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Okonkwo Internal Conflict Analysis

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Things fall apart is a tragedy novel written by Chinua Achebe. Okonkwo, who is the protagonist of the novel and one of the most powerful men in the Ibo tribe often resorts to violence to make his points understood. Down in his heart, Okonkwo is not a cruel man, but his life is dominated by his internal conflict, the fear of failure and of weakness. He hated his father, Unoka, because he was a lazy debtor. Okonkwo made it a point in his life to set himself apart from his father by being well known and wealthy as well as becoming a great warrior in the tribal conflicts of Umuofia and the surrounding villages. His fear leads him to commit cruel actions that are disastrous for him and the clan, for examples, his uncontrollable anger has caused his family and the clan to fear him. Okonkwo's external conflict will be his family and religion which is one of the reasons that led to the death of Okonkwo at the end. Okonkwo's most prominent internal conflict, the fear of …show more content…

The clans of the Igbo society worshipped their gods, which made of stones and woods, differently than other religions. They had a representative for each of their goddess such as the Oracle of the Hills. The main god that they worshipped was Chukwu, who was believed had created heaven and Earth. His hatred and the humiliation he gets from the Christian make him kill the messenger of District Commissioner. Okonkwo thinks that the Christians have ruined their clans because the clans found a new and accurate teaching, they began to doubt their own religion and the Igbo society was no longer acted like one. The death of Okonkwo at the end was unpredictable because throughout the novel, Chinua Achebe described him as a strong warrior who feared of nothing besides failure and weakness. When Okonkwo committed suicide, he also committed the only thing he feared, and that was

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987 Words | 4 Pages

In Things Fall Apart Okonkwo’s eldest son Nwoye is very different than his father. He is not aggressive and manly but more effeminate. Okonkwo feels like Nwoye is a disappointment because he doesn’t follow his values while Nwoye loses all respect for his father because he doesn’t want to live in his shadow. Later on, Christian missionaries come to their village and Nwoye is taught that there is a better way to live and is amazed by it. The missionaries speak about a story of “...brothers who lived in darkness and in fear, ignorant love of God” (Achebe), which really touched Nwoye and made him find peace in leaving his father’s teachings and convert to

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747 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, he was already a great man for his age. Unoka, his father, had died ten years ago, was lazy and improvident and was in alot of debt and was a failure. Nwoye, Okonkwo’s first son, was twelve years old and was lazy, he starting to be like his grandfather. Okonkwo’s biggest flaw is the fear of becoming like his father and to becoming unsuccessful and less of a man.

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387 Words | 2 Pages

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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1027 Words | 5 Pages

Okonkwo Falls Apart Chinua Achebe offers a rare look at the natives perspective during colonialism in his work Things Fall Apart. The central struggle in the main character Okonkwo is that he is beginning to lose his way of life, and he is not able to do anything about it. Conflicts in religious beliefs with the arrival of the missionaries heightens Okonkwo 's internal aggression, and his inability to adapt leads to his downfall.

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824 Words | 4 Pages

Things Fall Apart -Chinua Achebe Okonkwo is a man whose fame is spread throughout the nine villages as he wins a competition with ‘Amalinze the Cat’. Okonkwo is a man who fears weakness and failure. He hated everything his father, Unoka, did which by the way was being gentle and idle, so he tended to be harsh just to not appear like his father. He, on the other hand, is a very respected warrior and has a great family, but he tends to get too overconfident in his way of thinking and beliefs.

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924 Words | 4 Pages

In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo reacts to cultural collision in his society by having a closed mind and attempting to retaliate, which ultimately leads to his suicide, contributing to the novel’s theme that one

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623 Words | 3 Pages

The novel “things fall apart” is about the fatal demise of Okonkwo and the igbo culture of Umuofia. Okonkwo is well known and respected leader in his community, who is successful in everything he does, such as wrestling and farming. He is quick with his hands and takes pride in his accomplishments. Okonkwo’s family relationship makes him a sympathetic character because of his support and an unsympathetic character because of his cruelty. In many ways Okonkwo showed that he had no sympathy for others , However at times he could be sympathetic.

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579 Words | 3 Pages

“Perhaps down in his heart Okonkwo was not a cruel man. But his whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness (13).” In Things Fall Apart, Achebe portrays Okonkwo to be a very strong-willed, battle-loving personality. This shows that Okonkwo may not like war and battle for the violence aspect, but for the aspect of not showing fear, not backing down. “When Okonkwo heard that he (Ikemefuna) would not eat any food he came into the hut with a big stick in his hand and stood over him while he swallowed his yams, trembling.

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452 Words | 2 Pages

Clinging to tradition and religious faith comes to be nearly impossible for African clans. Throughout the novel, Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe the main character Okonkwo and his fatherland Umoufia strives to keep their clan as one. When Christian missionaries come to propose a takeover, the villagers of Umoufia dispute their capabilities to be able to stop the spread of Christianity. The villager 's actions begin to demonstrate that change is inevitable.

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1359 Words | 6 Pages

Okonkwo wanted his tribe to fight back the missionaries in order to protect their Igbo culture but his persistence only led to his downfall. This can be seen when Okonkwo makes a rash decision to kill a messenger thinking Umuofia would fight back but ended up not fighting, “The white man whose power you know too well has ordered this meeting to stop.” In a flash, Okonkwo drew his machete. The messenger crouched to avoid the blow. It was useless.

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1109 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe writes Okonkwo, the main character, as a very complex person who carries both good and evil characteristics. From start to finish Okonkwo’s essential goal is to keep his Ibo culture and society as utopic as possible. The need to fulfill this responsibility leads to Okonkwo’s erratic behavior. The fear of becoming his father, the murder of Ikemefuna, and his suicide portray him as good and evil as he struggles to stay true to Ibo.

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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.

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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.

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1330 Words | 6 Pages

Valentina Quiceno McGrover English 1H: 2A 19 March 2018 Psychology and Effects of Father Son Relationships Fathers like all compulsory aspects in life have an influence, Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart demonstrates the importance of a father and his role through leading characters. The leading character Okonkwo was affected by his father's non fulfilment in his tribe Umuofia, the absences and failure of his father Unoka caused a great hollowness in his life. Okonkwo and Unoka are portrayed as having an evidently strained relationship, one in fact that lead Okonkwo to consciously adopt opposite ideals from his father. The psychology behind this strained father son relationship fully answers the questions and unfolds the truth of Okonkwo's

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769 Words | 4 Pages

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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