Selfishness Quotes In Things Fall Apart

In the book things fall apart, you are following Okonkwo, who is a leader of the Igbo community, from the events leading up to his banishment from the community for accidentally killing a clansman, through the seven years of his exile, to his return. In the novel Things fall Apart Okonkwo's hero type is byronic I say this because Okonkwo shows selfishness, violence, and arrogence which leads to his downfall First body In the Novel things fall apart Okonkwo shows selfishness. The author shows this by stating, “He heard Ikemefuna cry ‘My father, they have killed me!’ as he ran towards him. Dazed with fear, Okonkwo drew his machete and cut him down. He was afraid of being thought of as weak.(Achebe 61)”. This Quote shows Okonkwo's aggression

The author presents this to us by stating,“Okonkwo was provoked to justifiable anger by his youngest wife who went to her friend's house and did not return home early enough to cook the afternoon meal… he walked back to his obi to await ojiugo’s return. And when she returned he beat her heavily.(achebe 21)” This shows that he is violent because he beat up one of his own wives that he loved just because she could not make him food. When this situation occurs Okonkwo is on the hero stage of ordinary birth because the author added this quote to show Okonkwo's personality and how little things can easily upset him. Another way that Okonkwo showed violence is when he killed the messenger, “‘What do you want here?’ ‘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. Okonkwo’s machete descended twice and the man’s head lay beside his uniformed body.(achebe 204)” This shows that Okonkwo is violent because he wanted to kill someone to rebel against the Commissioner and the missionaries because the Commissioner tricked the clansmen and put them in jail for burning down his church. In this part of the novel Okonkwo is on the hero stage of supreme ordeal. This is because Okonkwo does not want to accept change so he does something bad to try and stop it by killing the messenger. For this reason Okonkwo is

The author shows us this In Chapter 2, Okonkwo is described as a man who "never showed any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger.(achebe 10)". This suggests that he believes expressing emotions other than anger is a sign of weakness, which is a form of arrogance. During this quote okonkwo is still on the stage of ordinary birth because it is at the beginning of the book and the author is describing okonkwos personalitie. Another point in the novel where Okonkwo shows his arrogence is shown when he refuses to listen to the advice of others. ‘’’I can not understand why you refused to come with us to kill that boy,’ he asked obreka. ‘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.

However, from a different point of view Okonkwo could be a tragic hero. The story states, “That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog(achebe 208)”Okonkwo's tragic flaw would