Things Fall Apart Quote Analysis

Status. Social hierarchy. Importance in the world. These three words all mean the same thing, in their own respective ways. Whether it be the number of yams in one’s barn, or the number of Ferraris in their garage, they are both indicative of how successful one is.

For all of his desire to be strong, Okonkwo is caught up by the constant fear of being perceived as weak. He is afraid of failure and afraid of being considered weak. This fear drives him to do whatever he can to not become a failure like his father which ironically contributes to his death. While Okonkwo was a strong and important figure in his tribe, he had to keep his reputation that way by making some hard decisions. One of them was when he had to kill Ikemefuna, a young boy from the neighboring tribe. Okonkwo started accepting the decision to kill Ikemefuna because he started to call Okonkwo father. He had to keep his own valor intact and kill the boy to prevent himself from showing any weakness, but deep down, Okonkwo was really upset because of what he did which was ironic, “’When did you become a shivering old woman,' Okonkwo asked himself, 'you, who are known in all the nine villages for your valor in war? How can a man who has killed five men in battle fall to pieces because he has added a boy to their number? Okonkwo, you have become a woman indeed.'" (Achebe 65). He continued to roll downhill when the white man comes to try and convert Okonkwo’s tribe. Okonkwo responds by killing one of the messengers that were sent. This cause Okonkwo's own tribe to question his actions. “"Okonkwo stood looking at the dead man. He knew that Umuofia would not go to war. He knew because they had let the other messengers escape.

In the novel Things Fall Apart, the use of violence in Ibo culture was fairly frequent, especially among the men in the village. In the Ibo village of Umuofia, it was obvious that the men rule the household with a heavy hand, meaning if they felt a beating was necessary they would carry it out with full force. In chapter four of the novel, Okonkwo’s youngest wife decided to plait her hair at a friend’s house. When she did not come home early enough to cook the afternoon meal and failed to ask another wife to feed her children, Okonkwo decided to take it upon himself to give her a hefty beating. The fact that it was supposed to be the Week of Peace did not stop him. The reality that the men take it upon themselves and are expected to control

Okonkwo shows throughout the book Things Fall Apart that he fears weakness and failure. Often times he also shows that he is bitter and gets angry easily. This bitterness and fear leads to some consequence such as exile and death. After several encounters with failure Okonkwo realizes his weak points and gains sympathy from that. There are ways that Okonkwo shows theses things throughout the book and evidence that makes them true.

Daisy pantoja December 7, 2015 English 10H Mrs. Smith Literary Analysis essay In the novel “Things Fall Apart” by chinua achebe,Okonkwo is a well-respected, powerful member of the Umuofia clan. Then the European missionaries come in and cause chaos throughout umuofia. Okonkwo responds to the cultural collision by planning attacks toward the western missionaries believes they are a threat, and changes his sense of identity.

Imagine you’re with a group of friends at a party, and it gets a little crazy. People are drinking and smoking outside and all around you. You are standing in the kitchen and someone hands you a drink, and there’s some beer in it. All of your friends are laughing and drinking and they urge you to do it too. They say, ‘Just do it, it’s not bad.’

But Okonkwo gave no response. When he returns after seven years he finds things have changed drastically. White missionaries have established themselves and some people of his village have converted to their religion. Okonkwo tries to rouse his clan to take action against these foreigners and their institutions. He was ready to stand for and fight for his community but others did not feel as strongly as Okonkwo about the new dispensation. Okonkwo’s tragic mood indicates an affirmation of the validity of the past. And movement of the plot indicates acceptance of the present as it is. “Okonkwo was deeply grieved. And it was not just a personal grief. He mourned for the clan, which he saw breaking up and falling apart and he mourned for the warlike men of Umuofia, who had so unaccountably become soft like women.” (Achebe 165). In a rage he kills one of the white men and then in order to avoid the disgrace of being caught at the hands of white men he commits suicide. There is a contrast in the way he lived his life and in the way he faces death. His death marks that unchecked manliness complex may result in a disaster. When his kinsmen find his dead body they refuse to touch it and instead asks the white men to bury him. On being asked the reason one of them explains, “It is against our custom. It is an abomination for a man to take his own life. It is an offence against the Earth,

