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Transition Of Okonkwo In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

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The Transition of Okonkwo In Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the Ibo culture has an unexpected visit from a conflicting and unfamiliar culture. Achebe uses his own experience to tell the story of how Okonkwo, a man who was very strong and successful, who fell apart because of a new foreign culture known as the Western Culture. Okonkwo started on as a respected and successful leader, but due to the introduction of Western culture, his standing in the Ibo culture soon declined as well as his pride and respect from his family. Achebe incorporates masculinity and father-son relationships to display the concept that not being open to new ideas and cultures can lead to the destruction of one’s self. In the beginning, “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements” (13). This quote displays how his title in the villages was very high and he had a great deal of respect from the people in the clan. He had great confidence and self-assurance of his talents and beliefs. Little did he know that all his achievements and success would come crashing down. Okonkwo was seen as very masculine and strong, but when he decided to commit a crime that was seen as very “feminine,” it changed his …show more content…

“Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling, and they stopped dead” (191). Okonkwo had felt like he lost everything, and he had no hope in anything. First his home, then his son, and now himself. This is the lowest act he can commit, he was thought of as so masculine and robust and he lost it all. “It is against our custom,” said one of the men. “It is an abomination for a man to take his own life” (191). Okonkwo had gone against the earth, his village, and his beliefs because of the depression he was going through while people were converting and following the new missionaries rather than fighting and trying to keep the village as their original

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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.

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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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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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Jaslyn Mendez Reilly Period 5 April 10, 2018 Things Fall Apart Character Analysis In the novel, “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is characterized as a regarded and decided person whose deadly imperfection in the long run conflicts with him. All through the novel the readers are demonstrated that Okonkwo has a considerable amount of these characteristics since he is fixated on not ending up simply like his dad. This turns into his imperfection in the novel that places him into outcast and makes it difficult for him to acclimate to the progressions that were made within his town. Okonkwo changes from being a strong, confident warrior to a hopeless man who feels his tribe will not support his decision to make war against the white

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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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In “On Tragedy” Aristotle says “That the change of fortune presented must not be the spectacle of a virtuous man brought from prosperity to adversity”. In “Things Fall Apart” Okonkwo notices a reversal in his society after chopping a messengers head off “He wiped his machete on the sand and went away”(176). This quotation from chapter twenty-four demonstrates Okonkwo’s reversal of character after killing a messenger and getting no response or cheers from his fellow clansmen. Okonkwo’s reversal of character after this occurs is what sets up his suicide. This trait is shown by society’s development to deal with the missionaries and Okonkwo’s way of dealing with them is in conflict with the way his fellow villagers want to be handled.

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this quote is the turning point of how Okonkwo’s reactions to Western culture changed. Initially Okonkwo was in blatant opposition towards Christianity and the forcing of the white man's way of life, but shortly after coming to the realization there was no more he could do by himself, Okonkwo became defeated in spirit. In fact after his last attempt to unite this Umuofian brother's and sister's, and failing once more Okonkwo committed suicide. The commissioner along with his men visited his compound later that evening where “...they came to a tree from which Okonkwo’s body was dangling.” It was not until this time members of his clan recognized the power of their cowardly submission the the white man, could result in

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Things Fall Apart by Chinua is a book about a masculine man who leads himself to his own downfall through his violent ways. This book takes place in the 1890s when Europe’s colonial government started converting the Igbo people to Christianity. Recurring ideas of this book include clash of cultures and masculinity. In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, before colonialism, Okonkwo was as a well respected, wealthy and masculine warrior, but the coming of colonialism to Umuofia made him weak in a way that would’ve once disappointed himself.

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Colonization has an impact on an individual’s life and can either be positive or negative. In Things Fall Apart, Achebe uses Okonkwo, a tragic hero, to show loss of power and respect due to colonization and to exemplify change can be hard for people. Okonkwo’s identity is dependent on the Igbo Culture. At the beginning of the book, Okonkwo is seen as very strong. Also, Okonkwo only shows the emotion anger because he thinks that is the only emotion that men should show and every other emotion is feminine according to his standards.

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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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In addition, he marries three wives, and takes two titles for his admirable action in the inter-tribal wars (Achebe 8). To an outside observer, Okonkwo is successful in every aspect of his life. Despite these successes, Okonkwo dies a coward, just like his father. Rather than face the white man and the spread of Christianity, Okonkwo chooses to take his own life. According to Obierika, Okonkwo’s friend, “It [was] an abomination for a man to take his own life.

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Being the only one left who wants to overthrow the missionaries, Okonkwo is driven to kill himself. Many of the things Okonkwo does in his life tend to make things worse for him. Okonkwo’s actions before and after the cultural collision he experiences when

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Okonkwo In literature, there are many characters that stand out and show that they have a variety of qualities about them. In Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo is one character that presents character traits from both the negative and positive sides of him. Okonkwo is portrayed to be a warrior who wanted to become somebody strong and looked up to, but also possesses less favorable qualities. He, however, does not let any one trait dictate his whole personality; he is written to be a well-rounded character.

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