Okonkwo is living what would appear to be the American Dream. Only not in America, of course. His father, Unoka, was frowned upon by the rest of the village of Umuofia for his laziness. He had many debts unpaid, and he even laughed at a man, who was about take one of the highest ranks in the village, named Okoye, that requested him to pay off his debt, telling him that he had many other debts he had to pay off first. He spent all of his money enjoying his life to the fullest in the present, yet couldn’t provide for his family or contribute to the village due to a lack of looking to the future.
Okonkwo was able to make it out of the brutal life his father set for him and become respected and successful in the village. He has many wives, and plenty of yams. However, Okonkwo, unlike his father, never seems to be too happy. He shows a lot of emotion, and it is almost always angry and aggressive. This is probably because he fears being looked at as a failure the way his father was. He frequently beats his multiple wives for not tending to his every need, and very rarely shows any affection or caring for those in his family. He has lived his life and worked tirelessly to be exactly the opposite of his father, yet, although he has become very respected and wealthy, has failed to enjoy himself along the way.
Although this rags to riches story of Okonkwo appears to be a success story. It only seems to be a success story externally in comparison to Unoka’s story. Okonkwo, a great wrestler, wealthy, and respected, is the essence of manliness and success in the village of Umuofia. Unoka, a lazy, poor, frail man was frowned upon by the other men. However, Unoka enjoyed life to the fullest and died a happy person, whereas Okonkwo tends to be angry at all times. It seems to me that, at least internally, Unoka was the one who lived the dream.
Okonkwo has an odd relationship with the children of his wives. The three main children we have been introduced to thus far are Nwoye, the son of his first wife, Ikemefuna, a boy that was placed in his care, and Enzima, the daughter of his second wife. Although he attempts not to show it, Okonkwo really does care about and love each one of his children. He tries to raise his two boys to be strong men like himself. He admires Ikemefuna much more than his true son, Nwoye. This is probably because he sees some of the same weaknesses in Nwoye that his father, Unoka, had. However, Ikemefuna has a positive affect on Nwoye, and helps him to toughen up and become manlier.
As said earlier in the story, Ikemefuna’s story really is a sad one. It is also a very surprising one. He was given to Okonkwo a few years earlier, but his fate had not yet been decided by the leaders of Umuofia. However, one day they decide that Ikemefuna is to be lead out to be killed. This is very surprising to me because Ikemefuna is a very strong and talented boy that would’ve been very useful to the tribe. What is even more surprising to me is that Okonkwo, who loved Ikemefuna, struck the last fatal blow with his machete on him. Okonkwo did this because Ikemefuna called out to him when he was first struck, and Okonkwo did not want to appear weak. However, this probably tore Okonkwo internally, and I predict that his life will start in a downward spiral because of this tragedy.
Okonkwo also has a fondness for his daughter, Enzima. This is unusual because women were treated more as object and servants. The reason he yells at Enzima and beats her is to not show the weakness that he finds in himself for caring for Enzima. Enzima is Ekwefi’s only daughter, and is also admired by those outside of her family. Ekwefi’s friend, Chielo, the priestess of the Oracle, speaks of her admiration for Enzima. Because of her position as priestess and her fondness for Enzima, I believe Enzima will be sacrificed in some way or designated to an important role for the village.
As predicted, the death of Ikemefuna and Okonkwo’s role in it did have an affect on Okonkwo internally. For a couple days after the death of Ikemefuna, he does not eat or sleep. He is ashamed of his reaction to the death, and he wonders how a powerful man like himself could react in such a feminine way to the death of a boy. In this part of the book Okonkwo reveals that he inside he is not the powerful, heartless man that he portrays himself to be. He is depressed by the death of a boy who he loved like a son. He goes to visit his friend Obierka in hopes of getting his mind off of Ike. Obierka, who did not participate in the sacrificing of Ike, scolds Okonkwo for taking part in it. This scene shows that not only does Okonkwo feel depressed for his actions, his actions were also not necessary as they were not approved by others in the village. It seems as though whenever Okonkwo appears to not be weak, he actually becomes weaker because it tears him apart internally.
