Things Fall Apart Okonkwo's Life

Words: 662

Pages: 3

Open Document

A loss of a child has a very negative impact on a family. Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, tells a story of the Igbo people in fictional, pre-colonial Nigeria.The protagonist Okonkwo is a respected warrior in the village of Umuofia, and the book narrates how his life plays out in a series of dramatic events in the village. Profound events impacts Okonkwo's life, one such event is when Ikemefuna, a boy, is given from his homeland Mbaino as an offering for a crime committed in Umuofia. Okonkwo was given the burden of taking care of Ikemefuna which was a considerable responsibility. After a certain period of time Ikemefuna spent with Okonkwo Okonkwo was told that the Oracle had decreed that Ikemefuna must be killed.Okonkwo is told to take no part in his death by Ezeudu and Obierika, a friend and an elder who were highly respected in the village. Okonkwo ignores the requests and participates in the killing of Ikemefuna anyways. Okonkwo’s decision to …show more content…
He had become a son to Okonkwo. Furthermore,Okonkwo participating in the death of Ikemefuna is the equivalence of helping killing his own son,which has a negative impact on his family. Ezeudu says to Okonkwo, “ That boy calls you father.”(49)This shows that Ikemefuna treats Okonkwo as he was his father. A father helping killing a son would negatively impacted the family because a father should take care of his son and not be a part of his death. A family would be even more deeply saddened and disconnected if the man who took care of the boy helped kill him. Achebe states, “Nwoye overheard it and bursted into tears.” This shows the negativity being shown in the family of Ikemefuna being taken away. Okonkwo’s decision to take part in the killing of Ikemefuna would cause much sadness in the killing. If Okonkwo hadn’t partook, there would have been less negativity in the family and they would “grieve”but Okonkwo partook in the

Things Fall apart and Umuofia Clan Essay

FirstName LastName Class Period In the story Things Fall Apart, many things escalate to just falling apart. Okonkwo’s a wealthy, great, and respected warrior of the Umuofia clan. As you can infer, he’s the main character. Many things escalate in downward negative way for Okonkwo throughout the whole story. Furthermore, Europeans comes along and destroys their communities. The Europeans destroyed more than their communities, they destroyed their customs. Finally, when the white Europeans come…

Words 653 - Pages 3

Literary Devices In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe uses literary devices such as irony, flashbacks, and symbols to tell a story about what it was like to live in Africa at that time. He tells a story about a character who does everything in his power to not be like his father but in the end he finds himself in a similar situation. By using these literary devices Achebe writes about destiny versus self-determination and connects ideas to the theme. His use of irony helps explain Okonkwo’s actions and how his life…

Words 641 - Pages 3

Things Fall Apart Quote Analysis

Achebe’s Things Fall Apart tells the story of Igboland before the British Empire arrived, and Okonkwo who is a villager, who has worked for his strong and respected position as a leader in the community. After a mishap Okonkwo’s exiled and it is not until he returns he realizes British missionaries have changed everything. We see how the community’s obsession with strength and stability ultimately leads to weakness and instability, just as it does in Okonkwo’s life. Things Fall Apart in Things Fall…

Words 892 - Pages 4

Violence In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart

Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, Chapters 10 and 11 emphasize the presence of societal and cultural symbolism in violence and how weather changes in literature signify deeper meanings; this is proven true in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo, a powerful Ibo man, views violence as a sign of masculinity and strength. For instance, this is evident when he tells Nwoye and Ikemefuna narratives that he views as "masculine stories of violence and bloodshed"…

Words 356 - Pages 2

Comparative Essay; Things Fall Apart

parent-child relationship plays a large role in various literary works. The novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, both explore the dynamic of many parent-child relationships. Death of a Salesman regarded the troubling relationship that Willy Loman, an unsuccessful Salesman, had with his two children Biff and Happy. Similarly, in Things Fall Apart it described the life of a man named Okonkwo who had much controversy when it came to his relationship…

Words 1668 - Pages 7

Things Fall apart and Chinua Achebe Essay

Art as Instrument of Change Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, is a very rich novel. Set in a Nigerian village at the outset of the 20th century, it is the story of Okonkwo, an Ibo warrior and clan leader struggling to come to terms with the upheaval of his cherished way of life. Proud, wealthy and respected by the members of his community, Okonkwo values above all his position in traditional Ibo society. With the arrival of Christian missionaries and colonial administrators in his home of…

Words 456 - Pages 2

Family In Things Fall Apart

Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, family life is quite different than the modern American family. Despite what many may believe, many people probably have a better family life than the main family in Things Fall Apart. In the society of Achebe’s novel, the Igbo, polygamy is normal. Igbo people also value men more than women. The main family members of Abebe’s book are the following: Okonkwo (father), Ekwefi (second wife), Nwoye (first son), and Ezinma (daughter of Ekwefi and Okonkwo’s favorite child)…

Words 826 - Pages 4

Thingss falll apart Essay

Chinua Acebe's novel Things Fall Apart and Wole Soyinka's drama Death and the King's Horsemen both deal with the issue of suicide within African culture. Each work defies a simplistic view of suicide by placing it within the context of how it is viewed by differing African cultures and the way in which colonialism both complicates how social, moral, ethical, and political beliefs and rituals are practiced by those cultures. each story has a different attitude toward suicide, both deal with it within…

Words 1433 - Pages 6

Essay on Rough Draft TFA

Katie Van Horn Cheeseman English 2 Honors (7th) 26 March 2015 Okonkwo: Afraid of Change or Weakness? In Things Fall Apart Chinua Achebe uses internal conflict and tragedy to diligently demonstrate his theme of how the power of fear affects relationships and feelings of those around you. Chinua Achebe portrays how the power of fear affects everyone in a community. This is displayed when she writes, “Without further argument Okonkwo gave her a sound beating and left her and her only daughter weeping”…

Words 1619 - Pages 7

Things fall apart Essay

Things Fall Apart: Okonkwo’s Image v.s Innerself Okonkwo is a symbol of strength in his village. However, his image of strength isn’t always accurate with his inner strength more his physical strength. Throughout Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo goes through several different conflicts which begin to take a toll on his life. These conflicts affect his image, and reputation in his village, but most of all they affect his mindset. Okonkwo gets torn between how he feels and how he believes he should feel…

Words 784 - Pages 4