Preview

Things Fall Apart Igbo Culture

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
465 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Things Fall Apart Igbo Culture
In “Things Fall Apart” Achebe explains the life of Okonkwo. In the Igbo culture, Okonkwo was well respected by the people with in his village. Okonkwo wanted to be wealthy and powerful man unlike his father Unoka. Unoka was not successful or well respected throughout Igbo. Okonkwo was very ashamed of his father. Achebe expresses the culture and tradition of Igbo throughout “Things Fall Apart”. Okonkwo wanted the most respect from everyone unlike his father. According to Achebe(2009) Oknokwo father Unoka, was very lazy, wasn’t fix to me a man. Unoka owed money to different people with all nine villages. He had no title as a man. (Achebe, 2009,p.8) He fought out different people with the village. He even defended a person that no one had defended. …show more content…
Okonkwo had a title within Igbo. The narrator stated, “To the crown it all he had taken two titles and had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars” (Achebe, 2009,p.8). These titles are like ranks within the culture. The ranks allows an individuals to a set number of wives. Okonkwo had three wives.
In “Things Fall Apart” Achebe explained the death of a set of twins. Nwoye which is Oknokwo oldest son. Nwoye is usually critiested by his father. Oknokwo believes Nwoye is like his father Unoka. Nwoye do not have the strong self-standard as Oknokwo. Nwoye felt bad about the death of the twins during the harvest season in Igbo. The infants was abandon in the Evil Forest because they are deliberated an abomination to the …show more content…
Women in Igbo takes pregnancy seriously. According to Okpomeshine(2011), “A marriage is considered to be a failure if no children are born. Being unable to conceive means a failure to the family and the woman is blamed for her own infertility.”(p.1). In “Things Fall Apart” Achebe explain killing of the twins but, child birth is important. Igbo women keep their pregnancy a secret they do not broadcast the pregnancy. Okpomeshine stated, “Pregnancy is never announced publicly in the early months. A pregnant Igbo woman will immediately inform her mother (p.1). During this time, the women are resicted from events so the pregnancy can be successful. The women and the baby is always need to be healthy. According to to Okpomeshine(2011). Women have to practices everyday events in order to have a healthy baby and pregnancy
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Effects Of The Igbo Society In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart
    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Effects Of The Igbo Society In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

    In the novel, “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe a Nigerian author, tells the history of a small village in Nigeria. The history is focused on the daily life of a man named Okonkwo. Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was a man known for his laziness, and cowardice. He was unoccupied, poor, libertine, gentle, interested in conversation and in music more than anything else. Unoka died in disrepute, leaving many village debts unsettled. In response, Okonkwo consciously adopted opposite ideals and becomes productive, wealthy, thrifty, brave, violent, and adamantly rejects everything for which he believes his father stood. Okonkwo always leaded in his own way, a way which made his wives and children afraid of him. With the arrival of white missionaries,…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Commentary on Passge (Page 124-125) of Things Fall Apart by Chnua Achebe
    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Commentary on Passge (Page 124-125) of Things Fall Apart by Chnua Achebe

    Okonkwo is the protagonist and tragic hero of the story and this is emphasized by the title of the novel, Things Fall Apart, because Okonkwo’s village, Umuofia, has the ability to be flexible and adapt to changes, while still preserving their own traditions and beliefs. However, Okonkwo consistently test the limits of his society’s fidelity and follows his own stubborn will, not tradition. Hence, this tale is not entirely focused on the breakdown of a customary African society, but it demonstrates the personal misfortune of a single character, whose life collapses. Though this killing was accidental, it could be a form of punishment for his earlier disobedience against his people and gods. His previous killing of an innocent boy Ikemefuna damaged the harmony of the traditions of his clan and society. His condemnation shows the importance of customs within the community. Because…

    • 1146 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo's Fear Analysis
    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Okonkwo's Fear Analysis

    Okonkwo’s fear drives him to strive for success and honor in his clan; his fear is responsible for his high social status and his title. Okonkwo’s father had left him with absolutely nothing of value; no yams, no wives, not even a compound. He has to work very hard to build up his worth in the village and clan. “Any one who knew his grim struggle against poverty and misfortune could not say he had been lucky. If ever a man deserved his success, that man was Okonkwo.” (34, Achebe). Okonkwo couldn’t deal with just being happy, as Unoka had valued life, he needed the honor and the social status. He needed to wash away the stain that was his father. “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond, His fame rested on solid personal…

    • 257 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Things Fall Apart- Explain how Okonkwos actions are motivated by fear in Things Fall Apart
    • 726 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Things Fall Apart- Explain how Okonkwos actions are motivated by fear in Things Fall Apart

    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.…

    • 726 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Things Fall Apart: Was Okwonko a Hero?
    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Things Fall Apart: Was Okwonko a Hero?

