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Okonkwo's Relationship With His Father Quotes Analysis

791 Words4 Pages

Anas Ali
Ms. Pratt
English 10 HN
02 February 2023

In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, readers are introduced to Okonkwo, a proud man who strives to be successful in his village of Umuofia. Despite his best efforts, his pride often gets in the way of his success. His relationship with his late father shapes much of his violent demeanor. Okonkwo's greatest weakness is his pride, which is constantly under threat both from his community and from himself. This pride is justifiable since he has accomplished a lot, but it can also lead to tragic consequences such as when he kills Ikemefuna against the advice of Ogbuefi Ezeudu.
In Things Fall Apart, the thesis is to not let pride get in the way of life. The author uses key events throughout …show more content…

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. Another example is that Okonkwo refuses to accept help from others, which leads to his downfall. "Let us not reason like cowards" (Achebe 152). This quote demonstrates that pride can prevent one from achieving their goals and should not be allowed to get in the way of life. The author uses examples like Okonkwo's struggle with his fathers reputation and Okonkwo not accepting help from others to show that the theme is that you should not let pride get in the way of your …show more content…

Okonkwo's pride leads him to resist change and reject the white missionaries who come to Umuofia. This resistance leads to his downfall because he is unable to accept a new way of life. This shows how pride can lead to downfall when it prevents people from adapting and accepting new ideas. "A proud heart can survive general failure because such a failure does not prick its pride. It is more difficult and more bitter when a man fails alone" (Achebe 30). His response to the colonizers is influenced by his own views on pride, and his fear of failure and weakness ultimately leads to his demise. Another example is how Okonkwo's pride causes him to act rashly and without thinking of the consequences. "If a man comes into my hut and defecates on the floor, what do I do? Do I shut my eyes? No! I take a stick and flog him out" (Achebe 152). This quote shows how Okonkwo's pride causes him to act rashly and without thinking of the consequences. His refusal to compromise or show mercy leads to his eventual

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“His whole life was dominated by fear of failure and weakness” (13), this quote shows that his fear of failure was so deep that it completely dominated his whole life and affected his relationships. In the end Okonkwo was so afraid of the ‘weakness’ that was brought to his clan and had taken over Nwoye, he killed himself. Obierika says “You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog” (208), Okonkwo ended up choosing the ‘weakest’ path that he could have because he knew that he could not live with this new religion and ‘weak’ way of life with no fighting

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The author, Chinua Achebe, used Okonkwo as an example of the father/son conflict and how the conflict affects a man’s life. Just because one does not always act like the typical strong, almost emotionless man, that does not mean one is coward. Okonkwo’s thought process leads to his demise because he cannot bear to see the strong willed tribe and culture he has known his whole life fail him: just

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Okonkwo experienced change because of the actions that lead to his banishment and this made some of his fears come true. Even after these parts of his life have occurred, Okonkwo would have still been able to recover from his incident. However, because of colonialism, this idea of returning to his old life was shot down by the new ideas and changes within the people of Umoufia. This negative change was caused directly by colonialism. In “Things Fall Apart” the Igbo have been shown to have a large amount of culture that was effected by western beliefs.

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When Okonkwo first returns back from his exile and hears the news of the white man in Umuofia, his anger increases that no one is trying to fight them. Even after his friend Obierika tells him about how the village Abame was destroyed by similar white missionaries Okonkwo simply thinks “Abame people were weak and foolish. Why did they not fight back... We would be cowards to compare ourselves to the men of Abame” (175). Okonkwo 's aggression blinds him to the dangers of rebelling against the white man, that he is willing to risk the destruction of his whole village just to satisfy his ideology of respecting his religion.

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At first, Okonkwo was very set in his ways, and determined to appear manly and powerful to his clansmen, and this came into play when the white people entered into Umuofia, as he tried to fight back. Finally, when he did not get the results he was hoping for, he resorted to killing himself, displaying that stubbornness towards colliding cultures leads to violence and destruction. Overall, when two cultures collide, they can either both accept each other, leading to peace and prosperity, or try to claim superiority over the other, which results, most commonly, in destruction. Unfortunately, Things fall apart ended in the latter, but the other is possible for those with an open mind and a flexible

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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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Okonkwo fears being seen as a weak man, by Nwoye proving he is weak, Okonkwo begins to fear his son will destroy the image he has worked to create for himself. Thereby causing others to perceive him as weak. The author wants the audience to draw comparisons between Nwoye and Okonkwo. Nwoye is a direct contradiction to Okonkwo’s visual of what a man should act like. When Nwoye struggles to control his emotions, he resorts to crying, a harmless act, while Okonkwo resorts to violence to

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In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo in several instances displays that he does not understand his pride as a flaw. For example, when some of the tribe leaders speak to Okonkwo and inform him that Ikemefuna is to be murdered, he is advised to not play a part in the killing. Yet, Okonkwo ignores this advice and ends up giving the final blow to the boy who called him father. Later in the story, his pride again is displayed as a flaw when he chops the head off of the white man in front of the tribe to elevate himself as a war hero. Soon after, he realizes his wrong doings and decides to commit suicide because he does not want to take part in the imperialistic change of white men overcoming his town.

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