Life Consequences
Violence and consequences in Things Fall Apart Okwonkwo had a few violent problems in real life when you make violent decisions however you will have to face the consequence .
Okwonkwo’s violent tendencies cause conflicts that keep the plot moving forward as well as highlight the messages that violence will cause you to lose what is closest to you.
One of the violent situation Okwonkwo was in is when the village decided to murder Ikemufuna and Okwonkwo had no choice but to attend because if he didn’t he would seem weak and he didn’t want that because he would be just like his father.
A second violent situation Okwonkwo was is is when he accidentally shot a little boy and ended up getting banished forever from the village.
What allows a human being to constantly face-up to the responsibilities of life? What makes a mother or father continue to clothe, feed, and pick up their child from school? What makes a person wake up every morning to go to a job he or she hates, come home, and begin the whole process the following morning? Is it "responsibility" that makes a person do what they have to do, or rather is it fearing the consequence? Truthfully, this would depend on the situation. Parents would most likely fulfill their responsibility towards their child or children because of love; but a person who hates his or her job probably continues to do it fearing the consequence of unemployment. In the end, one realizes that despite all the responsibilities a person
- Okonkwo kills the man as a sign of strength because he doesn’t want to be portrayed as being weak. This is what every father and mother fear in life, having your child die before you even do. It affects your whole life, and can mentally break
After a village elder had found what crime Okonkwo committed, he told Okonkwo that, “you are not a stranger in Umuofia. You know as well as I that our forefathers ordained that before we plant any crops in the earth, we should observe a week of peace in which a man does not say a harsh word to his neighbor” (30). The elder proceeded to give Okonkwo instructions on how to attempt amends with the goddess. After a single action was taken, his proceeding efforts were nearly non-existent. Any attempt to fix the situation were minimal, as were efforts to learn from his mistakes. Furthermore, Okonkwo advances to partaking in the death of Ikemefuna. The relationship between the two is complicated, but is closest description is that of a boy and his step-father. Killing Ikemefuna is not an evil against the earth, as beating a wife during the week of peace was, but a crime against himself. He is unhappy with himself, and still does nothing to fix his ways, continuing on to single handedly killing a boy at a funeral. Although accidental, Okonkwo was still the man behind the gun. “It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land….he could return to the clan after seven years” (124). Okonkwo had no choice but to leave for the seven years, perhaps upon his return
One reason that I believe king Tut died of natural causes is because king Tut had a fractured leg. Since they didn’t have medicines or antibiotics back then, king Tut could have died of an infected wound. Some believe that he did this after falling out of his chariot. “A sudden leg fracture possibly introduced by a fall might have resulted in life threatening conditions.” Dr.Hawass explains. This is just one reason that I believe king Tut could have died of natural causes.
Okonkwo’s response to my evidence is that he that he doesn’t want to show weakness, but his culture pressures him into it and basically forces him to kill a boy who he felt was a son to
Okonkwo’s violent behavior escalate to the point in which he attend to shoot his own wife just because she mumble some words in his back. This doesn’t mean he is a bad person. Later in the chapter is found that he is very fond of his daughter Ezinma, display feelings of love and affection but he consider those emotion as weakness to himself
Okonkwo is also incredibly aggressive. He regularly physically abuses his nuclear family and does so to make himself seem more masculine. His violence in order to protect his fragile masculinity goes to the extent that “his wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper.” (2.12) After the missionaries arrive in Umuofia and Okonkwo’s
Throughout the book “Things Fall Apart”, Okonkwo has always been an issue. He has made many mistakes using violence before and has had consequences for all of them. Some of them were worse than others. The violent actions that Okonkwo has done like when he killed the clansman’s son or when he killed Ikemefuna, has developed the theme of respect and reputation. Killing Ikemefuna was definitely one of the biggest moments of violence that Okonkwo has made.
The family was fundamental to the postemancipation black community. Previous slaves made extraordinary efforts to find their family members from whom they had been detached under slavery. Widows of African American soldiers demanded survivors’ pensions, obligating the federal government to accept the efficacy of prewar relationships that slavery had tried to refuse. Freedom changed the relationships within the black families. Emancipation brought the idea to African Americans that “men and women should inhabit separate “‘spheres.’” African American women could dedicate more time to their families. Blacks left the white-controlled religious institutions and started to create their own churches. Methodists and Baptists were the two largest followings.
Okonkwo gets a little relief from the tension and anxiety going on in his mind and the reader actually see’s a little happiness in him when they burn down the church. But when the District Commissioner comes to the village and takes Okonkwo and the leaders prisoner. This is were readers see Okonkwo’s downfall unravel quickly.
When it was "pronounced" that Ikemefuna should be killed, Okonkwo not only went along with the other men, he also "drew his machete and cut him [Ikemefuna] down." while Okonkwo was "dazed with fear," it was because "He was afraid of being thought weak" (1448). This is an extreme example of Okonkwo's need to show that he was a strong and controlled man. Only a powerful man could kill the boy that called, "My father, they have killed me" (1448).
Characters are the heart of a book. They make the story interesting and help explain the theme and plot. Without a strong list of characters a book becomes dull. In Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart the characters help explain the lost Ibo culture, from strong to lazy, to women and a sacrifice to prevent war. The main character sets up the plot of a book, through their life and point of view the story is told. The main character in Things Fall Apart is a strong and culture hearted man named Okonkwo. He can be described as a tragic hero from his journey and life told in the book. As a sacrifice to prevent war in Umuofia a boy named Ikemefuna is traded to the village he is given to Okonkwo's family and he becomes apart of their family. Mr.
Okonkwo's fault of violence ultimately leads to consequences which confirms the Igbo ideal of universal justice and how each person is somewhat responsible for what happens to
The setting of a story is the surrounding of which the story takes place. In Ethan Frome, By Edith Wharton, the setting is in a small town in Massachusetts called Starkfield in the late 1890s. In the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, the setting is in a village in Africa around the time of the 19th century. Both settings are very significant to the story and that if it took place anywhere else it would not be the same. The setting is very important to the story through the elements of social expectation, Geological location, and time period.
Okonkwo becomes furious, kills a messenger, and then commits suicide in order to avoid being captured by the white men. Okonkwo cannot accept the evangelists, as they have made him lose his power and control over the community and his son. The change in Okonkwo’s life is negative as it makes Okonkwo desperately look for solutions, although there are none. His internal struggle with change leads him to kill another human and himself out of inability to do