Okonkwo’s aggressive ways caused Nwoye to rely on Ikemefuna, A boy given to Okonkwo by a neighboring village, as an older brother who teaches him a more gentle form of masculinity. The bond between Nwoye and Ikemefuna was stronger than the bond between Nwoye and Okonkwo ever was because of Okonkwo’s refusal to demonstrate affection towards his son as it could make him appear weak. However, because of the death of Ikemefuna, Nwoye fears having to return to the harsh values of his father. Okonkwo’s stubborn ideas of masculinity ruined his relationship with his son beyond repair. Okonkwo’s refusal to show emotion towards his family pushed them apart which shows that Okonkwo is not willing to give up his stern values and reputation to be emotionally committed to his family.
Okonkwo hates change, and he feels that the missionaries have brought about change through their religion, which has started to affect other aspects of traditional Igbo life and its people. He feels that the men have gotten weaker, hence him feeling proud when the warriors start acting like warriors again in his mind when the village agrees some violent action must be taken against the white man. When the village crier announces that there will be a meeting to discuss what to do about the foreigners following Okonkwo and the other prisoners getting released, Okonkwo is very excited. However, once the meeting gets interrupted by court messengers during a speech about how the white man is desecrating their gods and ancestral spirits, things take a turn for the worst. As soon as the head messenger tells the crowd to disperse “Okonkwo drew his machete.
This just starts to show Okonkwo’s downfall from there because what he did was inhumane and he held onto that guilt. His actions affected the way that his son viewed him as well since he had such a deep connection to Ikemefuna. The killing of Ikemefuna really just leads to Nyowe questioning the customs and values of the tribe since his father painted such a bad picture through his action of killing Ikemeuna who was like a brother to him. Later on, in the book, Achebe describes another one of Okonkwo’s actions in the following quote, “‘The white man’s whose power you know too well has ordered this meeting to stop.” In a flash, Okonkwo drew his machete…
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.
When Ikemefuna runs towards him, “Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe 13). Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna because he is afraid someone will believe he is weak and similar to his unsuccessful father. He lets this fear of compassion and failing control his life and his decisions. When he is faced with a difficult choice he completes the action that will portray him as a man and not as an agbala, a woman.
After Okonkwo murders Ikemefuna he has a bulk of feelings and becomes emotional which isn’t like him. The text says “ Okonkwo did not taste any food for two days after the death of Ikemefuna. .. He did not sleep at night, he tried not to think about Ikemefuna but the more he tried, the more he thought about him”(Achebe 63). Okonkwo grown very fond of him, so his death made Okonkwo very dismal about his actions.
Okonkwo is the protagonist, so it makes sense for him to demonstrate a lot of pride which he undeniably does. Okonkwo is constantly bragging and boastful talking about how many men he or Umuofia has killed and is constantly scared to be perceived as weak. An early example of this is in chapter 7 when Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna. He is advised by his elders not to go and just stay at home. But Okonkwo goes anyway, which leads to him killing Ikemefuna because "He was afraid of being thought weak.
This part of the book shows that okonkwo is being a bad father and threatening his own son to eat. Okonkwo then later in chapter 7 kills his son Ikemefuna. Here also shows how okonkwo is being a bad father by killing his own
Ikemefuna was not Nwoye’s biological brother but after [Ikemefuna] came into his life, he was no doubt the best role model that was around. They grew close, too close. After only a few years together, the Oracle wanted Ikemefuna to be killed. Okonkwo does not give a second thought to the fact that his flawed thinking of what a ¨man¨ should be has already come close to ruining his relationship with Nwoye forever. He kills Ikemefuna just because ¨[Okonkwo] was afraid of being thought weak¨ (Achebe 61).
The reason why he was chosen to be killed was due to a respected lady gives a message to the village deciding to kill Ikemefuna due to Umuofia crime that was committed. However, because Okonkwo did not want to seem weak, he decided to go through will the killing of Ikemefuna. Even though he has the power and ability to stop this event, he didn't want to seem weak. I feel as, power and control over situations gets to people's heads, and while feeling powerful they lose themself. As, he loses the good in himself by be willing to kill Ikemefuna.
Although he is clearly disturbed from killing Ikemefuna, Okonkwo refuses to show any weakness or in his case, qualities resembling femininity that may affect his reputation as being powerful. His obsession with masculinity which was derived from his father’s shortcomings even prompts him to believe that his own daughter Ezinma should have been “a
Ikemefuna and Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye, were really close as Nwoye looked up to Ikemefuna as a role model and older brother. After the clan decided that they had to kill Ikemefuna the elders told Okonkwo not to get involved since they had a really close relationship. Even though they said that Okonkwo still got involved in the murder and killed him with a matchet. This quote shows us that even though they had a very close relationship Okonkwo took up a matchet and killed Ikemefuna just to show his manliness. Okonkwo’s decision of killing Ikemefuna was a bad decision because after this many horrible events soon
Okonkwo kills Ikemefuna in fear of being thought of as weak. Okonkwo thought of Ikemefuna as a son, but because he didn’t want the people of Umuofia to think of him as a coward, he took part in killing Ikemefuna. This ties back to his father because Unoka is known as a weak and powerless man. This is important because Okonkwo tries every way possible to not be like his father. A way for Okonkwo to avoid himself thinking of his father's lack of success is thinking of his own achievements.
How does okonkwo’s family relationships change his life, and how does it make him the person he is now? In what ways does this make him sympathetic and/or unsympathetic? I dictated this based off his relationships with both his father Unoka, and his wife Ekwefi. And deciding how the way he treated them affected him and his sympathy?
Okonkwo uses these traits to differentiate from Unoka and he even feels most like himself when he exhibits violent behavior in order to assert his power and authority over others. Literary critic Christopher Ouma affirmed Okonkwo’s genuine intention to change how he is regarded in society.
