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Okonkwo Being Unsympathetic

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Okonkwo is an unsympathetic type of character in the story “Everything Falls Apart”. This means that the character Okonkwo is not cared for by the reader because the readers can’t relate to him. And no one can relate to Okonkwo or like him because he is an abusive character and a really mean person throughout the whole story.This essay will prove this. The essay will prove that Okonkwo is an unsympathetic character that no one can relate to in the story. Okonkwo is an unsympathetic character, this is because of the way he act towards other characters throughout the book. Okonkwo is an abusive person to other characters like his wives and also disrespects others with his words. “The wife who has just been beaten murmured something.” In this quote Okonkwo beat up his wife because she was cutting off leaves of the banana tree to wrap some food for the festival that comes around the village. Okonkwo thinking that his wife is killing the tree he hit her and left her crying. “... Leaving her and her only daughter crying.” The readers should feel sorry for Ekwefi for what happened to her and be mad at Okonkwo’s anger issues as the cause to beat her up. …show more content…

Unokwa is a man of peace and he prays for his friends. “Unokwa prayed to their ancestors… health and protection from enemies.”Although he is an irresponsible person, this is because Unokwa borrows money but never pays the person back, in cause of piling debts. “They swore to never hand him anymore money because he would never pay back.” But this doesn't make Unokwa a really bad person because he cares for other people such as his ancestors and friends. This evidence shows that Okonkwo is a unsympathetic character, because Okonkwo hated everything that his father liked. That’s why Okonkwo is not a man of peace, but a man that is full of violence and hatred towards his

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Sympathetic people and unsympathetic people both people but have different ways of feeling about people or animals in this essay i want you to hear my opinion about okonkwo that tells whether he is sympathetic or unsympathetic. Okonkwo is a strong man in a ibo village in nigeria, he is well known by neighboring villages and beyond. Okonkwo has been in battles and has even brought home heads of his enemies as trophies. Okonkwo has three wives Ekwefi, Ojugo, and wife number one (unknown name) and has four kids Ezinma, nkechi, obiageli, and nwoye. Under all that fame and glory he is a very abusive father and husband he beats his wives and starves his only son.

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But the villagers said that he needed to be killed and Okonkwo insisted on taking his life even though you can see their relationship was very good on pg 28 ikemefuna called him father. He kills him out of fear of being weak and making relationships in the story start to “fall apart “. Chapter 4 pg 28 quotes that Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly unless it was the emotion of anger. To show such emotion as affection was weak. This tragic event causes a relationship with his son Nwoye causes

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And with that remorse of doing so he begins his journey of self destruction. This is all he knows, to shut down and behave in such a manner where refusal to show grief is necessary for his growth. As mentioned earlier Okonkwo also beats his wives and children. Okonkwo was a damaged man who for fear of being seen to resemble any aspect of his father lived in anger; something Unoka seldom showed. This damage carried through into his emotional ties like his wives and children and frequently beat his family to show masculinity.

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A weak, lazy, and unsuccessful man. So he started to hate everything his father loved. “Okonkwo was ruled by one passion - to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was gentleness and another was idleness(10).” As you can see, Okonkwo really never showed his kids and his children any kindness or gentleness.

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Prompt 2 Okonkwo is driven by his hatred of his father and the fear he will become like him. Okonkwo saw his father, Unoka, as a coward and is ashamed to be his son. Everything that Okonkwo does is meant to set him apart from the legacy of his father. First, this is evident in his beating of his wives and even his aggression with his children. He is trying to show his strength and ensure he is not portrayed to be like his father: powerless and incapable.

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He showed his sympathy by providing for his family and Ikemefuna. Okonkwo showed that he was unsympathetic by having no patience and beating his wives and

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An example of Okonkwo being destructive instead of understanding his own emotions is when he beats his wife after seeing her cut the banana tree’s leaves. Achebe describes, “Oknonkwo, who had been walking aimlessly in his compound in suppressed anger, suddenly found an outlet” Okonkwo was stressed and wanted to get the negative emotions out as soon as he could, however he could. Since Okonkwo is so obsessed with being strong, he doesn’t allow himself to feel stressed. Instead of understanding this insecurity, he rejects it completely. This demonstrates he does not allow his anger to reach the surface of his mind, meaning he can’t digest or understand his feelings.

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Unoka was described as lazy, improvident and not capable of thinking about tomorrow. From this Okonkwo was ashamed of his father and strives to be nothing like him. Okonkwo’s hatred towards his father has hardened his heart and has made him incapable of being a person of compassion and understanding throughout the novel. His hatred for his father has made him fear failure and weakness throughout the story. His fear of failure has brought him to his downfall.

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Okonkwo is a very well-respected and independent man in Umuofia due to his titles and hard work. Even though he seems put together and stern, his life is dictated by fear. His fear of becoming like his father led him to helping in the murder of Ikemefuna, beating his wives and children, and disowning his oldest son, Nwoye. As a main character, Okonkwo remains pretty much the same throughout the book, his biggest issue being his inability to have compassion. Who might he not have compassion for and why?

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His father Unoka was quoted “in his day was lazy and improvident and was quite incapable of thinking about tomorrow”. Basically saying he didn’t care about his life, so in what possible way could he have cared for Okonkwo’s. And his wife Ekwefi he didn’t technically shoot. He didn’t kill so there might have been sympathy there because she was completely defenseless and didn’t die so you can tell he intentionally didn’t kill her.

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Okonkwo In literature, there are many characters that stand out and show that they have a variety of qualities about them. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is one character that presents character traits from both the negative and positive sides of him. Okonkwo is portrayed to be a warrior who wanted to become somebody strong and looked up to, but also possesses less favorable qualities. He, however, does not let any one trait dictate his whole personality; he is written to be a well-rounded character.

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Okonkwo doesn’t want to be a failure like his father so he makes sure that he is the opposite of him. This means being strict and mean even toward his family. For example, “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'' (pg 13). Okonkwo felt that he needed to control his household with abuse and terrified his family.

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