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Violence In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

738 Words3 Pages

Okonkwo showed numerous accounts of violence in the novel Things Fall Apart. These acts of violence make him a strong and fearless leader of the Ibo tribe. Although, to the reader he is seen as, “a person who does not show approval or favor toward an idea or action” (Dictionary.com) better known as an unsympathetic character. His acts are both towards the his family and the Ibo people but by mainly associated with his third wife Ojiugo, Ezeudu 's son and the white commissioner who is converting the Ibo people to Christianity. Furthermore, the first act of violence created by Okonkwo is ironically during the week of peace. Ojiugo, Okonkwo 's wife decided to get her hair done with a couple of her friends. But when Okonkwo came and the dinner wasn …show more content…

Lastly, near the end of the book the white missionaries had essentially invaded the Ibo tribe and its religion. Okonkwo after “heading back to Umuofia” (Achebe 171) was not really acknowledged or awaited for his return to Umuofia. He was seen as an unsympathetic person when he left and so much had changed that he was now just like any other person. Okonkwo did not like what the white missionaries were up to to say the least. After talking to the commissioner in a heated conversation Achebe writes, “Okonkwo 's machete descended twice and the man 's head lay beside his uniformed body” (Achebe 185) thinking that this act would have the other tribe members in the fight with him. However this was not the case, the other Igbo people enjoyed the white people 's religion and were sick of Okonkwo 's unsympathetic ways of doing things. This lack of help and series of unfortunate events led to Okonkwo 's demise written out by Achebe as “Then they came to the tree from which Okonkwo 's body was dangling and the stopped dead” (Achebe 187). Now ending all that Okonkwo has lived for and leaving his family because of how unsympathetic he really was and acted.
In conclusion, in the book Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo 's life falls apart at the seams because of his unsympathetic acts toward his family and the Ibo people. Furthermore leading him to leave it all behind

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