Okonkwo now begins to show that he can care for his children. Perhaps this is to make up for his part in Ike’s death. Enzima, Ekwefi’s only child, has become very sick. Ekwefi has had a history of her children dying, and this causes great concern in Okonkwo. When he hears of her sickness, he rushes out to find medicine in order to cure her. This is the first time in the novel that Okonkwo has taken a care taker role. He previously left everything for his wives to do, and gathering plants for medicine would normally be a job left to the women. However, Okonkwo shows that his reputation as a powerful man is not necessarily as important to him now as it had previously been. He has already lost one child, and is uncharacteristically not afraid to do the women’s job in order to save another child.
The importance of tradition in the village of Umuofia is very apparent in this section of the book. During the marriage ceremony, the people, especially the women, seem controlled by these traditions. They work tirelessly and prepare everything while the men just kind of hang around and watch. Although these marriage traditions seem a little unfair to the women, they are at least reasonable and don’t hurt anyone. However, the village has many traditions that seem incredibly senseless. Some traditions, such as throwing twin babies in the forest and leaving them to die, the killing of Ikemefuna, and the banishing of Okonkwo for an accident, seem rather unreasonable. The people of the village follow the traditions in fear of upsetting the Gods or ruining their status in the village. People such as Nwoye, when contemplating the death Ikemefuna, and Obierka, when considering the banishment of Okonkwo and the destroying of his possessions, question these issues to themselves. It can only be assumed that many others of Umuofia question the same traditions, however they are too controlled by them to decide to do anything about it.
During this section Okonkwo once again shows his ability to act as a care taker to his children. When his daughter, Enzima, was taken away by Chielo to Agbala, he became very concerned and could not sleep. Enzima’s mother, Ekwefi, followed Chielo because she was concerned for her daughter’s life. Okonkwo eventually decides to go after them after he can not sleep due to uncertainty about Enzima’s life. Although this shows weakness in Okonkwo’s character, he is once again showing that he does have a heart, and is now beginning to follow it more.
In this part of the book Okonkwo and his family move to a new village where they are greeted by his unchle Uchendu. It must’ve been very difficult for Okonkwo to be exiled from Umuofia as he worked his entire life to not be frowned upon and to gain a high rank in the village, unlike his father. Now he is back where he started, but he doesn’t have the drive to succeed that he once did. However, he does have family members looking after him. This leg up is possibly the only thing that helped him to fit into the new village so well, otherwise I think he would’ve ended up depressed and let the rest of his life go to waste.
Obierika, Okonkwo’s old friend, eventually comes to visit him, and brings him news of an entire village being destroyed by Christian missionaries. These new missionaries begin to invade all the surrounding villages and put to test the traditional beliefs of the Igbo people. This upsets many of the villagers, but, after the missionaries prove many of their beliefs to be wrong, villagers being to convert slowly but surely. Nwoye is one of these converts. Nwoye probably converted because he was upset with the practices of his previous beliefs. Practices such as the senseless killing of Ikemefuna. I too would be upset and looking for a different place to turn if my best friend were killed because of the religion that I believe in. Nwoye has claimed that Okonkwo is no longer his father, and Okonkwo is ashamed and angered by Nwoye’s conversion. Quite frankly I feel that it is inevitable that Okonkwo and Nwoye will not eventually face off with all the other fighting going on between the missionaries and the village people. I also predict a W for Nwoye.
This section is all about a drastic change in the village. At a going away feast that Okonkwo hosts for his temporary village, an old man speaks of how the younger generation needs to go back to the old ways of life. The ways of life in which people were not self-centered and made friends with everyone in their village and neighboring villages. He said that they were beginning to only think of themselves. Had they stuck to the former ways of life, the villages probably would never have been invaded like they are. They could have bonded together and fought the missionaries as one. However, they did not, and the missionaries had to convert only one village at a time.