The imperialism brought up many hard times for the imperialist and the natives of the lands that the imperialist wanted to conquer. The book Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe is set in the first waves of European imperialists in Nigeria; they acted in a way that Chinua wrote them in some opinions are highly stereotyped in what they did. When the Europeans industrialized Africa, anyone that did not have the Christian religion was deemed “uncivilized”. The fact is though, the Ibo people were civilized in their own right way. For example, they had a form of government, religion, a justice system, and the children were schooled in what they needed to know for their life. Knowing what we now from history

“A status symbol is an instrument you clash when you want someone to know you are there.” -William Sansom Throughout history individuals had possessions that indicated their wealth or high social status, or professional status, which is known as a status symbol. In Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart, the main character Okonkwo surrounds his life around the concept of achieving a high and mighty status symbol. While making these important, Okonkwo and the people suffered from negative consequences.

He was extremely disappointed that he had lost the chance of leading his “warlike clan against the new religion”. This “religion”, the Christian missionaries, had become very influential among the clan and started to impose the village onto the western form of laws and government. What hurt him the most was to see that people from the village had joined the Christians just like his son had, even those respected among the village had renounced their previous titles and became associated with them. Seeing the disappearance of his heritage, the oppression of celebrating their customs that had come with the arrival of Mr. Smith, Okonkwo wanted to drive them out of his clan. He heavily meditated on war against the European settlers and wanted the villages to follow him and not become “cowards” against the white man (Achebe, pg. 199).

Cultural collision is a clash in Cultures or values. Cultural collision is a situation that plays off in classrooms where students misbehave while educators implicitly usher out urban school students who do it bring the power social/cultural capital to school. Cultural collision presents in things fall apart, ethnic, religion, gender, and institutional. The bulk of the novel takes place in umuofia, a cluster of nine villages on the novel higher. Umuofia is a powerful clan skinned in war and with a great population, with proud traditions and advanced social institutions okonkwo was risen from nothing to a high position.

Notes and Quotes Suicide: “ ‘It is against our custom,’ said one of the men. ‘It is an abomination for a man to rake his own life. It is an offense against the Earth, and a man who commits it will not be buried by his clansmen. His body is evil, and only strangers may touch it. That is why we ask your people to bring him down, because you are strangers.’ ”

In the novel, things Fall Apart by, Chinua Achebee examines the impact of white colonization on the Igbo people of Nigeria, depicted through the protagonist Okonkwo. Known as the greatest warrior amongst the people of his Umofian clan and the nine neighboring villages, Okonkwo is a brash and violent man that see’s most of his family and fellow villagers as citizens not living up to the standards of Igbo culture. Although Okonkwo’s violent actions and bold personality are what define a warrior of his caliber, it is those same traits that the Igbo people consider sin and the White Christian European missionaries consider ignorance that will cause Okonkwo to fall apart. The story begins with insight as to how Okonkwo gained his title as, the

In the novel ”Things Fall Apart,” by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo is a character who shows the difficulty of staying true and saving his religion. Okonkwo is a very strong man. At times he may be very stubborn, like most men. With many occasions he is very impatient and struggles with controlling his anger. In the book, he is exiled for seven years. During those seven years missionaries come into the village and try to make all of the Ibo tribe convert into Christianity. Since he,Okonkwo, is not there to kick them out they have managed to convince a few people, including his son. This leads him to be very upset and angry when he comes out of exile. The author, Chinua Achebe, is trying to show culture and strength

The end of the 19th century marked one of the greatest travesties in the history of the modern world, when one continent came under the heel of a few small nations. When the Europeans colonized Africa, they not only robbed the native peoples of their land, but of their identity. Author Chinua Achebe recognizes this change in identity with his novel, Things Fall Apart. In his novel, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe shows how Okonkwo, whose identity is built upon his strength, responds violently to the cultural collision brought upon by the introduction of western ideas to Ibo culture.