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Okonkwo's Downfall

1449 Words6 Pages

Sometimes in life, theres events that occur either bad or good, However, some of these events cause an impact on one's life and again it may be bad or good. Yet, it seems as the events that affect someone tremendously are the events that stay with someone and lurk on their shoulder for the rest of their life on earth. Okonkwo and many others did wrongful when killing Ikemefuna due to Umuofia crime, they betrayed Ikemefuna by lying to him, tricking him, and taking his life away from him. Some, may think power is extravagant, in reality it caused Okonkwo to not let people with he's weak and he committed crimes that wouldn't have been done if he didn't have this power. With the lack of knowledge, Okonkwo wasn't smart and strong enough to be a real leader, and be able to say no to bad …show more content…

Power, its only a five letter word yet is much powerful than most words. Its meaning is strong, and has the ability to control people. Power doesn't just control people yet, it changes their attitude about life, giving them more authority over other people. In the story “Thing fall apart” Okonkwo had committed action that negatively affected him, throughout his life. A major event that occurred that was the killing of Ikemefuna. 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.Who, is just a boy that looks to Okonkwo as a father figure in his life. Creating a relationship and bond with

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Okonkwo wanted so badly to be the most powerful and influential man in Umuofia. Every chance that Okonkwo had to show his pride and strength, he took it. Okonkwo’s son Ikemefuna killed one of the women in the village which is why he was sacrificed. Though it was the Week of Peace, Okonkwo did not want to show any signs of weakness to the other men of the culture, so he was indeed the one who killed Ikemefuna. “He heard Ikemefuna cry, “My father, they have killed me!”

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Rather than being killed by the men he despised he took his own life. Actions have consequences and in killing three people he realized he was not exempt from that rule. Upon his newfound cognizance he took a cowards way out which is also an abomination to their clan. While Okonkwo was an impressive figure to the people of Umuofia because of the warrior he had become for his own self-gratification he died just like his father; titleless. If Okonkwo hadn’t been so petrified of being seen as weak he could’ve lived to be more, but the persona he built wasn’t prepared to enter his new world of an

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This quotation from chapter four demonstrates that Okonkwo knew he would be punished for

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Achebe writes, “ Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought weak” (Achebe 63). Many other members of the tribe would have let their son be killed because of the unwavering faith many have in their religion and the decisions of the elders. However, not many would do it themselves. This scene truly showcases Okonkwo’s fears.

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‘Because I had something better to do’(achebe 66)”. when his friend Obierika tells him that he should have nothing to do with the killing of Ikemefuna, Okonkwo dismisses his advice and insists on going through with the execution which shows that he is arrogant because he was thinking of no one else. During this quote Okonkwo is on the hero stage of refusal of the call because Okonkwo does not want to admit that he did not want to kill ikefuma. For this reason Okonkwo is a byronic hero.

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He was afraid of being thought as weak. Okonkwo realize that he is having trouble functioning with his culture being changed and his village with his old religion he was seen as a leader and he felt like one he had to follow does rules. He was just afraid his culture was going to be taking away from him everything he had learned and all the he knows. “He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart, and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women.”

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Okonkwo had a fiery personality and used violence to solve his problems. Okonkwo never showed any emotion openly, unless it was the emotion of anger. Okonkwo believed that showing affection was a sign of weakness; “the only thing worth demonstrating was strength” (28). Okonkwo plays a tragic role. He has a main flaw that ultimately leads to his downfall; his flaw is his inability to accept change.

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" Okonkwo was too proud to have stayed home and done the ethical thing. Okonkwo's pride is displayed throughout the entire book with his constant focus on strength and his fear of being thought of as a coward. Going from the beginning to the end, in chapter 24 Okonkwo kills a head messenger during a meeting. " He knew that Umuofia would not got to war.

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Okonkwo knew that it was bad to kill someone from the village but he didn’t want to look weak. He knew that if he would of done it in front of his people they would of exiled him or killed him. Later on when he accidentally shot a guy and was exiled for seven years. Times were getting harder for him and his

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Okonkwo becomes like this because of his father. His father was lazy and dies a dishonorable death and leaves nothing for his family. Okonkwo fears becoming like his father, an agbala. The effect of this is beneficial for Okonkwo. The way he turns out makes him a great man and because of this, he obtains the third highest title in his tribe.

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In the book “Things Fall Apart“ Okonkwo is a very strong man and from time to time he starts showing his true self. He has a lot of responsibilities and other things he has to do around the living environment and interact with lots of people. Okonkwo changes from being that strong man, to a man who feels like his tribe is not with him when he wants to go to war with the missionaries. For someone like Okonkwo a lot of people looks up to him and while in the tribe Okonkwo beats his wives and children. Not good behavior for someone who is supposedly looked at as strong.

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The hatred that he had for his father he carried with him throughout his whole life. That hatred turned into him killing Ikemefuna and the messenger. Ikemefuna was thought of as a son and he killed him in fear of being considered weak in front of his clan members. That weakness was thought of his weakness which was considered a failure. At the end of the story Okonkwo ends up being just like his father which is ironic because he strived to be nothing like him.

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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

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Okonkwo killed Ikemefuna despite being warned not to. His fear of appearing weak, caused him to kill someone he considered a son. This is important because it shows how much Okonkwo’s fear of failure controls him and causes him to make irrational decisions. Eventually, this fear led to his demise. When missionaries began to invade Umuofia, Okonkwo wanted to go to war immediately but his clan members refused.

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