Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

This connects Okonkwo to a lion, which is often thought of as a strong, courageous, and noble creature. A lot of what is implied here refers to the theme of Self-Made Man by showing just what kinds of troubles Okonkwo had to go through as he was younger to get to the point he was at then. It could also be in reference to Masculinity of Males by showing us just what they are expected to be able to deal with in the worst of times. If one cannot survive such a time, they are expected to die with no sympathy from the others. The man is supposed to be seen as the calming influence in the family, for so long as he is strong, so is his family.

Social rank and relative wealth play great roles in determining a person’s life in Umuofia society. Sometimes a man with sheer force of will cannot change his future through hard work. One of the main conflicts in Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is the clash between Okonkwo’s determination to succeed, his free will, and fate – which seems to have less appealing things in mind. Okonkwo’s will plays a major factor in determining his future; he chooses to kill Ikemefuna with his own hands, he chooses to kill a government official, and in the end, he chooses to take his own life. However, the pre-destined conditions of his life, his father’s failures, and a series of unfortunate circumstances ultimately lead to Okonkwo’s downfall.

Body Paragraph 1: Okonkwo has this prestige masculine image to uphold, at times throughout the novel we see his character break and layer by layer we see more sides of Okonkwo that you would not think were there. Okonkwo puts immense pressure on himself to be the exact opposite of his father. Therefore, we see this very masculine, harsh, stubborn and somewhat overbearing character. Unoka, his father was a failure, drunk and that gives Okonkwo great shame and a terrible fear of ending up like him. Throughout the novel Okonkwo rides a broom which is no surprise, but then we see these breaks in his character, sides of a humane Okonkwo slip out. For instance, his relationship with Enizma. Insert examples from the text of Okonkwo and Enzima- (more

The narrator presents Okonkwo to be a representation of masculinity and dominance as he strictly rules his household; however, Okonkwo focuses so much on becoming the opposite father that he fell weak to this fear. In other words, even though Okonkwo’s powerful character may represent him as the stereotype of strength and masculinity, he is in fact vulnerable to his overwhelming fears of becoming weak or a failure like his father, and installing fear

In order to justify the slave trade, Europeans made Africans look like primitive people who needed to be trained like animals. One way they did this was through literature. Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, said in an interview that the main reason for writing this novel was to encourage other African writers to write about their past in order to refute the stories of the Europeans, claiming that Africans are uncivilized animals, but also shows that the Ibo were not a perfect society, highlighting the parts of Ibo culture that are considered heinous crimes today, in order to prove that there were no truly civilized societies. In his novel Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe effectively educates his readers about the culture

“Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements.” This quote shows Okonkwo's relentless and extreme pursuit of success and recognition among the community, driven by his will and desire to overcome the hurdles of his father's burden of being perceived as weak. Instead of wasting his time drinking and playing music, he took action and exceeded many goals. For Onkonkwo to succeed, he should have realized that masculinity doesn't just lie upon being a warrior, or a ruthless, relentless beast.

Early on in the novel, it is evident that Okonkwo’s idea of his own self worth and his masculinity strongly pertain to one another. Starting with Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, growing up he believes that he is incompetent and did not achieve anything worthy in Okonkwo’s eyes which urged him to be what his father was not: a leader. Okonkwo believes his father had a “contemptible life and shameful death” (Achebe 18) due to the fact Unoka did not live up to Okonkwo’s own ideas and expectations of masculinity. Okonkwo sees it as his duty as a man to be strong, provide for his family, to be a great warrior, and to instill all of these values in future generations. He is determined to not follow in his father’s footsteps because he fears seeming weak among his people which is worse than death to Okonkwo.

Okonkwo’s main goal in life was to resemble nothing of his father so he became prosperous and dignified, where as his dad was commonly known and well liked he never was rich and could not provide, as he was always in debt to everyone. Okonkwo hated this in his father and so he became an elite within the tribe, with great successes as he easily provided for his family and was a highly regarded tribal member. “Seven years was a long time to be away from one’s clan. A man’s place was not always there waiting for him. As soon as he left, someone else rose and filled it.

