduced to Okonkwo's hamartia: the fear of appearing weak. This affects his temperament and the relationship he chooses to have with his family. Okonkwo cannot show the affection he has to his family, even though he definitely has a strong fatherly affection to both his daughter Enzima, and the outsider Ikemefuna. Okonkwo's wives and his eldest son Nwoye suffer most from this lack of affection. The three wives bear many beatings; his second wife Ekwefi is almost killed with a gun when she mumbles an insulting remark about her husband's shooting skills. They go into exile for seven years with Okonkwo, and although the novel doesn't show what happens to the widows when Okonkwo commits suicide, it probably isn't a happy life. This lack of affection though is how Okonkwo stays strong and also how he achieved his high status in the community. After hearing what happened to Okonkwo's "lazy" father one can understand this sternness that Okonkwo lives with.…
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 beat and killed people to intimidate and prove his strength. Okwonkwo beat his own chilren and his wives. on one occasion he got so uppset with his wife he almost ended up killing her. " He pressed the trigger and there was aloud report accompanied by the wailof his wives and children." (Achebe 39) Although he did not kill her, was was aming for her, and if it were not for his terrible aim, he may have ended up killing one of his wives. The worst part of…
Okonkwo is a well-respected man and warrior of Umuofia who rose from poverty and descended to destitution. As a boy Okonkwo was able to work hard and gain status, at his height he was progressively disgraced by a series of his own actions and banished from the tribe for several years. After returning Okonkwo gained some traction in his village but was imprisoned and died disgracefully through suicide. The most harmful event in his personal tragedy is the accidental murder of a clansman which led to his exile.…
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…
Like the heroes of Greek Tragedy, Okonkwo had many tragic flaws, the most significant of these being hubris. Okonkwo is incredibly stubborn in that he would always let his temper get the better of him. This is shown when he becomes hungry, and when his wife is not there to bring him his lunch, she is severely beaten, despite the fact that it is a Holy Week. Okonkwo is required to pay a fine for his actions, but it is assumed that he did not learn the meaning behind his punishment. His inability to accept his emotions led to…
In the novel Things Fall Apart Okonkwo was a terribly flawed man. He was a terribly flawed man becauses he beat his wife. Some people might think that he was a good man but because of his fiery temper he could hurt someone like when he was mad at his wife for leaving and not feeding him and he beat her. Like when the book says “And when she returned he beat her very heavily.” on (29). He is also a very terribly flawed man in the way that he doesn't like when people think of him as week. Like how in the book it says “Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak.” on (61). Another way that he is terribly flawed is when he almost shout his wife with a gun as we see in the book “He pressed the trigger and there…
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.”…
He was masculine, hardworking, reputable, and wealthy. He didn't want to be like his father, a failure. Okonkwo believed his father was a failure because the man was very lazy, disgraceful, and poor. Over the years in his village it was said by the elders, “...if a child washed his hands...and so he ate with the kings.” This quote indirectly characterizes Okonkwo, displaying how he knew what he had to do if he wanted to be a great hero, furthermore developing his character as a young man. Towards the end of the novel one can imagine Okonkwo as a tragic hero because, like other tragic heroes, he has one major flaw. His main flaw develops from his fear of being like father, whom he dispised. He as well can't display his emotions because he doesn't want to look weak or sissyish, and when he does show any emotion, it is an uncontrollable rage. As a result of his flaws, Okonkwo has suffered countless tragedies, which ultimately leads to his ironic death. Okonkwo's tragedy was due to many things that happened in Umuofia, but the main reason was the arrival of the white missionaries, “Does the white man understand our custom about land?” (chpt. 20). Okonkwo says this, due to his…
This all sums up that okonkwo behind all those hardship and setback lays a sympathetic person who care so much about his family. he beats his family and rules with a heavy hand because he cares for his family. And he cares for then enough for them not to turn into his father and a disgrace to his family and a village. He doesn't do all of this because he is a cruel man, he does it because he cares. If he didn't care he might as well have killed his wife and beat his kids till death. Those were my reason an statement to say that okonkwo is a sympathetic man to the village and his…
He even strikes down a child that calls him father. “He heard Ikemefuna cry ‘My father, they have killed me!’ as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak” (61). The quote shows that Okonkwo thinks a reputation is even more important than the life of a child. This also shows that he thinks killing someone he loves would make him appear strong. Striving to have a reputation influences someone’s morality and sometimes it may hurt people. When Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, overheard that Ikemefuna was to be “taken back to his village, [he] burst into tears, whereupon his father beat him heavily” (57). Okonkwo feels unsatisfied with Nwoye because he thinks he’s lazy and feminine. He corrects Nwoye with constant nagging and beating instead of teaching him what is right and what is wrong. Later on, it causes Nwoye wants to resist his father and join what Okonkwo dislikes. It’s understandable for Nwoye to abandon his old tribe and choose to become a Christian. Obsession on reputation sometimes leads people to the wrong track and it leads Okonkwo to face his own son’s…
Some may view the female gender as weak and may also think that women do not do enough for their husbands and children. This makes the roles of women look unnecessary. This is proven otherwise by how each female character in the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe contains. These roles of the women are very important in order to carry out the traditions of the Ibo culture. These roles came out in activities such as preparing meals, cleaning the house to even telling their children stories to ensure the children learn lessons from old folk stories. In Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe depicts the roles of women in the African culture in the late 1800s by the illustration of the mothers, daughters and wives.…
“Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. He drank palm-wine from morning till night, and his eyes were red and fierce like the eyes of a rat when it was caught by the tail and dashed against the floor.” (46) Some major consequences Okonkwo must deal with after killing the boy he once looked upon as a son, is losing the trust of his first-born son, Nwoye, and having to live with the guilt of killing Ikemefuna. This guilt caused Okonkwo to feel weak, something he never wanted to…
Behavior Normalized: A Study of Gender and Their Roles in Things Fall Apart A patriarchy is defined as “a group or government controlled by a man or a group of men”. This means that everything runs through men.…