Okonkwo is ashamed of his father, Unoka, and aims to be nothing like him. When the book starts talking about him and his father, it mentions how he never got the start in life that others normally inherited from their fathers. “With a father like Unoka, Okonkwo did not have the start in life which many young men had. He neither inherited a barn nor a title, nor even a young wife.” (pg.18) In the tribe, having no title was considered as being a ‘woman’. There were four titles a man could achieve, and Unoka hadn’t even earned one. Okonkwo was ashamed of this, and he aimed to be very different from his lazy father. Having a dad that was careless and in-debt, Okonkwo viewed Unoka as evil and did the opposite of everything Unoka would’ve done. At the beginning …show more content…
He had no patient with unsuccessful men.” (pg.4) Okonkwo’s behavior shows just how much he despises his father. He doesn’t want to be lazy and swimming in debt. Okonkwo is so scared of this that he does everything the exact opposite of what his father would’ve done. Okonkwo is scared of becoming like his father, which consequently makes him even worse.
Okonkwo tries to be the exact opposite of his father Unoka because of his hatred, and as a result, he ends up being very critical of his sons. While they are planting yams in preparation for the Week of Peace, Nwoye works slowly, and so Okonkwo tells him and Ikemefuna, “I will not have a son who cannot hold up his head in the gathering of the clan. I would sooner strangle him with my own hands.” (pg. 33) He is very harsh because Unoka had