    Okwonko did not have a solid family conection. Infact he absolutly resented his dad, and his oldest child did not want anything to do with him. "Even as a little boy he had resented his father 's failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala." ( Achebe 13) Okonkwo despised everything his dad was and did. His dad played the flute, so Okonkwo thought that music was for the weak. Okonkwos dad was afraid of blood, so Okonkwo strived to be a great warrior. All of these qualities that he thought was weak, he tried to make sure his children never got invlovled in them, and because of this his oldest chiled Nwoye hated him. "Okonkwo 's first son ,Nwoye, was then twelve years old but he was already causeing his father great anxiety... he sought to correct him by constant nagging and beating."( Achebe 14) Okonkwo thought that Nwoye was becoming to much like his father, so he had to "correct" him and make sure that he wouldn 't become the very thing he hated most. In doing so he made his own son want nothing to do with him.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo's Fear of His Father Made Him the Person He Is
    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Okonkwo's Fear of His Father Made Him the Person He Is

    ‘Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper, and so did his little children,' (quoted on page 10). This quote explains directly how strictly he ruled his household and his family. He was a man who would lose his temper over small things, even if it was not a legitimate reason such as the dead banana tree incident in the following quote (page 28), ‘As…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Okonkwo Research Paper
    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Okonkwo Research Paper

    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.…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Masculinity and male relationship: Things Fall Apart, Who Will Stop The Dark
    • 1291 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Masculinity and male relationship: Things Fall Apart, Who Will Stop The Dark

    Chinua Achebe uses the theme of masculinity to describe the rise of Okonkwo’s social standing. In the novel, Okonkwo is very obsessed with masculinity, and he defines quite scarcely. According to him any kind of sensitivity is a sign of weakness. Okonkwo believes in authority and brute force. His pride and masculinity is very correlated. According to Okonkwo his father lacks ambition, is lazy, weak, and feminine. In the novel its states that “Even as a little boy he had resented his father's failure and weakness, and even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala. That was how Okonkwo first came to know that agbala was not only another name for a woman, it could also mean a man who had taken no title.”1 Growing up Okonkwo did everything possible not to resemble his father because his father resembled a woman with no title.…

    • 1291 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Okonkwo Flaws
    • 237 Words
    • 1 Page

    Okonkwo Flaws

    In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart Okonkwo was flawed like every full blood human to walk the earth. He wasn’t perfect but he had an overall character of good. He was known through Umuofia as a hard worker and good provider. From the outside it may not look like Okonkwo cares for his family but deep down he really does. Okonkwo was a good man because he could provide for his family. He came from nothing, his father was worthless but he still achieved and “had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife”(8). He was a good man with a great work ethic and wasn’t scared to stick by his words:“I am not afraid to work”(21). He worked hard at everything he did. Deep down Okonkwo cared for his family. Okonkwo let Ikemefuna…

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Things Fall Apart Analytical Essay
    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Things Fall Apart Analytical Essay

    In the novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe portrays a character, Okonkwo, as a strong and admired leader. Life is great in Umoufia, Nigeria. Until Okonkwo gets exiled from his village for seven years. During that time the European missionaries came and built a church in the Evil forest of Umoufia. This made Okonkwo anxious to come back to his village and restore the Ibo culture but, it was more of a challenge than he thought.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Does Okonkwo's View Towards Women
    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Does Okonkwo's View Towards Women

    Within Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe there is a theme of gender characteristics as demonstrated by Okonkwo’s negative view of women, which was instituted by his father Unoka, and which contrasts Umuofia’s…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Okonkwo's Manhood
    • 1411 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Okonkwo's Manhood

    ch1. Chapter 1 describes Okonkwo's principal accomplishments that establish his important position in Igbo society. These details alone provide insight into Okonkwo's character and motivation. Driving himself toward tribal success and recognition, he is trying to bury the unending shame that he feels regarding the faults and failures of his late father, Unoka. Essentially, Okonkwo exhibits qualities of manhood in Igbo society.…

    • 1411 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Regarding Like Water For Chocolate
    • 831 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Regarding Like Water For Chocolate

    A firm belief in his way of life forced Okonkwo into his success at the beginning of Things Fall Apart. As it is noted in chapters one to three, Okonkwo’s birth had left him much to be desired. “Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men usually had (Achebe 16).” Indeed, with a father like Unoka, a “lazy and improvident” man, it is hard to imagine how Okonkwo left his circumstances when his father was one that “was poor” and left “his (Unoka’s) wife and children had barely enough to eat” (Achebe 04 & Achebe 05). Yet these experiences forced Okonkwo toughen up early in life. Okonkwo’s “whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness” (Achebe 13). After considering how Okonkwo’s spent his entire childhood under the shameful shadow of his father, it makes sense that “even now he still remembered how he had suffered when a playmate had told him that his father was agbala” (Achebe 13).…

    • 831 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Things Fall Apart Rhetorical Analysis
    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Things Fall Apart Rhetorical Analysis

    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…

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Tragic Hero
    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Tragic Hero

    Okonkwo’s dad, Unoka, was a lazy man who didn’t have the money to repay his debt. He was thought of as a coward and Okonkwo’s fear of becoming like his father gave him the desire to succeed, and consistently motivated him to progress through out life. Okonkwo fought really hard and became the leader of the Igbo community of Umuofia. “He was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death”. He’s described as tall and huge with “bushy eyebrows and a wide nose that gives him a very severe look.” He was masculine, respected, and wealthy. Okonkwo believed that every man should have power and that they shouldn’t show any affection to others or else they would get called women. The narrator states, “At an early age he had achieved fame as the greatest wrestler in all of the land.” In Umuofia, it’s really difficult to gain this title, it indicates ones manliness.…

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics