ipl-logo

How Did Nwoye Influence A Change In Things Fall Apart

1381 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effect of colonialism in African culture

In the year 2012, a gunman went to Sandy Hook Elementary to execute a school shooting. One of the lives lost in the shooting was a teacher named Victoria Soto, who hid her students in the closet of her classroom when the gunman was approaching her door, she was killed shortly after, but she died for what she thought was precious. Like Victoria’s sacrifice, the characters in the book Things Fall Apart mimic the real risks of holding something dear and going the distance for it. Things Fall Apart based off the colonization of Africa by white missionaries. From this colonization, the reader follows an African man of the name Okonkwo along with his family through the changes of their homeland from the new culture. In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe …show more content…

Nwoye has left his home for Christianity, "He [Mr. Brown] had just sent Okonkwo's son, Nwoye, who was now called Isaac to the new training college for teacher in Umuru" (Achebe 182). Nwoye changes his name to Isaac, changing his identity and is leaving his old self behind. By moving to the new training college, he’s leaving his village to learn more about Christianity and European culture rather staying with his own culture. Nwoye is showing that people’s values change them, both internally and externally, it shows people will leave behind their origins and home because they feel their values are more important. After Okonkwo finds out about Nwoye’s convergence to Christianity, he calls to together his sons for a talk, "You have all seen the great abomination of your brother. Now he is no longer my son or your brother. I will only have a son who is a man, who will hold his head up among my people. If any one of you prefers to be a woman, let him follow Nwoye now while I am alive so that I can curse him. If you turn against me when I am dead I will visit you and break your neck" (Achebe 172). This talk, shows Nwoye left his family behind, he betrayed them and now he’s no longer considered family. Okonkwo’s wording shows he’s angry at Nwoye, he’s bitter at Nwoye for …show more content…

People hold close the things they value and when they notice they’re losing the things they care about, they scramble in panic to try to prevent it from getting lost. Beliefs can conflict with each other, this leads to people fighting for their own, trying to prevent those with the different views from succeeding to prove what they believe is wrong, or even to the point of directly fighting each other for what they values. Sometimes the most important things to people can change them, changing their identities, leaving behind their homes and families to the point where some of them are bitter and angry because of it. What should be taken away from this essay is that people will go far and wide for the things they treasure, whether it's family, a religion or a tradition, and it could result in people risking other things like their family, culture, or life. Offending something that a person treasures might not mean a lot for you, but it means a lot to

Show More
Related
802 Words | 4 Pages

Once again, Nwoye found peace away from his father when the Christian missionaries came to Mbanta, the motherland where Okonkwo and his family were exiled to. Nwoye converted to Christianity and escaped the force of his father in their household. Okonkwo, of course, didn’t support his son’s decision and was completely against Nwoye leaving behind the tradition the Okonkwo followed so deeply. A paragraph in chapter seventeen reflects on Okonkwo’s thoughts. “To abandon the gods of one’s father and go about

Read More
589 Words | 3 Pages

In Chapter 17 of Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, the character Nwoye gives off the personality of someone who wants to be different and not follow into someone else 's footsteps. Nwoye can’t seem to find his identity in the Ibo culture. So once he has introduced himself to this new culture that opposite from his, he starts to interest into it. Nwoye is Okonkwo’s eldest son and it seems that he turned out to be the least like him. Negative things have happened that drove Nwoye to seek out a new culture.

Read More
904 Words | 4 Pages

The reasons for Nwoye’s change in their sense of identity included his relationship with his father and his acceptance of the Missionaries. Ultimately, their response to the introduction of Western ideas shaped the meaning of the work as a whole by showing the positive effects the new culture can have on someone. The first reason Nwoye’s sense of identity was challenged with the introduction of the Western ideas was because of his relationship with his father. In the beginning of Things Fall Apart, it tells us

Read More
614 Words | 3 Pages

In the end, Nwoye betrayed his father because he wanted to follow his own judgement. Even though his father highly disagreed on this decision, Nwoye still chose the

Read More
866 Words | 4 Pages

The first reason Nwoye’s sense of identity was challenged was because of him being an outcast in his culture. “Nwoye knew that it was right to be masculine and to be violent, but somehow he still preferred the stories that his mother used to tell, and which she no doubt still told to her younger children.” (38) As we see in the story at one point Nwoye was just beginning to act how his father wanted him to act but, somewhere deep down he did not like it and wished he was

Read More
755 Words | 4 Pages

China Achebe demonstrates the disrespect the Ibo men had for woman in Things Fall Apart by depicting verbal and physical abuse within the community. The men have control over a woman through power of authority. This physical and verbal abuse lets the men of the society feel empowerment over the woman. “ Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper” Achebe 12.

Read More
243 Words | 1 Pages

The impression that I got from reading Behind The Veil is the relationship between Ishan and Siham However, her social position means she cannot bring him home to meet her family, and she must find other ways to spend time with him. are in a love relationship However, her social position means she cannot bring him home to meet her family, and she must find other ways to spend time with him. my evidence toward my answer is on pg 4 which Siham quoted “If you want to accompany me on these innocent walks i don't see any objection” this states that she dosen't mind of Ishan joining her and if she did not like him she would not have said that. also on pg 5 when Ishan ask what Siham's name was she said “have you forgotten my condition that you should

Read More
479 Words | 2 Pages

As a child, Nwoye is the frequent object of his father's criticism and remains emotionally unfulfilled. Okonkwo, “wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough man capable of ruling his father’s household when he was dead and gone to join the ancestors”(38). When Nwoye finds out that it is Okonkwo who killed a “brother” who he is extremely fond of, and grows very close with, he loses all appreciation for Okonkwo and decides to go against his father and his cultures.

Read More
1006 Words | 5 Pages

When Nwoye decides to leave his family to pursue his faith, Okonkwo realizes “But he left hold of Nwoye, who walked away and never returned.” Leaving his family and clans, Nwoye is confronting a huge change in his life. This change may be pretty hard to make because he has to discover a new world himself. Recalling at the very beginning, it is impossible for Nwoye to leave because he is not masculine enough to take his own adventure. However, now, he is no longer a boy relied on his family; rather, he becomes a mature man to decide his future path himself and accept his coming of age.

Read More
855 Words | 4 Pages

Things Fall Apart Everyone has its own unique perspective on certain things. In doing so, one must interact or collide with another throughout life. In Things Fall Apart, the author, Chinua Achebe, attempts to communicate the concept of cultural collision while depicting the life of the Igbo tribe. He creates two main characters with contradicting characteristics and responses to a cultural collision in order to strengthen the theme:

Read More
1774 Words | 8 Pages

Things Fall Apart is a novel written by Chinua Achebe. In the novel there is a main character called Okonkwo. He lived in Umuofia where he was also known throughout many of the nine villages around Umuofia. In the beginning of the story we see his overwhelming hatred towards his father Unoka. His father died about ten years ago and had not taken any title and was very much in debt.

Read More
1252 Words | 6 Pages

Things Fall Apart, a book written by the author Chinua Achebe is a story filled with amazing culture. It is about the rise and downfall of the main character, Okonkwo. The book had many different aspects of the African culture and the different time period. For example, characters and their importance throughout the story, and how women were treated in this culture and time period. Topics from religion, family, and the social complexity were very much involved throughout the entire book and portrayed by many of the characters.

Read More
325 Words | 2 Pages

After Nwoye befriended him, he became more energetic and lively. Achebe describes, “Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye, who was two years younger, became quite inseparable from him because he seemed to know everything” (Achebe 28).

Read More
1330 Words | 6 Pages

These sudden behaviors against his son nwoye completely make him to adapt opposite ideals from his father Okonkwo just like okonkwo and his

Read More
1890 Words | 8 Pages

Similarly, Nwoye also resists the reputation of his own father by rejecting this masculine regime of Okonkwo and Igbo culture, showing feminine virtues instead. His intention to carry his beliefs on to his children is established when Okonkwo thinks to himself after he learns of Nwoye’s conversion to Christianity. Nwoye made the decision to leave Umofia after the realization that his views do not coincide with those of his society any longer due to the life time of exposure to the toxicity of Okonkwo’s masculine behavior. It is because he refuses to conform that Nwoye wishes to alter the reputation of himself and his family by joining a culture that he finds to reflect the values that he believes in, instead of those he was dejectedly forced into following by his

Read More

More about How Did Nwoye Influence A Change In Things Fall Apart

Related Topics

Open Document