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Okonkwo's Father Quotes

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Okonkwo's toxic masculine creates conflict with his father, his wife and children, and his religion/beliefs determining his death

Okonkwo's persona is mostly dominated by fear of becoming just like his father as we see in the first chapters that were seen as soft and weak with the name Unoka. Okonkwo set his goal to become a strong man and wealthy warrior the opposite of his father. His fear led to cruel crimes for him, his family, and his clan example being- his controllable anger, causing people to fear him in a negative way such as the clan and his own family. Pg. 5 quotes “ Okonkwo's father was a very lazy and carefree man. Having the reputation of being “poor and his wife and children barely ate”. Okonkwo feels that anything that reminded him of his father was weak and unnecessary. Another example would be beating his wife during peace week because she didn’t cook but got her hair done during peace. …show more content…

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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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.

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1002 Words | 5 Pages

Oknokwo sacrificed himself, his pride, and his image which showed his true values and the meaning behind his work. Okonkwo is renowned as a wrestler, a fierce warrior, and a successful farmer of yams, which were seen as manly crops. In the novel, Things Fall Apart, Oknokwo’s biggest fear was being seen as a failure or as weak because his father, Unoka was perceived that way. He was a prideful farmer and wrestler, so that is why Okonkwo continued to act prideful and strong. He sacrificed himself by taking his life when Okonkwo felt as if he had been a failure to everyone and himself.

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1319 Words | 6 Pages

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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791 Words | 4 Pages

Okonkwo is ashamed of his father's lack of success and wants to be the best he can be in order to prove himself and show how he is unlike his father. This pride leads him to act as if he is somehow not respected because of the relationship with his father. Okonkwo's struggle with his father's reputation and how pride can impede one's life is shown in the quote, "Okonkwo's father was disrespected and derided for being cowardly, effeminate, weak, and unsuccessful, and so Okonkwo resolved to not be these things. His whole life was dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness" (Achebe 21). This quote shows how Okonkwo's pride and fear of failure has his life consumed by fear because he is always trying to prove himself and live up to his father's legacy.

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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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151 Words | 1 Pages

Okonkwo father was a coward and lazy and he did his best not to become that. Okonkwo’s tragic flaw is that he wants to be strong, all throughout the book he trying to strong leads him to sadness and overall suicided. A great example would be Ikemefuna, he basically became his second son and instead of showing emotion when Okonkwo participates in Ikemefuna’s murder he just shoves it inside causing guilt and regret All of it because he does not want to be like his father. Another great example is when he was all ready to go to war and at the meeting when a messenger from the missionaries arrive and says stop the meeting. Enraged he kills him before realizing that his clan will not go to war with the missionaries.

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1404 Words | 6 Pages

Okonkwo lived a difficult childhood as his father as he was a very lazy being who complained about having

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623 Words | 3 Pages

¨He had no patience with unsuccessful men, He had no patience with his father¨(Achebe Pg. #4). Okonkwo does not tolerate men who had no title or who were lazy, including his father. He was so unsympathetic and full of his own priorities that he had no patience for his own father. This shows that he has no sympathy for people who are considered less of him.

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786 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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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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1398 Words | 6 Pages

During the book, Okonkwo hates his father who acts very feminine according to the Igbo definition. Okonkwo’s actions are primarily based on his fear of becoming like his father so he rejects all characteristics that his father had. Throughout the story, we learn about how things fall apart for Okonkwo. The story starts off with Okonkwo living a normal life, beating his wives and farming, but then Ikemefuna joins the family as a tribute from another village to avoid war. Okonkwo starts to grow fond of Ikemefuna as he also has a positive influence on Nwoye, his son, because Nwoye starts to act more masculine.

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1774 Words | 8 Pages

Okonkwo strives to be everything but his father. This is clear from the very beginning when it says, “He had no

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792 Words | 4 Pages

He is described as a hardworking, strict and serious man who fears to become anything like his father, Unoka - who is described as a lazy and a coward, yet a gentle person ("And so 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.", Achebe, page 10). Okonkwo is also described as hot tempered man, as his three wives and eight children fears his temper. When Okonkwo commits the crime of accidentally killing a boy (he had already committed the crime of beating one his wives on Week of Peace), he is exiled from his tribe for seven years. He and his family then leave to his motherland, Mbanta.

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508 Words | 3 Pages

First, his relationship with his father Unoka. Who he did not have a great relationship with. And someone he did not specifically care for. Someone he knew who just so happen to be his father. In the book there is a quote “okonkwo was ruled by one passion- to hate everything his father had loved”.

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1297 Words | 6 Pages

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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