Okonkwo is a man by every definition. This is his crowning achievement. Where his father before him had failed, Okonkwo emerged powerful, well-to-do and well-respected. He is described as having “no patience for with unsuccessful men. He had no patience with his father” (Achebe 4). As a child, seeing the way in which the people in the village regarded his father, and how Okonkwo had to go without because Unoka did not make any money, Okonkwo resolved to never end up like his father. While Unoka had been lazy, though generally well-liked and creative, Okonkwo was diligent, greatly feared and demonstrated very little tolerance for the arts. Okonkwo perceives everything that his father did as bad, and so his attempts to separate himself from

Ernest Gaines once said, “I write to try to find out who I am. One of my main themes is manliness. I think I'm trying to figure out what manliness really is.” Indeed, every society or culture has its own understanding of an ideal man. Even though these characteristics are different in various parts of the world, the significance of masculinity can never be overestimated. “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe is considered as one of the best examples of a rise and fall of a man who strives to meet all requirements of an ideal masculinity. This paper will prove the manliness of the main character of the novel, and analyze the reasons of his downfall despite the fact that he lives in a society where masculinity is worshiped.

Okonkwo’s fear of unmanliness is kindled by his father, who was a lazy, unaccomplished man. Okonkwo strives to have a high status from a young age and eventually achieves it. He has a large family, many yams and is well known throughout the village for his valor. He

He often "wish[es] she [Ezinma] were a boy."(122) For his son, "he wanted Nwoye to grow into a tough young man capable of ruling his... household." (37) The failure of his son to live up to Okonkwo's expectations for him are another factor in Okonkwo's own innate need to be exceptionally masculine.

Okonkwo's fear of being perceived as weak tragically leads to him to be unnecessarily violent and excessively prideful. These two fatal flaws lead to Okonkwo’s own emotional isolation, and his inevitable downfall. Driven by the fear of being seen as weak and emasculated, Okonkwo exhibits hyper masculinity and rage. Although this behavior initially leads to success in the patriarchal society of Umofia, rage is his greatest bane: it masks his compassion and pusillanimity. Onkonkwo’s obsession to never appear feminine is driven to the extreme. He denies affection even to his own family, “never show[ing] any emotion openly, unless it be the emotion of anger. To [Okonkwo] show[ing] affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength.” (pg. 28). Okonkwo whose “whole life [is] dominated by fear, the fear of failure and of weakness.” (pg. 13) suppress his compassion in order to appear important and manly. Ironically this creates a stark juxtaposition between his own fear and his position as an alpha male. Rather than being masculine and courageous, Okonkwo just creates tension within his family and within himself. The pinnacle of this extreme hypermasculinity is when Okonkwo ignores the wisdom of the elder Ezeudu, and violently kills his “son” Ikamafuna: “As the man who had cleared his throat drew up and raised his machete, Okonkwo looked away. He had heard Ikamafuna cry “My father, they have killed me!”

Western and European powers came to dominate life in the late-19th and early-20th century. These imperialist powers hoped to gain economic, and political powers through the use of others. They exerted their power and dominance to do so. With this power they could subdue and take over other countries. Although the right to do this can be argued heavily, it does not stray from the fact that sometimes it is alright to do. Displayed in Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, the introduction of the white missionaries brought new life into Africa. The white missionaries made changes and went against the religion of the Africans. They did it in their own view of righteousness: once abandoned babies were saved and rejected outsiders became accepted. However, their methods sometimes were underhanded and cynical. The extent of the force that they showed became unnecessary and when the white settlers began to infringe on the rights and cultures of the Africans, it’s clear that there is a certain extent of which they could oppress them. Europe had the right to take over Africa if they were making changes that would have benefitted both the Igbo and the Europeans, but should only make changes if it does not infringe on another’s culture or religion.

Imperialism has been characterized as the expansion of rule or even impact by a specific government to the next, or the impact of one general public to the next. In history, imperialism came to its peak during the time of the Roman Empire. In Europe there has never been another empire to rise above and assume control over the Roman Empire. However, imperialism in Africa remained a recorded element from 1750 to 1945. This paper visits how control and changes were influences over the Africans during this time period as seen through Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. (UKEssays, 2015)