This section is where “things fall apart” for all of the village. All of their beliefs and traditions are being put to the test, and even some of the clan leaders have began to listen to Mr. Brown, a missionary who has set up a school in the village. This section reminds me somewhat of the white men taking over Indian tribes when they first came to America. They didn’t take time to learn all the customs and traditions of the native people, and they basically got them to follow them through trickery or getting the people to fear creating a rebellion. Just like many of the white men who came to America, the white men in the book originally came to set up a religion and convert as many people as possible, but they stayed to eventually govern and enslave the natives.
Although this story started out rather slow, I really enjoyed it by the end. At the beginning of the book I wasn’t a real big fan of Okonkwo. I thought he was very self absorbed and took trying to be a powerful man that showed no weakness to an extreme level. However, through the death of Ikemefuna, the sickness of Enzima, and the exile frome Umuofia, he learned to care about the people around him also. I thought that attempting to be so manly really hurt him in the beginning as he couldn’t control his emotions or develop relationships with the people in his family and village. However, by the end I really liked Okonkwo and felt that his masculinity proved to be his strength. He didn’t want to just sit back and the white people come and take over his lands and enslave his people. Before he was thrown in prison he wanted to kill the white man, but the other men he was with were against it. He had some hope for his people when some of them destroyed the church. This gave him a feeling that there might be a chance that the clans men would decide to fight. Unfortunately for our tragic hero, all hope was lost when he killed the messenger and nobody else decided to help. Okonkwo decides he doesn’t want to kneel down to the white man, and he commits suicide. Although I would’ve rather seen him go down fighting valiantly, I do not blame him for committing suicide because I think Okonkwo had too much pride to ever take on the role as slave that would inevitably come. I enjoyed this story and the character of Okonkwo very much.
Didn't the passage of background information say that Antigone was a victim of Creon's hubris? Some of you are suggesting that Antigone is the tragic hero. Thoughts on that.
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Things Fall Apart
Chapters 1-4
Okonkwo is living what would appear to be the American Dream. Only not in America, of course. His father, Unoka, was frowned upon by the rest of the village of Umuofia for his laziness. He had many debts unpaid, and he even laughed at a man, who was about take one of the highest ranks in the village, named Okoye, that requested him to pay off his debt, telling him that he had many other debts he had to pay off first. He spent all of his money enjoying his life to the fullest in the present, yet couldn’t provide for his family or contribute to the village due to a lack of looking to the future.
Okonkwo was able to make it out of the brutal life his father set for him and become respected and successful in the village. He has many wives, and plenty of yams. However, Okonkwo, unlike his father, never seems to be too happy. He shows a lot of emotion, and it is almost always angry and aggressive. This is probably because he fears being looked at as a failure the way his father was. He frequently beats his multiple wives for not tending to his every need, and very rarely shows any affection or caring for those in his family. He has lived his life and worked tirelessly to be exactly the opposite of his father, yet, although he has become very respected and wealthy, has failed to enjoy himself along the way.
Although this rags to riches story of Okonkwo appears to be a success story. It only seems to be a success story externally in comparison to Unoka’s story. Okonkwo, a great wrestler, wealthy, and respected, is the essence of manliness and success in the village of Umuofia. Unoka, a lazy, poor, frail man was frowned upon by the other men. However, Unoka enjoyed life to the fullest and died a happy person, whereas Okonkwo tends to be angry at all times. It seems to me that, at least internally, Unoka was the one who lived the dream.
Things Fall Apart
Chapters 5-7
Okonkwo has an odd relationship with the children of his wives. The three main children we have been introduced to thus far are Nwoye, the son of his first wife, Ikemefuna, a boy that was placed in his care, and Enzima, the daughter of his second wife. Although he attempts not to show it, Okonkwo really does care about and love each one of his children. He tries to raise his two boys to be strong men like himself. He admires Ikemefuna much more than his true son, Nwoye. This is probably because he sees some of the same weaknesses in Nwoye that his father, Unoka, had. However, Ikemefuna has a positive affect on Nwoye, and helps him to toughen up and become manlier.
As said earlier in the story, Ikemefuna’s story really is a sad one. It is also a very surprising one. He was given to Okonkwo a few years earlier, but his fate had not yet been decided by the leaders of Umuofia. However, one day they decide that Ikemefuna is to be lead out to be killed. This is very surprising to me because Ikemefuna is a very strong and talented boy that would’ve been very useful to the tribe. What is even more surprising to me is that Okonkwo, who loved Ikemefuna, struck the last fatal blow with his machete on him. Okonkwo did this because Ikemefuna called out to him when he was first struck, and Okonkwo did not want to appear weak. However, this probably tore Okonkwo internally, and I predict that his life will start in a downward spiral because of this tragedy.
Okonkwo also has a fondness for his daughter, Enzima. This is unusual because women were treated more as object and servants. The reason he yells at Enzima and beats her is to not show the weakness that he finds in himself for caring for Enzima. Enzima is Ekwefi’s only daughter, and is also admired by those outside of her family. Ekwefi’s friend, Chielo, the priestess of the Oracle, speaks of her admiration for Enzima. Because of her position as priestess and her fondness for Enzima, I believe Enzima will be sacrificed in some way or designated to an important role for the village.
Things Fall Apart
Chapters 8-10
As predicted, the death of Ikemefuna and Okonkwo’s role in it did have an affect on Okonkwo internally. For a couple days after the death of Ikemefuna, he does not eat or sleep. He is ashamed of his reaction to the death, and he wonders how a powerful man like himself could react in such a feminine way to the death of a boy. In this part of the book Okonkwo reveals that he inside he is not the powerful, heartless man that he portrays himself to be. He is depressed by the death of a boy who he loved like a son. He goes to visit his friend Obierka in hopes of getting his mind off of Ike. Obierka, who did not participate in the sacrificing of Ike, scolds Okonkwo for taking part in it. This scene shows that not only does Okonkwo feel depressed for his actions, his actions were also not necessary as they were not approved by others in the village. It seems as though whenever Okonkwo appears to not be weak, he actually becomes weaker because it tears him apart internally.
Okonkwo now begins to show that he can care for his children. Perhaps this is to make up for his part in Ike’s death. Enzima, Ekwefi’s only child, has become very sick. Ekwefi has had a history of her children dying, and this causes great concern in Okonkwo. When he hears of her sickness, he rushes out to find medicine in order to cure her. This is the first time in the novel that Okonkwo has taken a care taker role. He previously left everything for his wives to do, and gathering plants for medicine would normally be a job left to the women. However, Okonkwo shows that his reputation as a powerful man is not necessarily as important to him now as it had previously been. He has already lost one child, and is uncharacteristically not afraid to do the women’s job in order to save another child.
Things Fall Apart
Chapters 11-13
The importance of tradition in the village of Umuofia is very apparent in this section of the book. During the marriage ceremony, the people, especially the women, seem controlled by these traditions. They work tirelessly and prepare everything while the men just kind of hang around and watch. Although these marriage traditions seem a little unfair to the women, they are at least reasonable and don’t hurt anyone. However, the village has many traditions that seem incredibly senseless. Some traditions, such as throwing twin babies in the forest and leaving them to die, the killing of Ikemefuna, and the banishing of Okonkwo for an accident, seem rather unreasonable. The people of the village follow the traditions in fear of upsetting the Gods or ruining their status in the village. People such as Nwoye, when contemplating the death Ikemefuna, and Obierka, when considering the banishment of Okonkwo and the destroying of his possessions, question these issues to themselves. It can only be assumed that many others of Umuofia question the same traditions, however they are too controlled by them to decide to do anything about it.
During this section Okonkwo once again shows his ability to act as a care taker to his children. When his daughter, Enzima, was taken away by Chielo to Agbala, he became very concerned and could not sleep. Enzima’s mother, Ekwefi, followed Chielo because she was concerned for her daughter’s life. Okonkwo eventually decides to go after them after he can not sleep due to uncertainty about Enzima’s life. Although this shows weakness in Okonkwo’s character, he is once again showing that he does have a heart, and is now beginning to follow it more.
Things Fall Apart
Chapters 14-18
In this part of the book Okonkwo and his family move to a new village where they are greeted by his unchle Uchendu. It must’ve been very difficult for Okonkwo to be exiled from Umuofia as he worked his entire life to not be frowned upon and to gain a high rank in the village, unlike his father. Now he is back where he started, but he doesn’t have the drive to succeed that he once did. However, he does have family members looking after him. This leg up is possibly the only thing that helped him to fit into the new village so well, otherwise I think he would’ve ended up depressed and let the rest of his life go to waste.
Obierika, Okonkwo’s old friend, eventually comes to visit him, and brings him news of an entire village being destroyed by Christian missionaries. These new missionaries begin to invade all the surrounding villages and put to test the traditional beliefs of the Igbo people. This upsets many of the villagers, but, after the missionaries prove many of their beliefs to be wrong, villagers being to convert slowly but surely. Nwoye is one of these converts. Nwoye probably converted because he was upset with the practices of his previous beliefs. Practices such as the senseless killing of Ikemefuna. I too would be upset and looking for a different place to turn if my best friend were killed because of the religion that I believe in. Nwoye has claimed that Okonkwo is no longer his father, and Okonkwo is ashamed and angered by Nwoye’s conversion. Quite frankly I feel that it is inevitable that Okonkwo and Nwoye will not eventually face off with all the other fighting going on between the missionaries and the village people. I also predict a W for Nwoye.
Things Fall Apart
Chapters 19-21
This section is all about a drastic change in the village. At a going away feast that Okonkwo hosts for his temporary village, an old man speaks of how the younger generation needs to go back to the old ways of life. The ways of life in which people were not self-centered and made friends with everyone in their village and neighboring villages. He said that they were beginning to only think of themselves. Had they stuck to the former ways of life, the villages probably would never have been invaded like they are. They could have bonded together and fought the missionaries as one. However, they did not, and the missionaries had to convert only one village at a time.
This section is where “things fall apart” for all of the village. All of their beliefs and traditions are being put to the test, and even some of the clan leaders have began to listen to Mr. Brown, a missionary who has set up a school in the village. This section reminds me somewhat of the white men taking over Indian tribes when they first came to America. They didn’t take time to learn all the customs and traditions of the native people, and they basically got them to follow them through trickery or getting the people to fear creating a rebellion. Just like many of the white men who came to America, the white men in the book originally came to set up a religion and convert as many people as possible, but they stayed to eventually govern and enslave the natives.
Things Fall Apart
Chapters 22-25
Although this story started out rather slow, I really enjoyed it by the end. At the beginning of the book I wasn’t a real big fan of Okonkwo. I thought he was very self absorbed and took trying to be a powerful man that showed no weakness to an extreme level. However, through the death of Ikemefuna, the sickness of Enzima, and the exile frome Umuofia, he learned to care about the people around him also. I thought that attempting to be so manly really hurt him in the beginning as he couldn’t control his emotions or develop relationships with the people in his family and village. However, by the end I really liked Okonkwo and felt that his masculinity proved to be his strength. He didn’t want to just sit back and the white people come and take over his lands and enslave his people. Before he was thrown in prison he wanted to kill the white man, but the other men he was with were against it. He had some hope for his people when some of them destroyed the church. This gave him a feeling that there might be a chance that the clans men would decide to fight. Unfortunately for our tragic hero, all hope was lost when he killed the messenger and nobody else decided to help. Okonkwo decides he doesn’t want to kneel down to the white man, and he commits suicide. Although I would’ve rather seen him go down fighting valiantly, I do not blame him for committing suicide because I think Okonkwo had too much pride to ever take on the role as slave that would inevitably come. I enjoyed this story and the character of Okonkwo very much.
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